University of Idaho launches dairy education program for elementary students

MOSCOW — The University of Idaho Extension has introduced a new educational program aimed at teaching elementary school students about the state’s dairy industry and how milk and other dairy products are produced.

The curriculum, called Dairy in a Box, was developed for students in third through sixth grades and includes six lessons covering dairy farming, milk production and the role of dairy in Idaho’s agricultural economy.

Matt Fisher, a University of Idaho Extension educator specializing in 4-H, collaborated with Dairy West to develop the program, which includes flashcards, posters, storybooks, lesson plans, quizzes and hands-on activities.

The lessons align with Idaho’s educational standards in language arts, mathematics, social studies and science. Teachers can also adjust the activities to accommodate different grade levels.

Idaho ranks third nationally in milk production, with milk sales generating an estimated $3.85 billion in revenue in 2025, according to a report by University of Idaho Extension agricultural economists.

“We have more cows in Idaho than people, and a lot of them are dairy cows,” Fisher said. “My job was to bring this commodity in Idaho to the attention of youth and let them know that we’re more than just potatoes.”

The curriculum introduces students to different breeds of dairy cattle and explains how cows convert plants into milk and meat. Students also learn how dairy farms use agricultural byproducts, including orange pulp, almond husks, cottonseed and potato peels, as cattle feed.

Other lessons explore how milk travels from farms to grocery stores, how manure helps fertilize crops and how butter is made. Students can also watch a Dairy West video featuring dairy farms in Idaho and Utah and participate in an activity in which they make butter by shaking cream.

Fisher, a former elementary school teacher, has been developing educational materials highlighting Idaho’s major agricultural commodities, including potatoes, dairy, sugar beets and wheat.

The effort is supported by a five-year, $750,000 grant awarded to University of Idaho Extension in 2023 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Fisher has received more than $10,000 from the grant to develop the agricultural curricula.

In fall 2025, Fisher and Siew Guan Lee, an extension educator specializing in family and consumer sciences, released their first curriculum, ePotato, which teaches students about Idaho’s potato industry.

The free educational resource has been downloaded by teachers, homeschooling groups, 4-H organizations, parents and others in Idaho and beyond. According to the university, the curriculum has reached users in Illinois, Minnesota, Canada and a United Nations group in Myanmar.

Fisher and Lee have also developed a curriculum focused on Idaho’s sugar beet industry. The material has completed peer review and is awaiting publication.

“We’re an agricultural state, and more and more people are removed from farms and their food. It’s good to educate these children about what Idaho is about and where their food comes from,” Fisher said. “A kid can look out of a car window and say, ‘Hey, I know that crop,’ or ‘That’s a Holstein cow producing milk,’ instead of just a black and white cow.”

University of Idaho Extension initially produced 75 Dairy in a Box kits for sale. Fisher plans to use grant funding to produce an additional 50 kits, some of which will be distributed for free.

The kits are available through University of Idaho Extension publications for $29 each, plus shipping.