The International Dairy Short Course held during World Dairy Expo connects farmers and agribusiness professionals from around the world to endless learning opportunities and relationships during their time in Wisconsin. Using presentations, on-campus visits, hands-on demonstrations, and farm tours, Jill Stahl Tyler of Global Cow and Karen Nielsen of Global Dairy Outreach put together the latest educational opportunities to showcase at the course every year.
“We want to inform partnerships and build relationships for future government and industry involvement,” Nielsen said. “We also want people in the industry to come to the United States for their dairy purchases, including genetics.”
Over three days during Expo week, international and domestic participants are treated to lectures and presentations brimming with information designed to assist them on their own farms. Each morning, different speakers present relevant topics.
In the afternoon of the first day, participants can choose to visit the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus to get a firsthand look at dairy research or see hands-on demonstrations related to topics such as forage and genetics. On the second day, the afternoon consists of touring at least two local dairy farms, with translators on site to assist international participants. The third day finishes early in the afternoon, giving participants an opportunity to explore Expo.
Nielsen began coordinating the International Dairy Short Course through the Babcock Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1996. When the Institute closed at the end of 2014, Tyler contacted Nielsen.
“I asked her not to end this course,” Tyler recalled. “At that time, we had international dairy trainees and workers who needed educational opportunities. This was one of their options.”
Tyler and Nielsen joined forces and resources to continue the program. Farmers, agriculture-related groups, and agribusiness employees continue to go through the course annually.
“Every year we have international and domestic participants,” Tyler said. “They always tell us they learn something new they can take back to their farms or businesses. This is valuable information that people can use, and there are endless opportunities for farmers to make connections while they’re here.”
Despite the great participation and interest in the program, every year of planning it brings new challenges, Tyler said. In 2019, participants were especially excited about the farm visits. At each farm stop, there was plenty of time to really dig into an issue and have high-quality discussion, she described.
“Our participants felt comfortable rolling up their sleeves and digging in,” she said. “We’ve never had conversations like that before, and we really liked what we saw.”
But today’s postpandemic world is very different. In 2020 and 2021, the course was canceled because there were no international participants. When the course started up again in 2022, Expo had changed its schedule, so Tyler and Nielsen had to change the course’s schedule, too.
The program currently runs on the Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of Expo week. There are no more on-farm presentations. Instead, Tyler said the program has begun offering more casual farm tours led by the farmers. There is plenty to see and learn about on each farm as the farmer meets with the group and talks about what works best for them.
Funding is also an ongoing issue. While Tyler and Nielsen witness the value of the course by observing and listening to participants, they must always be thinking about the economic value of hosting it. It’s no small or inexpensive task to market the course internationally and find ways to continuously engage participants. Finding participants domestically also requires funding.
“We market the course as a product farmers worldwide need to improve their own operations. Everybody makes decisions about their bottom lines, so we try to make our product as appealing as possible,” Tyler said.
The state of Wisconsin has identified Expo as a learning opportunity for its guests, so in the future, Tyler said there may be grants available.
“Both the state and federal governments understand there’s a need for Expo and the education provided by our short course,” she said.
She and Nielsen hope that educational need translates to more funding opportunities.
“We are creating a market by educating our potential course participants about our product and why they need it,” Nielsen said. “And we’re also educating the government about our necessary course at Expo and why it’s good for everybody.”
