By Nicole Sandler

Allan Wolf always knew that he wanted to run his family’s farm one
day, but he realized that to do it well, he’d have to acquire some
pretty sophisticated management skills. After a visit during high
school to the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Farm and Industry
Short Course (FISC), the Bonduel, Wis. native figured that was a good
place to learn what he needed to know.

It proved to be an astute choice. At age 19, Wolf has completed his
second year of FISC. He has also demonstrated a solid understanding of
what it takes to troubleshoot and fine-tune a modern dairy operation
as a member of the UW-Madison team at the annual Midwest North
American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge in St. Joseph, Missouri. Wolf
earned high honors at the event, which requires students to analyze a
commercial farm and present their management recommendations to a
panel of industry professionals.

The competition gives students an opportunity to take what they learn
in their courses and apply it to real world problems faced by dairy
farmers. “They’re challenged to analyze farm data and management
systems, identify what problems are most important to solve, and come
up with viable solutions,” explains FISC director Ted Halbach.

The contest lets participants test their analytical skills and dairy
knowledge against that of 80 of the region’s brightest dairy science
students. It’s also a good way to monitor the effectiveness of the UW
Short Course program, says David Rhoda, instructor for the FISC dairy
management course who helped Wolf and his teammates train for the
competition.

“The Dairy Challenge is one of several benchmarks we use to measure
how our core course work, practical active learning labs and
internship opportunities in dairy prepare FISC students relative to
those at other schools,” Rhoda says. “The skills promoted by this
competition are valued by employers and can help the participants be
more profitable dairy producers in the future.”

FISC, established in 1885, is Wisconsin’s longest-running agricultural
education program. The 17-week program offers over 40 courses and
allows students to focus on a specific topic through six specialty
programs.

What Wolf has learned through FISC and the Midwest Dairy Challenge
should serve him well at Wolf Farms, LLC. The 700-acre operation,
started by Wolf’s grandfather and now run by his aunt and uncle, ships
milk from 300 cows to BelGioioso Cheese, a Wisconsin cheese
manufacturer. The skills and experience that Wolf gained will serve
him well when he realizes his dream of one day buying the family farm
from his uncle.

Wolf says the program helped him understand the science behind the art
of dairy farming.

“Growing up on the farm I didn’t know exactly why you did certain
things; you just did them. Through this course I learned the reasons,”
he says. “I also learned about new technologies to bring back to the
farm. Everything is moving so fast now, and there are a lot of studies
that show how and why these technologies work.”