Twenty high school students from around Pennsylvania participated in the Center for Dairy Excellence Foundation Dairy Leaders of Tomorrow Tour on April 12.
The event was held to expose students to three successful, yet different, Pennsylvania dairy farms.
Roaring Creek Dairy, owned by the Flannery family in Mercersburg; Mercer Vu Farms, owned by the Hissongs in Mercersburg; and Railside Farm, owned by Randall and Faron Martin in Shippensburg, were the hosts of this year’s Dairy Leaders Tour.
“We were so appreciative of the time each farm family took to talk to the students and share their vision for their dairy operation and their future in the dairy business,” said Emily Yeiser, dairy initiatives manager with the Center for Dairy Excellence.
“The passion they all share for dairy farming was evident and helped to get the kids excited about their own futures in Pennsylvania’s dairy industry.”
Each dairy offered a unique business model for the participants to tour.
Roaring Creek Farm was a 120-cow tie stall barn milking 113 pounds a day, while Mercer Vu Farms had 1,800 cows milking in a double-24 parlor producing 95 pounds a day. Railside Dairy had a 240-cow robotic milking facility milking 88 pounds per day per cow.
During each stop, tour guides shared their best management practices and approaches they have taken to become more efficient and innovative in their business.
The tour was provided to all participants at no charge, thanks to partial support from Prince Agri Products, Inc., a global animal nutrition company. The tour was also supported through the Center for Dairy Excellence Foundation of Pennsylvania’s Dairy Leaders of Tomorrow fund.
The center foundation’s Dairy Leaders of Tomorrow program was piloted in 2012 to provide dairy management-focused curriculum to high school-aged students. The tour is designed to expose these students to successful and well-managed dairy farms. PD
—From Center for Dairy Excellence news release
PHOTOS
Courtesy of Center for Dairy Excellence.
