Five Michigan State University animal science seniors recently competed in the 10th annual North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge in Hickory, N.C., and earned the second highest award.
Taking home the reserve platinum award, which included a $100 scholarship for each team member, were Melissa Erdman, Sarah Fraley, Jillian Holdwick and Allan Mergener. The aggregate team of Hannah Tucker from MSU, Mason Amundson from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Dallas Carabeau from the University of Vermont earned a gold placing.
This year's competition attracted 127 university students from 30 schools across the United States and Canada. It was organized by North Carolina State University and Virginia Polytechnic University.
The innovative two-day competition assigns students to aggregate teams to facilitate the growth of team-building skills. The event challenges contestants to analyze dairy operations by recalling basic dairy management principles and their practical application. In addition, students are tested on their organizational, time management, data analysis, public speaking, leadership and teamwork skills.
The NAIDC consists of four regional intercollegiate dairy management competitions – Midwest, Northeast, Southern and Western – and a national contest. Designed by dairy industry representatives and university faculty members and specialists, the event is supported financially through industry donations and coordinated by a volunteer board of directors. The first NAIDC took place in 2002 at MSU, and since that time has helped prepare more than 3,000 students for careers in the dairy industry. The 2012 NAIDC will take place March 29–31, in Roanoke, Va. The four regional contests will be scheduled for late fall 2011 and winter 2012.
For more information about the NAIDC, visit www.dairychallenge.org. For more information about the MSU Dairy Challenge program, contact Weber Nielsen at msw@msu.edu.
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