Wisconsin has lost nearly 70 percent of its dairy farms over the past 25 years, even as milk production has remained strong due to advances in technology and efficiency. While this reflects the industry’s resilience, it also highlights growing financial pressure on family farms. To stay viable, dairy producers are increasingly exploring new revenue streams, technologies, and business models. At the same time, many young people entering the industry lack exposure to entrepreneurship and innovation skills that can help them identify and develop new opportunities.

The PYLot (Prototype Your Life) pilot project addresses this gap by connecting students with dairy farmers through a hands-on entrepreneurship program. Using a mobile app and structured activities, students develop innovation skills while exploring real-world challenges and opportunities on farms. The project will evaluate how the program builds entrepreneurial mindsets and generates new ideas, with outcomes including student-developed concepts, a shared repository of diversification opportunities, and insights to expand the program and support innovation across dairy communities.