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

Tri-State Dairy Youth Expo Hones Judging & CommunicationSkills

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 andlocations 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. In 2016, 550 FFA students from 29 chapters in Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin participated. This year’s contest included the District Dairy Cattle Judging, District Dairy Foods Judging, and District Soils Contest, as well as the Dairy Youth Expo

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 early1980’s. A donation from the Iowa State Dairy Association allowed a group to develop the Iowa Dairy Expo, now known as TriState 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

The Iowa Dairy Story-From Grass to Glass

On April 27th, 2010, the 10,000th student 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. Popular with teachers and students, an average of 1,000+ students each year learn the origin of milk and proper dairy care and handling. A total of 38 schools have participated in the program

Manure Management Systems-Iowa Dairy Producer Surveys

Nutrients present in manure are increasingly receiving attention for environmental, production, and financial reasons. Dairy producers continue to strive for better ways and educational opportunities to improve profits by evaluating fertilizer and value of manure to their operation and to protect the environment. These farming decisions which help producers stay economically viable also support and stimulate their local economy, which promotes a more vital rural community. This project encompassed surveys of manure management systems and nutrient management practices on 22 Iowa Dairy Farms, including economic costs and returns. The results served a large educational role by providing industry benchmarks as well as an “Economics of Manure Management” spreadsheet tool to determine cost of handling, storing and applying manure, less the cost of the nutrients gained in the manure for other dairy producers and dairy professionals

Paying it Forward with a Successful Transition Cow Program

This educational program guided decision-making process to assist small, beginning, traditional commercial producers to determine best management practices in their transition cow program. Focused topic areas included facilities, nutrition, health, records, financial and production variables. Twenty-five risk management surveys, 7 on-farm workshops, 3 on-farm demonstrations of transition cow monitoring tools, 3on-line learning modules, and 60 individual visits were used to increase awareness, understanding, and decision-making ability. Following the educational programming along with numerous articles published in national dairy magazines, 48 producers have begun to develop or implement change to their transition cow program best suited for their management, labor, and financial structure. Long term application of these management changes includes changes in reduced stress, reduced fresh cow problems, and improved milk production through a better start of the cow’s lactation

Economics of Dairy Manure Management in Iowa

Dairy producers have many duties to carry out in their dairy operations, one of which is storing, handling and applying manure. Manure handling can be a significant cost on most dairies even when considering the value of the nutrients in the manure. Seldom do producers consider their costs of handling and applying manure on a per hundredweight (cwt) of milk sold basis like they do with many of their other costs. This project encompassed surveys of manure management systems and nutrient management practices on 22 Iowa Dairy Farms, including economic costs and returns. Key findings are that the cost of storing, hauling and applying manure averaged $306.13 per cow or$1.33 per / cwt. If we subtract the nutrient value of the manure applied (using book values and assuming perfect utilization) the net cost of storing, hauling and applying manure averaged $104.10 per cow or$$0.45 per / cwt. The tie stall barns had a cumulative cost per cwt. of$1.42; the mattress/waterbed barns had a cumulative cost per cwt. of $1.50; the 2 stage sand systems had a cumulative cost per cwt. of$0.97; the 1 stage sand systems had a cumulative cost per cwt. of $1.44; and the dried manure solid barns had a cumulative cost per cwt. of$1.24

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 early1980’s. A donation from the Iowa State Dairy Association allowed a group to develop the Iowa Dairy Expo, now known as TriState 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.</p

Tri-State Dairy Youth Expo Hones Judging & CommunicationSkills

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 andlocations 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. In 2016, 550 FFA students from 29 chapters in Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin participated. This year’s contest included the District Dairy Cattle Judging, District Dairy Foods Judging, and District Soils Contest, as well as the Dairy Youth Expo.</p