Congratulations to students from the Fox Valley Technical College Agriculture programs, who took home honors in two recent competitions.

This February, the students competed in the Midwest Dairy Challenge (photo on left) and the 2024 Wisconsin Professional Agriculture Student Competitive Events Conference (photo on right).

Events like these are important because they not only help students build their teamwork and communication skills, they also provide valuable opportunities to network with fellow students and industry professionals.

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Midwest Regional Dairy Challenge

Feb. 7-9, 2024, Green Bay (Photo above, at left)

Dairy Challenge offered by the North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge (NAIDC) is a premier collegiate dairy contest for postsecondary students in two and four-year colleges. Four regional events are hosted across the United States each year.

The competition for the Midwest region was held in Green Bay on Feb. 7-9 with 120 students from 17 schools competing, and provided participants with the opportunity to evaluate a well-managed dairy, then recommend management enhancements to a panel of judges comprised of industry and academic professionals.

Five FVTC agriculture students competed, and a team including Bethany Magdanz (Agribusiness Science & Technology-Animal Science) was selected as the first-place team for Room B: Tauchen’s Harmony Dairy.

In addition, a team including Ava Jarvais (Agribusiness Science & Technology-Animal Science), was selected as the second-place team for Room C: Tauchen’s Harmony Dairy.

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Wisconsin 2024 Professional Agriculture Student (PAS) Competitive Events Conference

Feb. 11-14, 2024, Wisconsin Dells (Photo above, at right)

This year, 21 FVTC students participated in the Wisconsin PAS conference, with more than 150 students from nine Wisconsin technical colleges competing total.

The conference offers students an opportunity to compete in multiple individual and team-focused contests, which cultivate and advance their future agriculture careers. Students apply knowledge and develop plans for situational case students in multiple agriculture disciplines.  

All the students listed below will represent Fox Valley Technical College at the 2024 National PAS Conference held in Springfield, Illinois on March 11-14.

Wisconsin 2024 PAS Competitive Events Conference Results

Employment Interview

Category: Agribusiness Administration
1st: Grace LeGrave*
2nd: Camryn Hass*

Category: Agriculture Education
4th: Jared Vanaacken

Category: Agriculture Equipment and Machinery
3rd: Garrett Gasienica

Category: Agribusiness Sales
2nd: Abby Charapata*

Category: Agronomic Production
4th: Ryan Mast

Category: Livestock and Dairy Production
4th: Ava Johnson

Category: Livestock and Dairy Services
2nd: Isabelle Braasch*
3rd: Harlee Wolf

Category: Specialty Crop Production
1st: Caprice Juday*

Impromptu Speaking
2nd: Olivia Rodriguez-Golner*

Prepared Speaking
2nd: Ava Johnson*

Dairy Specialist—Team
4th Team: Grace LeGrave, Colton Koepke, Sam Mess*

Dairy Specialist Individual
1st: Sam Mess
4th: Grace LeGrave

Agronomy & Soils Specialist—Team
1st Team: Abigail Weyland, Olivia Rodriguez-Golner*
2nd Team: Garret Gasienica, Ava Rueth, Ryan Mast*
3rd Team: Caprice Juday, Brock Klumpers, Camryn Haas*

Agronomy & Soils Specialist Individual
1st: Abigail Weyland
2nd: Brock Klumpers
3rd: Garret Gasienica
4th: Caprice Juday
5th: Olivia Rodriguez-Golner

Livestock Specialist—Team
3rd Team: Ava Johnson, Harlee Wolf, Tiffany Geffers*
9th Team: Jared Vanaacken, Stacy Walber*

Livestock Specialist Individual
3rd: Harlee Wolf

*Denotes national qualifier