Animal Science: Winter Dairy Travel Course

An extended field trip to a variety of dairy farms and dairy related businesses in the Northeast with students and faculty from other New England land grant institutions including UCONN, UNH, UMASS Amherst, URI, and UMaine. Offered over winter break, a different area is visited annually. Prerequisite: ASCI 1000.

PACE students by permission and override. Prereqs enforced by system: ASCI 1000; Travel Dates: January 5th - January 9th 2026.

Course Description The Winter Dairy Travel Course is an extended field trip to various dairy farms, processing plants, agricultural facilities, and research centers in the Northeastern US and Canada. Students will travel and engage in discussion with peers and instructors from various New England land grant institutions including (UCONN, UMaine, UNH, and UMass Amherst). The purpose of this course is to provide students with dairy experience or an interest in the field with an opportunity to learn about all aspects of the dairy industry, directly from the producers. This course is structured through farm visits, processing facility tours, and discussions with producers, peers, and instructors. In addition to enriching student’s knowledge of dairy management, students will be exposed to on-site dairy processing operations. These farm visits are an excellent opportunity for newer students with an interest in agriculture or previous dairy experience to learn from a diverse range of operations. This year, students will be able to tour multiple cattle operations of varying scales, as well as a sheep dairy

Course Learning Objectives 1. Students will be able to analyze the business model of a farm or processing facility and develop an understanding of various aspects of dairy management. 2. Students will be able to engage in discussion of topics related to the course with instructors, producers, and peers from nearby institutions. 3. Students will become familiar with both on-farm and independent dairy processing operations. 4. Students will be able to reflect on their experiences at the end of each day and answer the two core questions listed below: a. How does the management of each operation create opportunities or present challenges for a successful business model? b. What did you learn at each operation that was unique about the farm? Is there one thing that surprised you, or that was unexpected? Can you provide one specific detail that you noticed? 5. Students will be able to provide other students with a brief overview of one of the farms they visited in the form of a presentation.

Grading Criteria/Policies Grading: Participation on farm tours: 60% Written response to questions from each facility visited: 20% Presentation to UVM class in the spring semester; 20%