2018 National 4-H Dairy Conference

The educational program attracted approximately 200 youth and adult delegates from across the U.S.A and Canada.

The Pennsylvania delegation included Brooke Arnold from Susquehanna County, Sophia Bertovic from Dauphin County, Dylan Duncan from Crawford County, Natalie Grumbine and Olivia Lesher from Berks County, Trisha Poorbaugh from Fayette County, Noah Phillips from Sullivan County and Abby Stoltzfus from Somerset County. These eight Pennsylvania 4-H youth were selected from a field of applicants to attend the conference based on their past experience, knowledge and interest in the dairy industry.

The four-day experience exposed the 4-H members to new dairy science technology and dairy-related careers. Through a combination of workshops, speakers, educational field trips and networking with other dairy-oriented youth, the 4-H members gained information they could use to strengthen their futures in the dairy industry. Hands-on learning workshop topics included biotechnology, genetics, foods evaluation, animal nutrition and marketing. "Meeting people from all over the country who share similar interests was great! I learned so much!" reported one delegate.

During the conference, one day was spent touring different areas of Wisconsin agriculture. The delegates visited ABS Global, Hoard's Dairyman Registered Guernsey Farm, Hoard's Dairyman Publishing, the National Dairy Shrine Museum, and Nasco International. On another evening they traveled to the Crave Brothers Farm in Waterloo, Wisconsin. Here they got a tour of the farm, learn about the manure digester, and learn about their cheese factory. On the last day of the conference, the delegates attended the World Dairy Expo.

4-H is the youth education program of the Cooperative Extension system in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. National 4-H Dairy Conference is sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Extension, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Cooperating Friends of 4-H and the Dairy Industry, World Dairy Expo, and the National 4-H Dairy Conference Planning Committee. Supplemental monetary support is provided by numerous corporate sponsors including: ABS Global; Accelerated Genetics, AgStar Financial Services; Agropur; American Dairy Science Association; AMPI; Cargill, Inc; Crave Brothers Farm, Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese, LLC; Culvers; Dairy Farmers of America; Datamars; DeLaval; Farm First Co-op; Foremost Farms; Hoard's Dairyman; IBA; John Deere Co.; Milk Specialties; Mycogen Seeds; Nasco International, Inc.; National Dairy Shrine; PDCA; Select Sires, Inc.; SEMEX; SMS; Stan Erwine, DMI; Star Blends; SunOpta; Udder Tech, Inc.; Vita Plus; WinField United; Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board; and World Dairy Expo.