General Information

NAIDC History

Past
The North American Dairy Challenge was established in 2002 as a management contest to incorporate all phases of a specific dairy business. The first contest was held in April of 2002 at Michigan State University, East Lansing. The contest had 14 participating schools.

In 2003, the first regional contest was added in the Northeastern US. Since then, 3 other regional contests have been added: Midwest, Western and Southern. The events are structured very much like the national contest. However, the emphasis is more on education than competition. As such, schools are invited to bring more than just a 4-member team, allowing them to expose Dairy Challenge to more of their students. Students are placed on aggregate or mixed teams with students from other universities with varying skills and backgrounds.

Present
Today, Dairy Challenge strives to incorporate a higher-learning atmosphere with practical application to help prepare students for careers in the dairy industry. Thousands of students have enhanced their dairy management, communication and business skills through Dairy Challenge, in turn generating highly qualified graduates to lead and further improve the dairy industry.

Future
Dairy Challenge relies on financial support of industry for the success of the contest. We are establishing a fund to provide a financial base to ensure stability of the contest. Our goal is to raise $2 million for Dairy Challenge in 5 years.

Dairy Challenge also plans to continue to grow the contest, both regionally and nationally, to make it more available to a larger number of students. Exposing the contest to more students each year benefits the dairy industry as a whole, as it generates prospective employees who are more experienced and knowledgeable.

Constitution and ByLaws

Contest History

Dairy Challenge Founder Award

Dairy Challenge PowerPoint