COBLESKILL, N.Y., October 23-25, 2003 - Seventy-seven students from 10 colleges and universities gathered in Cobleskill, N.Y., for the first annual Northeast Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge, Oct. 23-25, hosted by The State University of New York at Cobleskill. Students from New York, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Hampshire participated in this innovative three-day event, known as the Dairy Challenge. Working in five-person teams, students assessed all aspects of farm management and presented their recommendations to a panel of judges.

One of the Dairy Challenge's goals was to introduce students from the participating universities to one another and encourage them to work together, to benefit the dairy industry's future. “Putting students with different skills from different schools on a team to work together in finding solutions is a very important learning experience,” stated committee chair Don Rogers of Farm Credit. “On today's dairies it takes a team with outside professionals working together to make a difference. Students need to practice teamwork.”

Upon their arrival, host coordinator Dayton Maxwell of Cobleskill assigned students to five-person teams, mixing students from various schools and backgrounds. The event began with a motivational and team-building speech from Jim Henion of Genex. While providing the students with tools to build their teams, Henion reminded students that teams made up of members from different backgrounds with diverse skills outperform teams of homogenous composition. Henion also led teams in developing their strategy for the Dairy Challenge.

Early the next morning, teams received a farm summary and detailed production, financial, nutrition and reproduction records. The teams then traveled to one of two contest farms to evaluate cows, facilities, and management practices. After a two-hour farm visit, teams returned to Cobleskill to analyze their data and develop recommendations for improvement. Each team prepared a 20-minute presentation that detailed their observations and suggestions.

On the Dairy Challenge's final day, each team presented their evaluation and recommendations to a panel of five judges. The event ended with an awards banquet where teams were ranked as platinum, gold or silver.

The first regional Dairy Challenge was made possible through generous contributions from industry sponsors, including Farm Credit, Genex, Taylor-Excel Foods, Cargill, Agri-Mark, Northeast Agricultural Alliances, United Cooperative Farmers, Vermont Jersey Breeders, Vermont DHIA, Blue Seal Feeds, Whitman Feeds, Agway, DairyBusiness Communications, NBT Bank, New York Holstein Association and Marshman Farms.

The 2004 Northeast Dairy Challenge will be held at the University of Vermont. To become a sponsor of the Northeast Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge or to obtain information about the Challenge, contact Sheila Marshman, Morrisville State College, 315-684-6106, marshmsa@morrisville.edu; or Barry Putnam, Genex Cooperative, 800-333-9007 ext. 6120, bputnam@crinet.com.

The Northeast Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge 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 is fully funded through contributions from the dairy industry. Platinum sponsors include Bioproducts Inc., Cargill Animal Nutrition, DairyBusiness Communications, Monsanto Dairy Business, Select Sires Inc., West Central Soy, Arm & Hammer Animal Nutrition Group, Charleston/Orwig Inc., Elanco Animal Health, Farm Credit System Foundation and Genex. The Pennsylvania State University will host the third annual North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge April 2-3, 2004. For more information about NAIDC, visit www.dairychallenge.org or call 608-224-0400.