Students Compete in North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge
Four UMaine students joined 235 of their peers from 38 colleges in the United States and Canada to compete in the 17th annual North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge April 12–15 in Visalia, California.
David Marcinkowski from the School of Food and Agriculture coached the UMaine seniors — Carly Amsden of Eliot, Maine; Alexandra Banks of Lee, Maine; Gianna Dettorre of Naples, Florida; and Lauren Guptill of Waldoboro, Maine — who graduated May 12 and are pursuing careers in agriculture.
The Dairy Challenge is an opportunity for the students to test their knowledge against students from other schools and to observe dairying in other parts of the country. Six California dairies with herds of up to 2,800 cows participated in this year’s event.
Teams were evaluated on the quality and accuracy of their presentations, the identification of management opportunities and their recommendations to improve animal care and management. Team presentations were evaluated by a panel of five judges, including dairy producers, veterinarians, finance specialists and other agribusiness personnel. In addition to the competition, the students also had the opportunity to hear about the latest research and talk about career opportunities with industry professionals.