For the second year, Midwest Dairy sponsored and participated in the Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability (UMACS) Conference. UMACS is a network of staff, faculty, and students from colleges and universities that promote sustainability throughout the upper Midwest. This year, the conference was held at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and included 301 participants, 50 percent students and 50 percent staff, from 49 colleges across seven states. Through multiple interactions, the conference enabled Midwest Dairy to build relationships and trust with university thought leaders and Gen Z students.
Midwest Dairy sponsored a networking dinner for 46 students and faculty attending the St. Paul Saints Baseball game. The dinner provided an excellent opportunity to meet key leaders, including Shane Stennes, Director of Sustainability with the University of Minnesota, and Mike Foucher, Energy and Climate Policy Advisor with the British Consulate in Chicago.
In addition to the dinner, Midwest Dairy staff hosted a table to share dairy sustainability stories with students and faculty, many of whom are within our region. Through multiple discussions, university staff emerged impressed with the openness and understanding of environmental issues as just one component within the interconnected food system.
Midwest Dairy also hosted a “Sustainable Farm Practices: Fact or Fiction” panel session with a packed room of students and faculty. The panel featured Brad Jordahl Redlin from the Department of Agriculture discussing the Minnesota Agricultural Water Certification Program; Peter Kramer, a farmer, soil consultant, and board member from Minnesota Soil Health Coalition, sharing the importance of soil practices; and Suzanne Vold from Dorrich Dairy, sharing Dairy’s Net Zero plan and sustainability practices at her farm. Each panelist spoke for 10 minutes, followed by a Q&A moderated by Midwest Dairy, followed by an interactive discussion.
The conference concluded with an ice cream bar sponsored by Midwest Dairy. Overall, it was a highly successful activation, allowing Midwest Dairy to establish new connections and engage in educational sustainability-related conversations.