The Center Is Offering a $100 Discount to Dairy Producers Who Enroll in Winter Course
To assist dairy farm families in improving communication, safety and productivity, while building respect and positive relationships with Spanish-speaking employees, the Center for Dairy Excellence is once again offering $100 discounts to dairy producers who sign up for the “Spanish for Agriculture” (Dairy Beginners or Intermediate) online course with Katie Dotterer of AgvoKate this winter. The course is being held from February 4 through March 27, 2025. Individuals who sign up will have 24/7 access to all course content through May 9.
Dairy producers will receive $100 off the cost of registration and access to 16 online, interactive classes along with all the resources the instructor provides. The $100 discount is available for both the Beginners and Intermediate course. Producers must sign up by January 31 to receive the discount.
“With 78 percent of the U.S. agricultural workforce speaking Spanish, you can meet them in the middle with this course. I teach these lessons the way I wish someone would have taught me: with simple explanations and fun ways to learn a second language quickly. Working with native Spanish speakers for 21+ years allowed me to create this specific curriculum that’s applicable to daily farm life,” said Katie Dotterer. “Students get so excited when they’re putting applicable sentences together by week three. My passion is agriculture and education, and I’m here for my students every step of the way.”
Led by Katie Dotterer of AgvoKate, a lifelong dairy farmer and former Spanish teacher, the online Spanish course will be held live on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from February 4 through March 27, 2025 from 7:45 to 8:45 p.m. for the Beginners course. The Intermediate course will be held live from 6 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. All classes are recorded for on-demand viewing with no mandatory live attendance required. Individuals can save and download all resources, with the exception of videos, to utilize after the conclusion of the course. Resources include digital flashcards, comprehensive vocabulary lists, and resource links.
“I loved getting back into the Spanish language. For any dairy that works with Spanish-speaking personnel and are sweating the communication gap, this course will help alleviate the stress of communication. Learning the proper terms of all things dairy around the farm has been a great benefit to communicating with our Spanish-speaking employees,” said Pamela Barnes of Maple Knoll Farm in Pennsylvania who completed the course.
The 16 classes span over a total of eight weeks and include two, one-hour classes per week. The course includes interactive discussions and practical activities, one-on-one support from the instructor, ag-specific vocabulary, and a certificate of completion at the end. The course begins with Spanish basics and expands to include specific dairy vocabulary that will help farmers better communicate with employees.
“This course met all my expectations and then some! Within a couple classes I was able to start putting phrases together and communicate with our employees. I don’t know who is more excited – them or me,” said Nicole, a dairy farmer who completed the course.
Learn more about the course:
- When: February 4 through March 27, 2025. (Individuals will have 24/7 access to all course content through May 9).
- Beginners: 7:45 p.m. – 8:45 p.m. EST
- Intermediate: 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. EST
- Cost: The course is $597 per person, which includes a $100 discount from the Center for Dairy Excellence for dairy producers. The course is designed to track individual progress, not a couple or family. For those who sign up by January 22, Katie is offering her Bilingual Measurement Guide for free. The guide is a comprehensive Spanish-English measurement guide, and it includes: easy conversion tables with standard, metric & imperial units, visual measurement comparisons for quick understanding, and more.
- How to Sign Up: Dairy producers should visit www.centerfordairyexcellence.org/spanish-discount to sign up and receive the discount. You will receive details on how to access the course after registering.
Katie Dotterer is a lifelong dairy farmer who received degrees in business management, and secondary education, Spanish. She worked as a Spanish teacher in middle and high school for 4+ years, and has worked to develop curriculum and instructed online courses for the dairy industry for six years and over 700 students nationwide. She has worked with native Spanish speakers for 21+ years. Katie also studied abroad in Panama, Mexico, Cuba and Honduras. She is certified in ESL-English as a Second Language. She teaches ESL to the Hispanic community and her mission is to “meet in the middle.” She received the 2008 Employer of the Year (Dotterer Dairy) from The PA Department of Education Migrant Education Program.
Visit www.centerfordairyexcellence.org/spanish-discount to learn more about the discount and the course, or call 717-346-0849 for more details. Sign up no later than January 31, 2025 to receive the discount.
Visit https://www.agvokate.com/new-online-spanish-course-1 to learn more about the course.