The 2026 National Dairy Challenge Contest and Academy recently concluded after three days of immersive hands-on learning experiences for 281 dairy-focused college students from across North America. Held in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, this year’s event set a new record for participation in both the academy and contest teams.
Students participate in dairy challenge
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Purdue University earned first place in Dairy A, Tri-Cross Dairy. Back row, from left are Isaiah Eisert and Kent Hamstra. Front row, from left are Rachel Craun and Sydney Haag.
Oklahoma State University earned second place in Dairy A, Tri-Cross Dairy. Back row, from left are Thomas Palla and Derek DeGroot. Front row, from left are Clancey Krahn and Carmen Kuiper.
Texas A&M University earned first place in Dairy B, Tri-Cross Dairy. Back row, from left are Dieter Ally and Rendyn Lamance. Front row, from left are Estrella Farias and Elizabeth Haugen.
Pennsylvania State University earned second place in Dairy B, Tri-Cross Dairy. Back row, from left are Jay Bratton and Rylan Curran. Front row, from left are Jessica Fleisher and Hannah Mansfield.
University of Minnesota earned first place in Dairy C, Mooody County Dairy. Back row, from left are Keenan Thygesen and Tyler Ratka. Front row, from left are Alexis Hoefs and Brady Gille.
University of Wisconsin-Madison earned second place in Dairy C, Mooody County Dairy. Back row, from left are Jenna Gries and Derek Gehin. Front row, from left are Ava Dragosh and Clarissa Ulness.
Iowa State University earned first place in Dairy D, Mooody County Dairy. Back row, from left are Anne Simpson and Tyler Machin. Front row, from left are Jadyn Beland and Emily Zilisch.
University of Guelph earned second place in Dairy D, Mooody County Dairy. Back row, from left are Lynn Strick and Nicole Danen. Front row, from left are Zoe Jovkovic and Cadence Beck.
Group No. 5 earned first place in Dairy E, Boadwine Farms out of Groups 1 through 5. Back row, from left are Faith Wolfe of Pennsylvania State University, Bianka Ronnebaum of Iowa State University and Gabriela Galvez of University of Vermont. Front row, from left are David Porsche of Delaware Valley University and Trevor Hath of University of Minnesota.
Group No. 8 earned first place in Dairy E, Boadwine Farms, out of Groups 6 through 10. Back row, from left are George Gioletti of Fresno State University, Jacob Harbaugh of University of Minnesota and Rylie Sexton of South Dakota State University. Front row, from left are Lindsie Fick of Dordt University and Alexis Parsons of University of Tennessee.
Group No. 11 earned first place in Dairy E, Boadwine Farms, out of Groups 11 to 15. Back row, from left are Garrett Ulness of University of Wisconsin-Madison, Courtney Williams of Alabama A&M University and Sean Anderson of McGill University. Front row, from left are MacKenna Weaver of University of Vermont, Harlee Harbaugh of Southwest Wisconsin Technical College and Haley Ronnebaum of Iowa State University.
Group No. 18 earned first place in Dairy E, Boadwine Farms, out of Groups 16 through 20. Back row, from left are Isabella Stoutenburg of Michigan State University, Petrie DuVall of Purdue University and Kaydan Shomaker of Virginia Tech. Front row, from left are Kelly Niefergold of SUNY Morrisville and Rachel White of Cornell University.
Group No. 22 earned first place in Dairy E, Boadwine Farms, out of Groups 21 to 25. Back row, from left are Anisa Scott of North Carolina A&T State University, Neil Venhuizen of Southwest Wisconsin Technical College and Kaylen Langhofer of West Texas A&M University. Front row, from left are Madeline Geremia of Cornell University and Megan Klossner of SUNY Morrisville.
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