The concept of the course will be to analyze every management decision a producer must make individually. The connections between decisions will be drawn and the “network” within operations will be established. Students will then begin to visit dairy operations and analyze their decision making practices. Once multiple farms have been visited, the relationship between knowledgeable decisions and success will be established. Practices will be held almost exclusively on farm, for in this industry, to see, touch, and smell is to learn. Students will be asked during practices to analyze farms, develop priorities, make recommendations, and present these recommendations in a logical, succinct method. The culmination of the learning experience will be putting the scientific and technical knowledge to work in the national Dairy Challenge competition.