Source:  NCDA&CS, 6/28/10

WHAT:State legislators will compete in a milk-chugging contest to celebrate dairy month and raise awareness about North Carolina’s dairy industry. In recognition of July as ice cream month, attendees also will be able to enjoy ice cream following the competition.

WHEN:Wednesday, June 30, at 2 p.m.
(Time may be adjusted due to session schedule)

WHERE: North portico of the legislative building

WHO: Rep. Dewey Hill and Sen. Bob Atwater, who chair the General Assembly’s agriculture committees, will lead their teams in competition. The first-place team will receive $200 for a charity of its choice, and the second-place team will receive $100 for its selected charity.

The competition is sponsored by the N.C. Dairy Industry Promotional Committee, with additional support from N.C. Farm Bureau, N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Cooperative Council of North Carolina and the N.C. State Grange. Milk will be donated by Milkco and Hunter Farms will provide the ice cream for the event.

MORE INFO: North Carolina has 290 dairy farms with 45,000 milk cows that produced about 107 million gallons of milk in 2008. The state leads the Southeast for most milk production per cow; a total value of more than $191 million. In addition, the N.C. dairy industry produces 15.9 million gallons of ice cream annually.