The SDSU Dairy Club is an active student organization of dairy science students and provides opportunities for professional and social interaction. Students from all classes are invited to club meetings and become active participants. During the school year the club meets once amonth in the Dairy Micro Building. The 2009 officers for the Dairy Club are:

President	Samantha Wahls	Treasurer	Katelyn Crocker
Vice President	Heather Jons	Historians	Valerie Mohr and Brittanhy Moorse
Secretary	Holly Bruns	Activity Coordinators	Katie Korver and Cory Zelfel
Dairy Digest Editors	Abigail Wirt and Jessica Berg

Advisors, Matthew Laubach, Dr. Arnold Hippen, Dr. Kenneth Kalscheur, Howard Bonnemann and Dr. Lloyd Metzger

Activities

Dairy Digest

The Dairy Digest is an annual publication of the Dairy Club. Released at the department scholarship and awards banquet in April, the Digest is an illustrated documentation of Dairy Club, Student and Departmental activities. Click on the icon below to view the Digest.

Central Plains Fall Sale

The annual South Dakota Central Plains Fall Sale was held 21 October 2006 at the Animal Science Arena on the SDSU campus. This is one of our largest event over the year for the Club as members work hard setting up the arena, preparing cattle to look their best, as well as showing the cattle to buyers during the sale. Dairy club members that have never worked with cattle for preparations of a sale gained knowledge and experience in working with the cattle. Some of the responsibilities were clipping, fitting, feeding, washing, and bedding. The work of the sale began on Tuesday as we set up the Animal Science Arena where we set up panels and the show display. On Wednesday and Thursday cattle were brought in by consigners. Finishing touches were applied on Friday in preparation for the sale on Saturday. This year there were 52 head, consisting of 40 Holsteins and 12 Jerseys. The sale averaged $2,652 on the Holsteins and $1,395 on the Jerseys. The top selling heifer, consigned by Al-Shar Holsteins from Groton, SD; was a Linjet pick from Al-Shar Progressive Bugs that sold for $4,600 purchased by Leroy Eggink from Sibley, IA. The second high animal was consigned by Jim Veirhout, Hull, IA; Simple-Dreams Durham Sallie which sold for $4,500 to Dan Kaufman, Sioux Falls, SD. The high selling Jersey was Summetz Golden Blanche consigned by Summetz Farms, Lester,IA; and purchased for $2,600 by Pat & Janey Cronin, Huron, SD and Gerald Fiekema of Brookings, SD. The embryos averaged $410 with the high selling package, consisting of 8 Rubens out of Zehr-Hartman-Beil Sass, consigned by Al-Shar Holstein bringing a total of $6,000 and purchased by Alan Dykshorn of Ireton,IA. In addition, five generous producers also donated animals for the first Heifers for State program. Donors included Marv and Joy Post, John and Annelise Sefrood, Wim and Nicoline Hammink, Randy and Diane Schweer, and Brad DeBoer. The donated animals raised a total of $7,450 that will be used for supporting dairy education and research programs at SDSU. With all the hard work from the Dairy Club members, the sale turned out to be one of the best!

Cheese Boxes

Christmas cheese box sales is an important and fun raising activity for the club. Each year about 2000 pounds of cheese is cut, packaged, and sent around the country between October and January.

Club Trips

Each year Club members travel to various locations around the country to visit Dairy facilities and participate in the ADSA Midwest student affiliate conferences. In March Club 2005 members travelled to California for tours of dairy farms and plants. In February 2005 the Club hosted the 2005 ADSA-SAD Annual Meeting Approximately 500 students from universities around the Midwest participated. Club members traveled to Madison, Wisconsin for the 2006 ADSA-SAD Annual meeting. In February 2007 Club members travelled to Manhattan, Kansas for the ADSA-SAD Annual Meeting. In January 2008 Cub members traveled to Montana for a ski trip. Flying down the slopes of the Red Lodge Mountain resort, members of the SDSU Dairy Club not only had snow in their faces, but smiles underneath! Heather Jons, Tim Korver, Gary Landman, Heather Rollefson, John Temme, Abbie Wirt, and advisor Matt Laubach ventured out to Montana January 12th until the 16th. They stayed in a cozy condo in the nearby town of Red Lodge. Tasty meals were prepared with everyone’s help, and the only blunder was a minute amount of burnt bacon. A hot tub, card games, movies, and a stroll down main street engaged the group between the three days of skiing. Everyone had fun, and many enjoyed learning how to ski…although some may have used a tree to stop, a caution sign to stop, or slid 50 yards down the hill, the Dairy Club looks forward to another ski trip next year out West!

