Indiana Ag Helps High School Students Looking at Dairy Career

Dairy academy

Dairy Youth AcademyFor high school students who might want to pursue a dairy industry career Indiana agriculture offers an excellent opportunity to learn and prepare for entry into the industry. The 2014-15 Indiana Dairy Youth Academy will be the third such academy and the registration deadline is soon.

Megan Hoffherr, 4-H Youth Development Educator in Gibson County, explains the head start the academy provides.

Megan Hoffher“We work with them to develop a resume and scholarship applications,” she told HAT. “They get to meet with industry professionals and kind of see what careers are out there in the dairy industry. They also meet youth from across the state that share similar interests and they get to travel to different farms and see different types of industries that they maybe hadn’t been exposed to in the past. So it’s really a great opportunity and gives them a head start if they’re wanting to pursue a career in the dairy industry.”

The academy also helps participants develop leadership and communication skills. The workshops, conferences and industry tours focus on specific areas of nutrition, reproduction, veterinary science and herd management.

Applications are available online and are due June 1. Eligible students must be in grades 10-12 by Sept. 1 and be enrolled in 4-H. Participants are required to attend academy activities that run from September 2014 through fall 2015.

A panel of Purdue Extension representatives will select 14 academy delegates based on their leadership experience and written application. The fee for accepted participants is $100.

The academy schedule includes the National 4-H Dairy Youth Conference in Wisconsin, a leadership and career retreat, a dairy reproduction and technology event in Michigan, animal sciences workshops at Purdue University and activities at the Indiana State Fair. Hoffherr explains more about the destinations in the HAT audio report. The program concludes with a completion trip and report to sponsors in fall 2015.

The academy is sponsored by the American Dairy Association of Indiana, Indiana Dairy Producers, Indiana Soybean Alliance, Indiana State Department of Agriculture and Purdue Extension Dairy Youth Activities Committee.

For more information, contact Hoffherr at Purdue Extension-Gibson County, 812-385-3491 or download the program brochure

Source: Purdue Ag Communications

Recommended Posts

Loading...