“We are thrilled to have DMI return as our largest sponsor for this year’s College Aggies Online program,” said Kay Johnson Smith, president and CEO at the Alliance. “DMI brings so much value and excitement to the students participating and we can’t wait to make this year the best yet.”

Collegiate clubs and individuals will compete for more than $16,000 in scholarships and mini prizes while engaging online and in person about food and agriculture. The program presents a unique opportunity for students to network with leaders from a wide variety of companies and organizations representing the animal agriculture community.

In addition to sponsoring, DMI will offer hands-on guidance to students as a mentor throughout the individual competition. Don Schindler, senior vice president of digital innovations at DMI will host a webinar about breaking out of the “ag echo chamber” and how to talk to consumers about agriculture issues, provide feedback on social media posts created by the students and help answer any questions the students may have about effective engagement.

“CAO is one of the best programs out there that helps college students become advocates for agriculture,” said Schindler. “I am proud to be a part of the program on behalf of DMI.”

DMI is not only involved in the individual competition of CAO, but will provide resources and support for the club competition with its “Undeniably Dairy” challenge. For this challenge, clubs will host a booth on their campus and hand out pizza or tacos to fellow students to promote and engage about the nutritional benefits of cheese and dairy while also sharing how dairy gets from the farm to the store. Clubs can also host a booth at an athletic event while handing out chocolate milk for muscle recovery.

DMI has supported CAO for the last three years and is the national checkoff organization promoting dairy farmers and the milk, cheese, yogurt and other foods dairy farmers provide to families.

Collegiate clubs and individuals interested in promoting agriculture and becoming confident communicators are invited to sign up through October 1, 2017 at http://collegeaggies.animalagalliance.org/.

CAO would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors. 2017 sponsors include: Dairy Management, Inc., the National Pork Industry Foundation, CHS Foundation, Pork Checkoff, Monsanto, Domino’s Pizza Inc., Biotechnology Innovation Organization, Kuhn North America and the Ohio Poultry Association.

Are you looking for a way to engage college students? CAO provides the perfect opportunity to support students with a passion for agriculture by helping them become confident communicators! Sponsors are recognized on our website, newsletter and at our Annual Stakeholders Summit. We give the sponsors opportunities to give input to the program and interact with students. To learn more about the sponsorship levels available, click here. To become a sponsor, contact Allyson Jones-Brimmer, Director of Membership, at ajonesbrimmer@animalagalliance.org.

About the Alliance:

The Animal Agriculture Alliance is an industry-united, nonprofit organization that helps bridge the communication gap between farm and fork. We connect key food industry stakeholders to arm them with responses to emerging issues. We engage food chain influencers and promote consumer choice by helping them better understand modern animal agriculture. We protect by exposing those who threaten our nation’s food security with damaging misinformation.