Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE- Prospective students, parents and alumni will have the opportunity to find out about the University of Wisconsin-Platteville School of Agriculture and Pioneer Farm at World Dairy Expo Oct. 2 through 6 at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison. It is an international event which showcases dairy genetics and the newest technology in the dairy industry.

The School of Agriculture and Pioneer Farm will have booths staffed primarily by students at the World Dairy Expo where attendees may ask questions and get information and brochures. Jodi McDermott, coordinator of recruitment, retention and marketing for the UWP School of Agriculture, believes students play a key role in the recruitment of high school students at the expo.

"We staff the booth with students because we find that high school students are more comfortable around people near their own age. They can relate to them," said McDermott.

Not only does UWP have a booth, but it also sponsors the agriculture teachers breakfast and helps with the Central National FFA events. Some faculty members get involved by heading up many of the events. Mark Zidon, director of the UWP School of Agriculture and professor of agricultural education, serves as the chair of the events and the superintendent of the dairy cattle judging contest. Rick Bockhop, assistant professor of agricultural education at UWP, will be serving as the superintendent of the dairy products judging, in which high school students will assess quality and identify different kinds of dairy products. Chris Baxter, assistant professor of soil and crop science, and David Kopsell, assistant professor of ornamental horticulture and crop science at UWP, are the superintendents for the forage management cup contest. As part of the contest, high school students will judge forage quality, identify seeds and plants and answer questions about forage production quality and handling. The faculty recruit UWP students to help set up each contest and tally scores.

A perk for their efforts of assisting at the expo is that students have time to visit some of the 675 companies exhibiting. Students will not only see some of the latest state-of-the-art technology, but also have the opportunity to network with companies.

Anyone wanting more information about UWP's School of Agriculture and Pioneer Farm booths at World Dairy Expo, may contact McDermott at (608) 342-1366 or mcdermoj@uwplatt.edu

Contact: Jodi McDermott, coordinator of recruitment, retention and marketing, School of Agriculture, (608) 342-1366, mcdermoj@uwplatt.edu Written by: Krystle Kurdi, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194, kurdik@uwplatt.edu