Attracting people from a variety of backgrounds can strengthen successful entry, energy level, and openness to new ideas in the dairy industry. Students come from farm and non-farm backgrounds. These students need a strong combination of dairy information, grazing knowledge, and management skills, says Cates. And while most students have dairy farm experience, few have farm management experience. Both men and women attend the program.
Students come from Wisconsin as well as outside the state.
While recruiting diverse students has been successful, student numbers have been lower than hoped. Cates hopes raising the school's visibility and offering flexible attendance options, like distance learning, will attract more students. Dairy farm cadets, or apprentices, serve under carefully selected farmer mentors. Wisconsin's Farm and Industry Short Course classes offer theoretical and practical training in dairy farming. Students go to pasture walks to see grazing in practice, to ask questions, and to learn about a variety of grazing approaches.