More than 20 students and professionals spent a day this autumn attending a Midwest Dairy Association Day of Dairy.

The event, at Redhead Creamery and Jer-Lindy Farms in Brooten, was focused on helping the participants better understand how dairy foods get from the farm to the table. The student group included those with studies in dietetics, food, nutrition and food science.

“One of our roles as a checkoff organization is to help maintain trust in dairy,” said Trish Scorpio, Midwest Dairy’s vice president of integrated communications. “Reaching out to those who will answer clients and consumer questions in the future will help us with that goal.”

LEARNING ALL THINGS DAIRY: Students interested in foods and nutrition toured the Jer-Lindy dairy farm and its Redhead Creamery near Brooten.

The full day at the farm, where the Jennissen and Sjostrom families combine milking cows with making farmstead cheese, was highlighted by a farm tour and cheese sampling. Rebecca Ayers of Land O’Lakes, Michael Levey of Kemps and Agnes Collado-Pearson of International Dairy Queen joined Midwest Dairy’s Alex Larson, a registered dietitian, on a panel to share career advice.

During the discussion, panelists agreed students should be open to a variety of opportunities early in their careers, pointing out students may be surprised to enjoy a particular new role they had not expected. One professional also mentioned the importance of treating colleagues with kindness, never knowing when business or employment might bring a person into a student’s future.

IT STARTS WITH THE COW: Jerry Jennissen, owner of Jer-Lindy dairy farm, gave the group a tour of the farm.

The cheesemaker at Redhead, Alise Sjostrom, had her own story to tell. As a University of Minnesota graduate, Sjostrom gained experience in the retail grocery world and at two cheese plants before returning to her home farm to start Redhead Creamery. Jer-Lindy uses 5% to 7% of its herd’s milk for cheese that is sold on-site and at more than 200 restaurants and retail outlets. Alise’s parents, Linda and Jerry Jennissen, and her husband, Lucas, are partners in the farm and creamery that won a Sustainability Award for U.S. Dairy this year.

Learning more about dairy’s unique nutrition package was also part of the day. The discussion, led by Larson, included quizzing the students on what they had learned about dairy nutrition from the day. Said one student by way of Twitter: “I know basically everything about milk now. #dairygood.”

Similar Day of Dairy events were also carried out with Iowa State University and Kansas State University students, visiting the campus dairies operated by the two institutions.

Source: Midwest Dairy