St. Louis District Dairy Council has partnered with dairy farmers in Illinois and Missouri to bring our Adopt-A-Calf program to classrooms. The no-cost program allows classes to “adopt” a calf from one of our farmers, name it, and receive monthly pictures and updates. E-mail updates will arrive from a local dairy farmer from September through May. While the majority of content is geared towards young students, any grade level can adopt a calf.

Upon signing up for the program and adopting a calf, the classroom will receive a birth certificate to name their cow and a poster to track the calf’s growth through the monthly photos that the teacher will receive via email.*

In addition to the monthly photo, updates on the growth and development of the calf will be provided along with various downloadable educational materials, such as:

  • Fun-filled activity sheets 
  • Dairy farm videos 
  • Hands-on activities
  • Student-friendly infographics and mini-posters
  • SMART Board lessons

In addition, fun contests are offered throughout the school year for classrooms to win dairy cool prizes!

If you want to see how other classrooms have used the Adopt-A-Calf program, check out our testimonials.

Read Testimonials

Adopt-a-Calf FAQ

The barn is now closed for the 23-24 school year. Fill out the form below to be notified when the adoption barn opens for next school year.

School Year

*For participants outside of the St. Louis District Dairy Council service area, printed program materials will not be mailed. However, we welcome you to participate in the Adopt-A-Calf program and have made all materials available to download and print from the monthly emails that will be delivered to all participants.