The Cal Poly Dairy Team took home first place and $200 scholarships at the North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge (NAIDC) in Visalia, California.
The team prepared a mock dairy evaluation of one of four dairies in Kings and Tulare County along with teams from more than 30 universities in the United States and Canada on April 9 and 10. Next, each team presented plans to a panel of judges from today’s dairy industry that detailed recommendations for the most efficient management of the dairy they toured.
Cal Poly and Fresno State University sponsored this year’s challenge; this is the first time Cal Poly’s team has won first place in its eight years of competition.
The four-member team competed as part of the Dairy Farm Consultation class taught by dairy science instructor Dr. Stan Henderson. Henderson has coached the team on and off for five years. He said he couldn’t be happier with the team’s performance.
“This was the first year that the challenge was held in California, and I think our team was more familiar with how to manage the land,” Henderson said. “Everyone really complemented each other’s strengths, and it showed.”
Cal Poly’s team toured several dairies to prepare for the challenge and held a scrimmage contest with Fresno State University. The team also examined sample documents on dairy information like animal feed analyses and financial records to get used to what they would be given in the challenge.
When the team arrived in Visalia, its assigned dairy (code-named Bulldog Dairy to protect the dairy’s real identity) provided all the information it would give a professional dairy consultant. On the first day of the challenge, the team toured the dairy and interviewed the owners to gather the information for its plan. Then it developed ideas for improving the efficiency and output of the dairy and presented the plans to the judges the next day.
Cal Poly definitely had an advantage, Henderson said, because not all the universities that compete offer a class on dairy management.
The team is excited it won, but the members said they know the NAIDC is more than getting first place. Dairy science senior Kate Rector said the skills she and her teammates developed are the exact skills they will need for a career in the dairy industry.
“I’m hoping to be a dairy consultant and I’ve done internships with companies in the dairy industry, but this challenge really combines everything you need to know and gives you a chance to do it,” Rector said.
Doing well in the competition translates to employers noticing students with real expertise, Henderson said.
“This challenge is one of the most productive things in dairy education today, and the sponsoring companies come here knowing that these teams are made up of the very best dairy students from their schools,” Henderson said.
Representatives from companies worldwide attended the challenge to see the presentations and get contact information for each participant. Jennifer Gisler of Cargill Animal Nutrition was the NAIDC’s local contact and organizer for this year’s challenge. She said she was very impressed by Cal Poly’s performance.
“Cal Poly’s presentation was one of the first ones I saw, but in my opinion it blew everyone else out of the water,” Gisler said. “I’ve seen the challenge evolve from the beginning, and students who do work like this are exactly what we’re looking for.”
Cal Poly’s Dairy Team is small, but that only helped each member refine their particular skills to help the team as a whole. Dairy science senior Anthony Martin said the challenge brought them all much closer together.
“We divided the tasks and everyone really took everything seriously and adapted to their roles. We got really tight and got along really well,” Martin said.