{"id":11367,"date":"2013-03-15T11:52:27","date_gmt":"2013-03-15T17:52:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cowsmo.com\/?post_type=news&p=11367"},"modified":"2018-09-21T15:22:17","modified_gmt":"2018-09-21T21:22:17","slug":"61-students-from-colleges-participate-in-8th-annual-western-regional-dairy-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cowsmo.kinsta.cloud\/?p=11367","title":{"rendered":"61 Students from Colleges Participate in 8th Annual Western Regional Dairy Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sixty-one students from seven western US and one Canadian university traveled to Everett, Washington for the 8th<\/sup> annual Western Regional Dairy Challenge on February 28 \u2013 March 2, 2013.<\/p>\n

The Western Regional Dairy Challenge is an innovative, three-day educational competition designed to prepare students for dairy careers. Working in mixed-university teams of five or six students, participants assessed all aspects of a working dairy farm, including facilities, nutrition, financials, reproduction, and animal health. Students collaborated on a 20-minute team presentation that detailed their observations and suggestions to a panel of judges. Teams were ranked based on how well their evaluations matched the judges\u2019 evaluations of the dairy operation.<\/p>\n

Along with the competition, students were treated to educational workshops on silage management and safety by Dr. Keith Bolsen, Professor Emeritus Kansas State University and social media and public relations by Michele Ruby of DMI, Inc on Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Jim and Andy Werkhoven welcomed the teams to their farm on Friday and participated in a question and answer session with students. Team-building and fun activities were held through the weekend to encourage networking among students and agribusiness sponsors.<\/p>\n

\u00a0First place teams, which were named for Washington counties:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Team 4 King: Karessa Mast, California Polytechnic State University \u2013 San Luis Obispo; Josina Kasper, University of Idaho; Amy Nelson, Washington State University; Marissa Montez, California State University \u2013 Fresno; Jonathan Holub, Texas A & M University<\/p>\n

Team 6 Thurston: Emma Shoaf, Utah State University; Melisa Stilson, University of Idaho; Micah DeGroot, California Polytechnic State University \u2013 San Luis Obispo; Kayla Nielsen, University of Alberta; Trevor Slegers, California State University \u2013 Fresno<\/p>\n

Team 5 Pierce: Beverly Shirts, University of Idaho; Jami Lady, California State University \u2013 Fresno; Anna Gibson, Washington State University; Jared DeGroot, California Polytechnic State University \u2013 San Luis Obispo; Lindsay Simmons, Utah State University<\/p>\n

\u00a0Second place teams:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Team 11 Pacific: Josh Veenendaal, California State University \u2013 Fresno; Hannah Symonds, Washington State University; James Weber, California Polytechnic State University \u2013 San Luis Obispo; Cierra Olmstead, University of Idaho; Jacob Miller, Utah State University<\/p>\n

Team 7 Lewis: Briana Arnold, Washington State University; Rob Diepersloot, California Polytechnic State University \u2013 San Luis Obispo; Leonardo DeLeon, California State University \u2013 Fresno; Brianna Williams, University of Idaho; Shelby Froland, University of Alberta<\/p>\n

Team 9 Klikitat: Karly Nieuwkoop, California State University \u2013 Fresno; Kelli Carstensen, California Polytechnic State University \u2013 San Luis Obispo; Anna Haines, Texas A & M University; Jessica Reynolds, University of Idaho; Boyd Funk, Washington State University; Dallin Buttars, Utah State University<\/p>\n

Dr. Larry Fox, Washington State University and a committee of dairy industry representatives organized the Challenge. A long list of volunteers was important to the competition\u2019s success. For more information about next year\u2019s contest, please contact Chris Dei at csdei@comcast.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n