Tri-State Dairy Youth Expo Hones in on Dairy Judging Skills

Tri-State Dairy Youth Expo has been a long standing program that has been in existence since the early 1980’s. A donation from the Iowa State Dairy Association allowed a group to develop the Iowa Dairy Expo, now known as Tri-State Dairy Youth Expo. It began in 1984 at the Waterloo Cattle Congress as a dairy cattle judging show with commercial exhibits and informational seminars targeted mainly at dairy producers. As dairy farms changed and Iowa saw a decrease in dairy farms, the dairy sale diminished and locations changed from Waterloo to Dubuque to Decorah, and eventually to Calmar, Iowa. With the help of the Northeast Iowa Community College and Northeast Iowa Dairy Foundation, a youth program was created for students interested in the dairy industry. With support from the dairy industry and business community, Iowa State University and NICC, this program has continued to educate and test youth’s expertise in dairy cattle and dairy products judging contest

The Iowa Dairy Story—Educating Young Consumers

Over 12,000 students have attended the Iowa Dairy Story presented at the Dairy Center on the Northeast Iowa Community College Campus, Calmar, Iowa. Targeting third, fourth, and fifth graders, up to eight lessons plus tours of the 250-cow operating dairy, and interactive nutritional information educates them on how milk is created and its’ importance in human growth and development. An average of 1,000+ students each year learn the origin of milk, proper dairy care and handling, milk quality and safety, dairy products, and nutrition. A total of 38 schools have participated in the program. A 2012 teacher survey was conducted to assess program (content, communications, and presenters) as well as 4 pre-trip and 3-post trip lessons (1–10 system; 1 = poor; 5 = avg.; 10 = excellent). Average overall teacher evaluation scores for these categories were: 9.83, 10, 9.92, 9.64, 9.3, 9.82, 9.82, 9.73, 9.73, and 9.64, respectfully. The program rates very high with teachers and students

Tri-State Dairy Youth Expo Hones in on Dairy Judging Skills

Tri-State Dairy Youth Expo has been a long standing program that has been in existence since the early 1980’s. A donation from the Iowa State Dairy Association allowed a group to develop the Iowa Dairy Expo, now known as Tri-State Dairy Youth Expo. It began in 1984 at the Waterloo Cattle Congress as a dairy cattle judging show with commercial exhibits and informational seminars targeted mainly at dairy producers. As dairy farms changed and Iowa saw a decrease in dairy farms, the dairy sale diminished and locations changed from Waterloo to Dubuque to Decorah, and eventually to Calmar, Iowa. With the help of the Northeast Iowa Community College and Northeast Iowa Dairy Foundation, a youth program was created for students interested in the dairy industry. With support from the dairy industry and business community, Iowa State University and NICC, this program has continued to educate and test youth’s expertise in dairy cattle and dairy products judging contests

2010 Iowa Corn Silage Yield Trial and Rye Cover Crop Demonstration

Corn silage is harvested from about 1.8% of Iowa corn acres. Most corn silage is harvested in the northeast and northwest portions of the state where the majority of dairy herds are located. In these regions, corn silage is a major portion of the row-crop acres. Because no independent yield trials are being conducted on corn hybrids for silage in Iowa, a coalition consisting of Iowa State University Extension, Northeast Iowa Community College, the Northeast Iowa Dairy Foundation, and several seed corn representatives initiated a corn silage hybrid trial at the Northeast Iowa Dairy Foundation farm in 2008. This is the third year of the corn silage trial

Midwest Dairy Day Focuses on Genomics 101: Putting Genomics to Work

The Midwest Dairy School provides a one day learning opportunity for producers, industry, and potentially new dairy producers to network and engage in a current topic. With support from the dairy industry and business community, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, Northeast Iowa Community College, and Northeast Iowa Dairy Foundation, this program has continued to provide valuable information

June Dairy Month Open Houses: Learning Events to Improve Consumer Understanding of Modern Animal Agriculture

Three dairy open houses as part of June Dairy Month events were conducted to provide the public the opportunity to experience and learn first-hand about the efforts made daily on modern dairies to achieve cow care, cow comfort and health, hygienic milking procedures, local cropping systems that provide quality feed for the dairy herd, manure management and land stewardship, respect for family and non-family workers, and overall quality and safety of milk and dairy products. These events were a product of industry partnerships. The three events reached 4800+ participants. Surveys performed at two events showed many participants had trust in dairy farmers and the dairy industry prior to the event, but post tour surveys showed enhancement in their knowledge of modern dairy practices that assure animal health and comfort, product quality and safety, and environmental stewardship and preservation. (with 100% of participants improving their views and trust in modern dairy farming). Most concerns encompassed nutrient and environmental management (4% of respondents)

Women Managing Dairy Cattle: Educating Dairy Women

Women Managing Dairy Cattle (WMDC) was a pilot Annie’s Project program. The course was developed to help educate dairy farm women on key issues they are facing, and to create a lasting impact on the operation through change in behavior via management decisions. Studies have shown that women have unique learning needs compared to their male counterparts; management meetings are predominately attended by men. Thus, the program was geared toward women designed based upon their learning and social needs. Ag Industry professionals and dairy producers helped to identify and teach key topics for dairy producers. Program focused on nine business and production management topics over the three sessions. Three sessions were held weekly on Tuesdays in November from 11 to 2:30. Fifteen women completed the WMDC course in Holy Cross, IA. These women represented over 2,000 cows in five counties. The women reported knowledge gain and intentions to change or update management practices on their dairy operation as a result of taking the course