For many young people, the next frontier is college and career selection. Since 1954, National 4-H Dairy Conference has done its best to position students to better understand what careers might be a good fit for their skill sets.
National 4-H Dairy Conference attendee and planning committee member Lawton Harris said it this way, “One of my favorite aspects of Dairy Conference is the exposure that I was allowed to a multitude of careers in the dairy industry.”
“I also had the opportunity to hear fantastic speakers talk in depth about the aspects of their respective careers or about the companies which they work for,” the Georgia 4-H member shared. “This experience was invaluable to me because it aided me in deciding what career path I want to pursue in the future.”
Part of this discovery process is listening to a variety of speakers from industry spanning topics such as nutrition, reproduction, animal health, finance, and more. Additionally during the conference that started Sunday and concluded Wednesday, students attended seminars and tours. Some of those included learning how to best advocate for dairy, how to mate animals, and how to breed cows.
The tours included stops at the Hoard’s Dairyman publishing offices, Hoard’s Dairyman Farm, Nasco, ABS, National Dairy Shrine, Crave Brother Farms, and World Dairy Expo.
In total, 192 4-H members and advisors from 22 states attended the conference.
The author is an associate editor. She covers feeding and nutrition, youth activities, and heads up the World Dairy Expo Supplement. Maggie was raised on a 150-cow dairy near Valley Center, Kansas, and graduated from Kansas State University with degrees in agricultural communications and animal sciences.