Canadian Royal, 2006: 6 states in 24 hours, 2 nights sleeping in vans, 10 students, breathe-taking Canadian waterfalls, a few wrong turns, hundreds of black spots, thousands of strollers, fuzzy kittens, no Mountain Dew, fast food, and the pleasure of eating goat cheese…would be a quick summary of the Canadian Royal Dairy Club trip 2006. Early Wednesday, November 8th, 2006, the members of the SDSU Dairy Club crossed the country to tour processing plants, farms, Niagra Falls, University of Guelph, and the Royal Agriculture Winter Fairy in Toronto, Canada. While driving to Canada, the club was intrigued by ‘Amish Country’ and stopped at two small-scale cheese plants (K&K Cheese LLC and Hustler Co-op Creamery). We experienced Amish cheese-making and had the luxury of tasting unique, aged, goat-cheese. We even enjoyed fresh curds for the rest of the trip! After many twists, turns, and bumps in the road; we arrived at Rosedale Farms, home of Lavender Ruby Redrose, 2005 Supreme Champion, and Kinyon Linjet Ideal, 2006 Champion Holstein, at the World Dairy Expo. Our next official stop was at the beautiful Niagara Falls, even though it was a dreary day, it was still a pleasant view! The Dairy Club met up with a University of Guelph student who kindly showed us around three more dairy farms (including the University’s farm). We were surrounded in Toronto traffic and finally reached our hotel. We then found a cozy little restaurant and enjoyed a sit-down meal with live music. RAWF (Royal Agriculture Winter Festival) began the next morning for us with the Holstein Show. There were many other wondrous sites for viewing pleasure, including all kinds of livestock, souvenirs, and a variety of delicious foods. Some students saw a Horse Show, Medieval Show, Vegetable Exhibits, and so much more! The Holstein Show and Dairy Cattle Auction had the best attendance from SDSU! The show reminded some students of the Minnesota State Fair, and others wished to see more Brown Swiss and Guernseys! They had one stand passing out free potatoes…around 12-15 Canadian potatoes made their way back to Brookings, what a treat! Overall the Dairy Club’s trip to Toronto Canada was amazing! We had the opportunity to see some unique cheese production operations! The SDSU Dairy Club was able to visit some outstanding dairy farms and see some beautiful cattle. We had the opportunity to get our hands on a little Canadian culture and become engulfed in their Agriculture Fair!

The Club hosted the its 6th annual Dairy Camp on June 13-15, 2008 for kids ages 8-18. This year 23 kids participated in the camp that was held on the SDSU campus with activities also taking place at the SDSU Dairy Research and Training Facility. The Camp kicked off with a tour of the Harringa farm near Estelline, SD. The kids enjoyed seeing a family farm operation similar to many of their own. This year we tried something new at camp. Each Camper was able to “buy” their own heifer to care for during Camp and then show on the last day. We taught the Campers how to read a pedigree and decide the important traits to observe when looking at cattle they might want to purchase. After that each Camper drew out of a hat a specific amount of money that they could use to bid on their heifer. We then held an auction where every Camper was able to “buy” their heifer. Following the auction we headed back to the dorms for movie night. Tuesday morning began bright and early with breakfast at the farm followed by sessions teaching them fitting, judging, oral reasons, and showmanship skills. Sub sandwiches were enjoyed by everyone before heading to the SDSU Dairy Plant for a tour and a chance to make ice cream. After that we headed back to the farm where the campers were busy clipping and washing their heifers in preparation of the show on Wednesday. Each Camper was also able to tie-dye their own dairy camp t-shirt which made for a colorful bunch of campers! That evening we had Farmer Olympics and then spaghetti followed by root beer floats and games. On Wednesday the kids returned to the dairy farm early to finish up their heifers before the contest. The parents were invited out to watch the showmanship and fitting contests and then enjoyed a hamburger feed put on by Monsanto and Midwest Ag. Awards and prizes marked the ending of another successful Dairy Camp.

The annual Hobo Day is a long standimg SDSU tradition. The parade is held in fall each year and features numerous floats and marching bands from SDSU and around the area. It is a perfect opportunity to bring the club together and build a float! The themes have ranged from Hobos Get Physical in 2008 to Hobos on the Prairie in 2006, Luck of the Hobos in 2005, and many others over the years. Each year Club members put their efforts together the day before the parade to come up with a creative float. Some years have featured a cow or calf on the float. The Dairy Club personalize their float with the theme of the year: “Do You Want to Get Lucky with These Hobos (2005), and Building Strong Bones (2008), ?” On the day of the parade, Dairy Club members walk the mile and half long parade route. SOme years they battle true South Dakota weather as it may go from sunshine to snow. A common theme each year for the float is the traditional Dairy couch that sits on the back of the float and the pink cow that walks alongside the float

Each spring SDSU Dairy Club members have the opportunity to help plan, organize, and compete in the Little International exposition on the SDSU campus. There are various competitions to participate in, such as judging, showmanship, and fitting. It is a wonderful time to learn how to gain skills of future careers. In addition, new friendships are made in the process of having fun! In 2006 year Jenna Mueller placed 1st in showmanship and 2nd in fitting. Allison Stevens placed 1st in fitting and 2nd in showmanship. Third place showmanship was Brad Korver and third place fitting was Tom Norling.

South Dakota State Fair

The SDSU Dairy Club once again exhibited at the South Dakota State Fair in Huron, South Dakota. The fair was a successful one with members helping clip, wash, bed, and show Holstein and Brown Swiss heifers. In the open Holstein show, the university placed towards the top in many classes and topped the class of Holstein junior heifer calves; in the Brown Swiss show, many top honors were taken as well. Club members also had a chance to see the sights at the fair while they were not busy with the chores. Next year will be fun and busy with continuing success.