Sixty-one students from seven western US and one Canadian university traveled to Everett, Washington for the 8th annual Western Regional Dairy Challenge on February 28 – March 2, 2013.
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’ evaluations of the dairy operation.
First place teams, which were named for Washington counties:
Team 4 King: Karessa Mast, California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo; Josina Kasper, University of Idaho; Amy Nelson, Washington State University; Marissa Montez, California State University – Fresno; Jonathan Holub, Texas A & M University
Team 6 Thurston: Emma Shoaf, Utah State University; Melisa Stilson, University of Idaho; Micah DeGroot, California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo; Kayla Nielsen, University of Alberta; Trevor Slegers, California State University – Fresno
Team 5 Pierce: Beverly Shirts, University of Idaho; Jami Lady, California State University – Fresno; Anna Gibson, Washington State University; Jared DeGroot, California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo; Lindsay Simmons, Utah State University
Second place teams:
Team 11 Pacific: Josh Veenendaal, California State University – Fresno; Hannah Symonds, Washington State University; James Weber, California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo; Cierra Olmstead, University of Idaho; Jacob Miller, Utah State University
Team 7 Lewis: Briana Arnold, Washington State University; Rob Diepersloot, California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo; Leonardo DeLeon, California State University – Fresno; Brianna Williams, University of Idaho; Shelby Froland, University of Alberta
Team 9 Klikitat: Karly Nieuwkoop, California State University – Fresno; Kelli Carstensen, California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo; Anna Haines, Texas A & M University; Jessica Reynolds, University of Idaho; Boyd Funk, Washington State University; Dallin Buttars, Utah State University
Source: Western Regional Dairy Challenge