Dairy consortium draws in crowd

Students from universities across the country flock to Clovis each year to learn everything about dairy farms — including how to know if a cow is pregnant.

“It’s called palpation,” former student, Mary Lavender, explained. “And it’s actually really common.”

Lavender hails from Texas A&M and has attended the U.S. Dairy Education and Training Consortium twice.

She’s learned to tell whether a cow’s pregnant or is ovulating.

“It takes a lot of practice to know what you’re feeling for because (cows are in) different stages. Professors come and help you know what to feel for.”

The consortium began in 2008 and is split up into two sessions, Lavender said.

It started as a way for agriculture students around the country to gain more hands-on dairy experience and earn college credit while doing it.

The first session, she said, focuses on the actual farm work at hand, and the second session lasers in on finance and administration.

“A lot of universities throughout the country will have farms where students will have the opportunity to work with animals,” Lavender said. “But dairy is going out because it’s labor-intensive, and colleges are trying to cut back budgets.”

New Mexico State University Associate Professor Robert Hagevoort, along with other professors in the area, recognized the lack of resources available to dairy students, and began holding the six-week consortium.

“(They) started the program to help students who have an interest in the industry but don’t have the resources to learn about it,” Lavender said, “and it’s gotten a lot of support because they realized the need.”

One such supporter, former New Mexico Lt. Gov. Walter Bradley, works with the Dairy Farmers of America. The DFA, he said, has contributed to the consortium’s success.

“Hagevoort set it up, so he’s a major player,” Bradley said. “DFA has contributed to it. We brought the idea up to do something because we’re not getting enough qualified veterinarians and agriculture people (into the dairy businesss), so we just kind of boosted it with him, and he took the ball and ran off with it.”

“(The DFA) contributes financially, but they’re also a really good resource for us,” Lavender said. “They teach us who they are, and different producers in the DFA talk to us. It’s just a good resource as students to talk and learn about how they’re involved in the industry and the opportunities we have.”

The students aren’t the only ones who benefit from the consortium, either, Lavender said. The farms that participate and host the students also gain insight on how they can improve their farms both from an operation and financial standpoint.

“First of all, we usually have professors coming with us, so (professors) can learn something from those guys just like we can.”

At the end of the six weeks, Lavender said, students also compete in a dairy challenge. Students go to a dairy farm, walk around, and do a presentation to show farmers how they could improve their farm.

“It was impressive to see how much we’d learned over the six weeks,” she said.

And something else impressive to know is that agriculture in general, Lavender said, is really a business that takes smarts and a sharp focus.

“If you’re not smart, you won’t succeed,” she said. “You really have to pay attention. (Farmers) are really smart and good businessmen; going through finances with them and hearing how they’re changing their budgets to make their dairy farm successful makes you realize how smart these guys are.”

Which is why it’s so important for dairy students to learn these skills, she said.

“All of us that are going to these dairies are the future of the industry,” Lavender said. “They’re ensuring that there are people there to help them.”