Dr. Maurice Eastridge, Professor, Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University
The North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge (NAIDC) program began in 2002 (https://www.dairychallenge.org/) and the first regional program began in the northeast in 2003. Since that time, midwest, southern, and western regional dairy challenges have been organized. In addition, Ohio State hosts a local dairy challenge each fall semester to provide training for students in the dairy herd management course and other college students. Students from the Agricultural Technical Institute also have participated for several years, and sometimes, students from Wilmington College participate.
Dairy Challenge provides the opportunity for students to experience the process of evaluating management practices on a dairy farm and to interact with representatives in the dairy industry. The program is held in a contest format for undergraduate students whereby they are grouped into teams of three to four individuals. Locally, veterinary and graduate students are invited to attend the farm visit and participate in a meeting later in the evening with the contest judges to discuss observations on the farm. A farm in central Ohio is selected and records from the farm are made available to students. Typically, students are taken to the farm for a visit to interview the owner and to observe the facilities for about two hours. Then the teams of students return to campus to finalize their assessment into a presentation for the following day. The students present their findings to a panel of judges consisting of individuals from the University and from allied industries.
Northeast Regional Dairy Challenge
The Northeast Regional Dairy Challenge was held October 16-18, 2025 on the Wooster campus in the Sisler Center. The host was Dr. Shaun Wellert with the Agricultural Technical Institute. Eighty-eight students participated from the northeast and midwest regional areas, including students from Ohio State at the Columbus and Wooster campuses. Students, judges, mentors, volunteers, and coaches were welcomed by one of two dairy farms: RMD Dairy in Rittman and Clardale Farms in Fulton. All attendees also had the opportunity to tour the new Pine Tree Dairy in Burbank.
Ohio Dairy Challenge
The program this year was held November 7-8, 2025 and was sponsored by ADM Animal Nutrition, Cargill, Purina Animal Nutrition, RP Nutrients, ST Genetics, DSM-firmenich, and Feedworks. The farm selected for the contest was the Rosedale Dairy owned by Paul Keener in Ashland. There were 50 undergraduate students (39 from Columbus, 5 from ATI, and 6 from Wilmington College) and 5 graduate students participating in the program. During the Saturday morning presentations, the students had 20 minutes to present their findings and 10 minutes for questions from the judges. The judges for the program this year were Brian Lammers (ADM Animal Nutrition), Candace Lease (ST Genetics), Laura Tavera (Purina Animal Nutrition), Michele Lahmers (RP Nutrients), Paige Gott (DSM), Maurice Eastridge (Professor, Department of Animal Sciences), and Haley Linder (Assistant Professor, Department of Animal Sciences).
National NAIDC
The National NAIDC Contest and Dairy Challenge Academy will be held April 12-14, 2026 in Sioux Falls, SD. The 25th year anniversary of the program will be hosted by Michigan State University in 2027, the location of the first dairy challenge program. The Dairy Challenge program on the Columbus campus is coached by Dr. Maurice Eastridge, on the Wooster campus by Dr. Shaun Wellert, and Daryl Nash is the coordinator at Wilmington College.
OSU Columbus students participating in the 2025 Northeast Regional Dairy Challenge, Pictured (L to R): Karissa Ayers, Noah Edwards, MaKenzie Morgan, Emma Irvin, Dr. Maurice Eastridge (coach), and Abbie Sapp.