Eight students from Iowa State participated in this year’s Southern Regional Dairy Challenge on November 16-18 in Knoxville, TN. Aggregate teams were formed with students from several universities across the south and Midwest, forming two judging panels. Tyler Machin was on the second-place team on Panel A. For Panel B, Claire Betley competed on the first place team, and Anne Simpson competed on the second place team.
Dairy Challenge is a farm evaluation competition. Students work on a team to develop a 20-minute presentation evaluating a dairy farm’s strengths and opportunities while providing recommendations to the producer, which is presented to a panel of industry judges. Claire Betley, Elle Ruffner, Tyler Machin, Anne Simpson, Jadyn Beland, Leah Huebner, and Emily Zilisch represented Iowa State on their respective teams. Kelsey Timp participated in the event as a member of the Social Media Corps.
Iowa State typically competes in the Midwest regional contest; however, that contest will not be held in the 2025-2026 academic year due to the contest’s move to the fall semester. Iowa State will participate in the 2026 national contest in April, hosted in Sioux Falls, SD, and in the fall 2026 Midwest contest in Green Bay, WI.