Dairy Tour of South Dakota

On 14th August 2007 Dr. David Chicoine, President of SDSU and Dr. Gary Lemme, Dean of the College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences, received a glimpse of the dairy industry of South Dakota through a 200 mile trip that included visits to three dairy farms and three plants. Joining as guests were Don Guthmiller and Rebecca Schafer of the SDSU Cooperative Extension Service. Stops on the trip included Davisco Foods, Lake Norden; Valley Queen Cheese, Milbank; Midwest Dairy Institute, Milbank; Global Dairy, Estelline; and the SDSU dairy plant and farm. Hosts at each stop provided an excellent perspective on their own operations through tours and discussions as well as the state of the art in the dairy industry today. A total of 12 alums of the Dairy Science department who are serving as employees and several existing students and employees of the Dairy Science Department also participated in the visits. Discussions ranged from the state of the art at each farm and processing facility to the future of the industry, role of research and education, to how and why Mozzarella stretches, how cross ventilation in a dairy barn works, what is a probiotic cheese, and many other stimulating topics.

South Dakota State University / Dairy Science Department
Dairy Microbiology Rm 109 / Phone: 605-688-4116
College of Agricultural and Biological Sciences