D A I R Y I n i t i a t i v e s N E W S L E T T E R
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U of M Receives Top Honors in National Dairy Competition

When it comes to dairy farm management, University of Minnesota students really know their stuff! Animal production systems seniors Rita Albrecht, Joni Heins, Scott Miller, and Alicia Thurk teamed up and earned top honors in the first National Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge, held in Lansing, Michigan, in April.

Fourteen teams of budding dairy management experts from around the United States were given this challenge: Visit a specified dairy farm; evaluate the operation through observation, interviews, and review of farm records; then summarize the situation and present recommendations. Judges rated the teams on their ability to identify critical areas for improvement on the farms they visited. The Minnesota team received one of two Champion Awards, the highest honor given in the contest.

Dairy Challenge Team

The winning team (from left): Alicia Thurk, Rita Albrecht, Scott Miller, Marcia Endres (coach), and Joni Kunz Heins.

Team coach Marcia Endres, assistant professor in the Department of Animal Science, attributes the students' success to their efforts in the classroom and to their ability to function as a team.

"They really worked well together - that's important," she says.

Albrecht credits the University of Minnesota's "excellent dairy management program" for preparing her and her teammates for the competition. And in her case, preparation for the contest was also preparation for life. In her current job as a large herd dairy consultant with Purina Mills, she says, the work is basically "the same thing I did the day of the contest - except it's not as nerve-wracking."

Endres says the search is already on for candidates for next year's team. "We're going to keep participating and plan to do well," she says.

The National Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge was created by a group of industry representatives. Its goal is to improve and encourage the development of future dairy leaders at the college level.

Way to go team!!!

D A I R Y I n i t i a t i v e s N E W S L E T T E R
Volume 11 Issue 2 Summer 2002