On November 13th-15th, 2016, the University of Georgia will host the 11th Annual Southern Regional Dairy Challenge in Cordele, GA. Since the start of the Southern Regional Dairy Challenge, more than 567 collegiate participants from universities
located in the southern region of the country have participated in this event. The 2016 event is predicted to include approximately 15 schools and as many as 80 students. The Dairy Challenge is designed to develop and prepare students for possible career opportunities in the dairy industry upon graduation.
The regional Dairy Challenge events are an innovative approach to an educational environment that allows students to incorporate knowledge and practical application for future careers in the dairy industry. Students are divided up into intercollegiate teams to collaborate and network while they develop operation recommendations tailored to the case study farm.
The contest is a three-day event that will begin with a pre-event farm tour, which will allow all participants, coaches and industry affiliates to evaluate and share their perspectives and insight about a local operation. This tour will give participants an opportunity to perform a trial run evaluation before the contest begins. Later that afternoon participants will be broken into groups of four to five comprised of a variety of schools. Those groups will review the operation data for the Challenge to showcase students’ strengths and particular areas of expertise for their team members. The second day will involve on-site evaluation and analysis of the host farm. The third and final day will focus on presentations and recommendations from the groups’ findings. These recommendations are based on nutrition, reproduction, milking procedures, animal health, housing and financial management and also take in consideration the farm operation’s ultimate goal and vision. Feedback from a panel of judges as well as presentation of awards concludes the event at the end of the third day.
About Dairy Challenge
NAIDC is an innovative event for students in dairy programs at North American post-secondary institutions. Its mission is to develop tomorrow’s dairy leaders and enhance progress of the dairy industry, by providing education, communication and networking among students, producers,
and agribusiness and university personnel. Over its 15-year national history, Dairy Challenge has helped prepare more than 5,000 students for careers as farm owners and managers, consultants, researchers, veterinarians or other dairy professionals. For more information, visit www.dairychallenge.org or www.facebook.com/DairyChallenge.