Dairy students share post-secondary experiences Choosing a post-secondary school can be challenging. A lot goes into committing to a school including consideration of majors, future career opportunities, finances and personal preferences. Wisconsin has a wide variety of 2- and 4-year schools where students can specialize and prepare for a career in agriculture. Five dairy students share their experiences at the schools they attend to give future students an idea of what to expect and what college is like. Thank you to those who participated in our roundtable! Where did you grow up and what is your background in agriculture? What are you majoring in and what are your plans after graduation?
Aisja Achenbach, Southwest Technical College: I grew up on a dairy farm in Eastman. I’ve always had an agriculture background. From growing up on the farm watching and working with my grandpa to educating city kids about agriculture. I’m majoring in Farm Operations and Management – Dairy. Following school, I plan to continue working with my show string and possibly work in the nutrition industry. One of my larger goals would be working with Holstein Association USA and becoming a classifier. Zoe Ertel, Lakeshore Technical College: I grew up on my grandparents fourth generation dairy farm right outside of Plymouth. This is where my love and passion for not only showing dairy cattle and swine but also agriculture formed. I started showing in our county’s annual farmer bud show when I was just five years old and joined 4-H, FFA, and the Junior Holstein Association as soon as I could! This opened many doors for me and expanded not only learning but multiple leadership skills as well. Currently I am attending Lakeshore Technical College, LTC, in Cleveland and majoring in Agricultural Business. This is a technical college, so after my two years are complete I plan to transfer to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls to finish school. Josh Gerbitz, UW-Madison: I was born on a small dairy in Dodge County but my family moved shortly after I was born. Since then, most of my life I have lived off the farm in Rock County. I was active in 4-H and Junior Holsteins throughout my childhood and that led me to start working on a dairy the summer after eighth grade. From then I never looked back. Many of the connections I made through these experiences helped me decide I wanted to study dairy science at UW-Madison. I have had great experiences through school, organizations, and internships that have helped shape me. After graduation I will be working for Alta Genetics as a Dairy Business Advisor in Eastern Wisconsin. Becca Iverson, UW-River Falls: I grew up in the town of Burlington. I didn’t get involved in agriculture, specifically dairy, until I was 14 years old. My relatives invited me to spend the summer with them on their little farm where they raised show heifers in Juda. After that first summer I was drawn into the dairy world and spent 20 – Wisconsin Holstein News – December 2021
every summer until college out there working with the heifers and going to cattle shows. I am majoring in Biotechnology with an emphasis in Animal Science and a minor in Dairy Science at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. This December I will be graduating and then I plan to search of a career in bovine reproduction or some sort of lab work career. Luke Trustem, UW-Platteville: I grew up in Evansville, Wisconsin, on my family’s dairy farm Larson Acres. On the farm I have numerous tasks such as doing the night feeding on the weekends, working with the show and sale calves, and sire selection on show animals. My plans after school are to either pursue a career in animal nutrition or as an A.I. specialist. Then eventually return to the family farm. Why did you choose this school?
Achenbach: I chose Southwest Wisconsin Technical College because it’s close to my home farm and I felt like it was a very good investment when compared to other options. I didn’t want to be paying of student loans when I could be investing in expanding my show herd. Ertel: Originally I had planned to attend River Falls right after graduating highschool in 2020. However, due to the global pandemic, I decided it was best to take a gap year. I didn’t like the idea of online schooling and there were a lot of uncertainties at the time. This led me to finding a technical college near my home to attend to earn some of the class credit I would need. Gerbitz: I chose to attend UW-Madison because it is at the center of the dairy industry. Protocols like Ovsynch were created here. That means that at Madison the instructors are the people who are making the big changes in the industry. Apart from that, a big thing at Madison is the connections. When you’re in the center of dairy innovation you naturally have the opportunity to meet other people that you will work with throughout your career. Iverson: I chose River Falls because I loved the feel of a smaller school, but still felt like it had so a lot of opportunities available to it’s students. Having smaller class and lab sizes has given more chance for hands on learning and chances to interact during class. Trustem: I chose to come to UW-Platteville because it has small class sizes and the program in dairy science that I wanted. With the smaller campus, I can be more involved on campus with things like the Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity, Pioneer Dairy Club, and Collegiate Dairy Judging. The city of Platteville also felt very similar to my hometown. Platteville is also close enough to home and far enough away at the same time.
