The Jordan College of Agriculture Sciences and Technology (JCAST) hosted “Dairy Day” on Tuesday, allowing students to celebrate and learn about the dairy industry at Fresno State and around the Central Valley.
The event featured all things dairy, including free ice cream samples from the Fresno State creamery, a photo-op with a live cow named Betsy and networking opportunities with over 20 industry professionals.
Jessica Graybeal, a dairy science professor, was one of four main organizers behind Dairy Day alongside Kelli Williamson, a food sciences and nutrition faculty member, Paulina Freide, a researcher on campus and Amy Thao, the campus creamery technician.
To help out, Graybeal invited several industry partners she knows and coordinated efforts to bring Betsy, a 13 month old cow, to the Memorial Gardens for the event.
In doing so, she hoped to inform students about food processing, its regulations, cow-side management and more, given how prominent agriculture is in their everyday lives.
“I feel like the general population doesn’t know much about agriculture,” Graybeal said. “So this event kind of highlights where your food comes from, like farm to fork, who regulates it as well as our amazing agriculture programs.”
In bringing Betsy to campus and offering free ice cream samples, she believes this served as a full-circle moment for students working directly with cows on the campus farms to make the ice cream.
Freire believes another big aspect of Dairy Day was to bring awareness to the diverse career opportunities in the dairy industry.
This is why she and her team intentionally hosted Dairy Day in the center of campus to reach a broader audience of students outside of the JCAST.
“Many students think, ‘oh I’m studying chemistry, or I am in engineering, so that means there isn’t a job opportunity for me here,’” she said. “But that’s not true. The dairy industry has room for everyone in all areas of expertise, so we hoped to show that this is a career they can go for.”
Some industry partners in attendance included Hilmar Cheese Company, Rosa Brothers Milk Company, Real California Milk and California Dairies Inc., who gave out free food samples and other goodies to students who stopped by.
Bianca Gonzalez, a pre-psychology major, heard about Dairy Day through a flyer she saw while walking around campus and was mostly enticed by the chance to meet Betsy.
Considering she knew very little about JCAST, she said she now feels more informed about the hands-on opportunities within the college and from other partners across the Valley.
One booth she found interesting was Sealpro Silage, a local agriculture supply company that makes oxygen barrier film covers to preserve animal feed on farms.
There, Gonzalez learned cows eat more than just hay through a demonstration showing how farmers make “cow salad,” a mixture of ingredients designed to help livestock maintain a balanced diet.
Reflecting on Dairy Day, she believes many students can learn a lot from attending events that are outside their own field of study.
“It’s important to attend all kinds of events, even if they don’t relate to your major,” Gonzalez said. “Because you just might discover something that interests you when you least expect it, which can open up new doors for other experiences.”
In the future, she plans to visit the Gibson Farm Market for more ice cream and take a farm tour to see more livestock raised on campus, including Betsy, in her natural habitat.
With over 300 students in attendance, both Graybeal and Freire considered Dairy Day a success and believe the event has the potential to bring even more industry partners and become an annual tradition.
To stay updated on other events like Dairy Day, they encourage students and staff to follow JCAST on Instagram.
