FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Dayton Maxwell

Title: NAIDC Publicity Chairperson

Phone: (518) 255-5032

Fax: (518) 255-6025

Morrisville State College to host Third Annual Northeast Dairy Challenge

The Third Annual Northeast Dairy Challenge will be held Oct. 20-22, at the Norwich Campus of Morrisville State College in Norwich, N.Y. The Department of Dairy Management, Agriculture Science, and Ag-Business at Morrisville State College is leading this year’s Northeast Dairy Challenge.

The Morrisville Team plans to welcome students from colleges and universities across the Northeast for the three-day program. As this year’s host college, Morrisville is campaigning to involve 120 student participants. “In 2004, we had capacity for 120 students and 108 participated. We intend to maximize our program at 120 students in 2005,” explained host Superintendent Sheila Marshman. She has reserved the Howard Johnson’s hotel in Norwich, N.Y., to accommodate this student group and has worked with area agribusiness people to secure three host farms.

“Our success in 2004 inspired us to believe we can reach our goal of 120 participants. Already, there are more than 100 students from 13 universities committed to participating in this year’s Dairy Challenge,” stated event Superintendent Barry Putnam of Genex, CRI.

The Northeast Dairy Challenge is designed to create an educational environment and facilitate a real-world dairy team situation. To accomplish this, students are placed in mixed-university teams. “Putting students with different skills from different schools on a team to work together in finding solutions is a very important learning experience,” stated host farm committee member John Lehr of First Pioneer Farm Credit. “On today’s dairies, it takes a team of outside professionals working together to make a difference. Students need to practice teamwork. Additionally, the Challenge is a tremendous opportunity for participating dairy farms to receive consulting advice and for agribusiness sponsors and students to meet and discuss prospective working relationships.”

Students arrive on the afternoon of day one and participate in event orientation and team-building activities. Day two begins with each five-person team receiving information about a real-life dairy, including production and farm management data. Following an operation evaluation, teams develop a comprehensive program including recommendations for nutrition, reproduction, milking procedures, animal health, housing and financial management. The second day concludes with an informal dinner attended by sponsors, students and advisers. Day three is presentation day, where team members present recommendations to a panel of judges. Knowledge is tested and team members field questions from judges. Presentations are evaluated based on student analysis and recommendations. The evening of day three concludes with a reception and awards banquet.

The Second Annual Northeast Dairy Challenge took place at Bolton Valley Resort in Bolton Valley, Vt., Nov. 4-6, 2004. One hundred eight students from New York, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maine, Maryland and New Hampshire participated in this innovative three-day event.

The Northeast program is under the guidance and support of the North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge (NAIDC), which was established in April 2002 as a management contest to incorporate evaluation of all aspects of a specific dairy business.

NAIDC and Northeast Dairy Challenge are fully funded through contributions from the dairy industry. The second regional contest was made possible through generous contributions from ABS Global, Accelerated Genetics, Ag Enhancement Program of Northeast Farm Credit ACA and CoBank, AgChoice Farm Credit ACA, Agri-Mark Inc., Agway Foundation, Alltech, BioProducts Inc., Blue Seal Feeds, Bourdeau Brothers, Cargill Animal Nutrition, Cornell Dairy Store, Dairy One/Dairy Records Management Systems, DairyBusiness Communications, Dairy Herd Management, Diamond V Mills, Eastern States Exposition, Elanco Animal Health, Farm Credit System Foundation, Genex Cooperative Inc., IL Richer Feeds, Lindwood Management, Madhouse Munchies, Marshman Farms, Mid-Atlantic Farm Credit ACA, Monsanto Dairy Business, NBT Bank, New York Holstein Association, North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge Grant, Northeast Agricultural Alliances, Northeast Dairy Producers Association, Pfizer Animal Health, Poulin Grain, Select Sire Power, Soy Best, Taylor-Excel Food Solutions Co., United Cooperative Farmers Inc., University of Vermont Dairy Club, Vermont DHIA, Vermont Feed Dealers and Manufacturers Association, Vermont Holstein Association, Vermont Jersey Breeders, Vermont Technical College Dairy Club, Vermont Technical College Dairy Farm, West Central Soy, Whitman’s Feed Store Inc. and Yankee Farm Credit ACA.

Sponsorships of any amount are welcome. Defined levels are $100-$499 for Bronze, $500-$999 for Silver, $1,000-$4,999 for Gold, and $5,000 or more for Platinum. To become a sponsor, contact Jan Bitter of First Pioneer Farm Credit at 800-392-3276 or jan.bitter@firstpioneer.com. All contributions are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.

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