There’s no shortage of dairy opportunity.
How do we know an Agriculture Center of Excellence (ACE) will work? We’ve spent three years researching this concept from every angle and here’s our proof.
ACE fills a gap in educational offerings. In Wisconsin, three universities offer a four-year B.S. degree in dairy related subjects; three technical colleges offer a one-year educational opportunity in dairy herd management; and one university offers a half- to one-year Farm and Industry Short Course in dairy farm management and grass-based dairying. No one offers a two-year dairy science degree complete with hands-on training and classroom instruction in agricultural and business methods that prepare a student to establish a farm of his or her own, or seamlessly matriculate to a four-year degree. This fills that gap.
We have a population of students to recruit from. The 21 county region of northcentral Wisconsin provides us with 11,462 farm children and 53,323 children living within agricultural communities who we feel are prospective targets for enrollment. Based on this data, Northcentral Technical College has set a goal of 20 full-time and 25 part-time students in the first year; 25 full-time students and 25-part time students the second year; and 35 full-time and 40 part-time students in the third year. Once established, we’ll be pulling from an even greater pool of students — those throughout the Midwest interested in an innovative education that can make them successful agribusiness entrepreneurs.
ACE is economically feasible. Financial Feasibility Studies for two dairy farm enterprises — intensive grazing/open front, compost barn winter confinement and year-round freestall confinement — were completed by Great Earth Agribusiness. The study found that both enterprises are economically viable. Detailed financial projections are available within the 2006 Feasibility Study .
ACE can have a positive economic impact. Assuming an average herd size between 50 to 100 cows, and applying average milk production rates per cow at 2003 milk prices, 12 graduates of the first year class would produce $3 million in sales for a total economic impact of $5.4 million annually. Projecting five years out, with 60 graduates, the impact to the economy would be $27 million. In 10 years, 120 graduates would bring $54 million into the economy.
ACE can help create a competitive offering for the dairy industry. Wisconsin has competitive potential that will benefit consumers and the dairy industry. Average total operating costs for milk are among the lowest in the U.S., primarily due to the lower feed costs provided by the quality soil, rainfall, growing conditions and agronomic skills of Wisconsinites. Overhead cost disadvantages and high depreciation costs due to herd sizes will be improved via ACE’s instructional insights into resource management and capital investments. Offering instruction in competitive Western-style dairy practices will help students to continue the successful implementation of these Western alternatives in Wisconsin.
They’re doing it in Calmar, Iowa — successfully. Calmar’s region faced nearly identical rates of dairy farm closings, dwindling student enrollments in dairy science programs and the resulting negative economic impacts as Wisconsin faces now. Five years after establishing the Calmar Dairy Center, there are over 30 graduates per year — 100% of whom are beginning careers in agriculture or continuing their education. More than 35% of the graduates move back to the family farm, others accept positions on neighboring farms to continue their experiential learning, and the rest pursue a four-year degree.
