Guelph, Iowa State and Penn State teams win top spots

Teams from the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada; Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa; and Penn State University, State College, Pa; earned the highest award — First Place Platinum — in the Fifth Annual North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge (NAIDC) held recently.

The event attracted 27 teams from the United States and Canada. The contest challenges each team to use its collective knowledge to analyze dairies and make management recommendations.

The contest starts with a walk-through at the dairies, and then students are given the opportunity to ask questions of the owners and analyze farm-specific data. Student teams then present their management recommendations to a panel of five dairy industry judges.

Each of the team members on the first place platinum teams receives a $200 scholarship. The University of Guelph, Iowa State University and the team from Penn State University shared first-place honors this year. This is the second year in a row that the University of Guelph has earned the top spot.

There was also a three-way tie for second place. Each of the team members will receive a $100 scholarship. The winning teams included Virginia Tech, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Utah State University.

In addition, Gold Awards (in random order) were presented to teams from South Dakota State University, University of Minnesota, North Dakota State University, Cal Poly State University, Delaware Valley College, University of Vermont, University of Idaho, Cornell University, The Ohio State University and Texas A&M University.

Teams from Washington State University, Michigan State University, Oregon State University, University of Florida, University of New Hampshire, Purdue University, North Carolina State University, University of Massachusetts, University of Maine, University of Connecticut and Western Kentucky University all received Silver Awards (in random order).

Generous support from corporate sponsors makes NAIDC possible. Dairy Herd Management is one of 26 Platinum sponsors of the program. Other platinum sponsors include: ABS Global Inc., Agway Foundation Inc., Alltech, Arm & Hammer Animal Nutrition Group, Cargill Animal Nutrition, Dairy Records Management Systems, Dairy Business Communications, Diamond V Mills, Elanco Animal Health, Farm Credit System Foundation, Genex Cooperative Inc., Hoard’s Dairyman, J.D. Heiskell&Co., Monsanto Dairy Business, NE Farm Credit Ag Enhancement, Northeast Dairy Producers Association, Pfizer Animal Health, Select Sires Inc., Soy Best, United Dairymen of Idaho, Valley Ag Software, Virtus Nutrition, WestCentral-SoyPlus/SoyChlor and Western Milling.

The North American Dairy Challenge was established as a management contest to incorporate all phases of a specific dairy business. It strives to incorporate a higher-learning atmosphere with practical application to help prepare students for careers in the dairy industry. Supported financially through generous donations by industry and coordinated by a volunteer board of directors, the first NAIDC was held in April 2002.

In 2007, NAIDC will be held March 30-31, in Sioux Falls, S.D. Iowa State University and South Dakota State University are co-hosting the event. For more information about NAIDC, log on to www.dairychallenge.org.

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