Dr. Maurice L. Eastridge, Dairy Nutrition Specialist, The Ohio State University
The Fall 2006 Ohio Dairy Challenge was held November 9-10 and was again sponsored by Cargill Animal Nutrition. The Dairy Challenge provides the opportunity for undergraduates at Ohio State University 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 whereby students are generally grouped into teams of three to four individuals, and the first place team received $800, the second place team $300, and the third place team $200 from Cargill Animal Nutrition. The farm selected for the contest this year was Shipley Farms in Newark, OH, and it is owned by Phil, Tim, and David Shipley and their families. Returning to the farm after receiving her B.S. degree in March 2006 from Animal Sciences at Ohio State, Stacey Shipley and her father, Tim, were the primary hosts. Actually, Stacey was a member of the Ohio team that placed in the top category of the 2005 National Dairy Challenge. The Shipleys have a herd of about 250 cows that are housed in free stalls and are milked in a double-12 parallel parlor. The contest started by the students and the judges spending about two hours at the farm on Thursday evening, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the operation by interviewing the owners and examining the specific areas of the dairy facility. On Friday, the teams spent four hours reviewing their notes and farm records to provide a summary of the strengths and opportunities of the operation in the format of a MS PowerPoint presentation. The students then had 20 minutes to present their results and 10 minutes for questions from the judges. The judges were Mr. Ryan Aberle (Cargill Animal Nutrition), Dr. Todd Birkle (Cargill Animal Nutrition), Dr. Maurice Eastridge (Professor, Department of Animal Sciences, OSU), and Dr. K. Larry Smith (Professor Emeritus, Department of Animal Sciences, OSU). The students among the teams that participated were: Team #1 -Erin Cole, Brooke Downey, Becky Schoellman, and Eric Weitzel; Team #2 - Mary Beth Fulk, Danielle Hulit, Jackie Lennartz, and Adam Shipley; Team #3 - Craig Link, Jessica Smith, Jesse Whinnery, and Adam Zimmerman; and Team #4 (Second Place) - Nate Cooley, Lara Gilligan, Anton Henry, Ben McClure, Jamie Schneider, and Kyle Uhlenhake; Team #5 - Sally Adams, Maria Menchaca-Howell, Amanda Pettit, and Amanda Prouty; Team #6 (First Place) - Brian Hartschuh, Colleen Lyden, Jason Nuhfer, and Steve Otte; Team #7 - Jarred Converse, Matt Jackson, Daryl Pena, and John Schroeder; and Team #8 (Third Place) - Gina Berry, Paige Gott, Alicia Kissell, and Sheryn Schlairet. The top 4 individuals for the contest that were selected to potentially represent Ohio at the 2007 National Contest were Gina Berry, Brian Hartschuh, Jason Nuhfer, and Steve Otte.