A year-long FREE experience in your classroom

Forget the guinea pig. How about adopting a 100-pound dairy calf for your classroom mascot by joining the Adopt A Cow program? Don’t worry about finding a pen big enough to hold her. The photos and stories we’ll send you about her life on the farm will make her “come alive” for your students! The best part? It is FREE!

Read why other teachers love the Adopt A Cow program…

Connect students during virtual and in-person learning.

“This program was definitely a blessing. It gave my students something to look forward to. Even when we were back in person, there were some kids who were still doing online learning. The Adopt a Cow program was a good way to connect all of us, whether we were at home or in the classroom. Kids love animals, so it was a great way for them to engage and learn new facts.” –Fredie Boudrie, Summit School teacher in Phoenix, Arizona

Click here to read Fredie’s story.

Build connections in the community.

“This program helped us celebrate our rural location and learn more about our community. It was great to include my distance learners as well, and the calf photo and video updates that we received were very easy to share digitally. We thoroughly enjoyed this program, and we even had a page about it in our yearbook this year.” –Abby Hennington, Atlanta, Georgia

Click here to read Abby’s story.

Discover Dairy App

You can access your adopted calf information on our Discover Dairy App! Click the links below to download the apps. Once the app is downloaded click on “Adopt A Cow > My Adopted Calf” and enter your Cow Code. View, save, and share photos right from the app!

IOS Discover Dairy App Download
Android Discover Dairy App Download

Program Details

  • Registration for each academic year is from May 1 to September 15.
  • This program is completely FREE! No costs from beginning to end.
    • NO! The Adopt A Cow program is FREE for everyone to enjoy! If you’d like to donate to the program, you are more than welcome to Donate Here!
  • No approval process! Once you complete and submit the enrollment form below, your classroom will be registered to adopt a cow for the current school year.
  • No information will be sent out until the calves are born and registration is closed.
  • IMPORTANT! To receive the updates, please mark the email “info@discoverdairy.com” as a safe sender email. Otherwise, your updates are likely to go into your spam folder.
  1. October: Host Farm and Calf announcement is emailed and posted to your Adopt A Cow portal.
  2. November: Introductory email (sent via email) and kit with details about the host farm and calf (sent via snail mail) are sent.
    • NOTE: The mailed kit is only for registrants in the United States. All out-of-country registrants will receive the materials in digital form.
  3. December: Update #1 is emailed and posted to your Adopt A Cow portal.
  4. February: Update #2 is emailed and posted to your Adopt A Cow portal.
  5. April: Update #3 is emailed and posted to your Adopt A Cow portal.
  6. April/May: An opportunity to live chat your calf and host farm via YouTube.

You can find a detailed program calendar under the “Program Calendar.”

  • Teach in a traditional classroom setting.
  • Are homeschooling your kids/family members/friends.
  • Run an after-school program.
  • Facilitate a library or 4-H program, or programs alike.
  • Have an agriculture program at your museum or kid’s center.
  • Nursing homes and assisted living centers
  • Are one of the above and are teaching/leading from in or outside of the United States (yes, anyone can join the program, even from New Zealand!)

Throughout the program, you’ll find out what her name is, when her birthday is, where she lives and how the farmer takes care of her. We’ll also send photos of the cow, activity sheets for the students, a PowerPoint full of information and photos, and a suggested lesson that follows Common CORE standards and Next Generation Science Standards through email and the Adopt A Cow portal.

We encourage classes to fully engage in this program and even write letters to their calf and host farm family, not only to practice their writing skills but also to show their love for their calf. In the end, we keep you posted on her progress while you and your students enjoy the cuteness of your adorable calf. The Adopt A Cow Program is just one of many ways to Discover Dairy in your classroom!

What is the Cow Code?

Your Cow Code will give you access to your calf’s information all school year long through the online portal and the Discover Dairy app. For the 24-25 program year, your Cow Code will be sent to you on October 8, 2024.

How do I retrieve my Cow Code?

Cow Codes will be given to you on October 8, 2024. Until then, you will not have a Cow Code.

Once Cow Codes are provided, you can CLICK HERE to request your Cow CODE via email for the 24-25 program year at anytime. Then go to the Calf Updates page, enter your COW CODE, and it will unlock your host farm and calf information.

Make sure the COW CODE is in ALL CAPS.

Does the Adopt A Cow program cost anything?

NO! The Adopt A Cow program is FREE for everyone to enjoy! If you’d like to donate to the program, you are more than welcome to Donate HERE!

How do I register for the Adopt A Cow Program?

Registration is open from May 1, 2024, and closes on September 15, 2024. We do not accept late registrations. We hope to see you join the program!

Why do you need my mailing address?

If you are one of the first 30,000 to sign up, you will get a photo of your calf and your official adoption certificate mailed to you in November. We hope you enjoy it! If funding is available, we will send one to everyone.

How do I contact my farmer?

In October we will share a link to use to connect with your host farmer via an online message board. We do not provide the farmer’s personal information or address, but we hope you use the “Contact Your Farmer” feature to contact your farmer!
IMPORTANT TO KNOW: We encourage you to use the Contact Your Farmer tool, however, our dairy farmers may not have time to respond. Please be advised that sending a message with this tool means the farmer will read and love your messages but is very busy taking care of their cows and may not have time to respond.

Can I write letters to my farmer and calf?

Absolutely! Please realize, that these farmers are receiving many letters and it isn’t realistic for them to write back, but please know they LOVE getting your beautiful letters in the mail. It brightens their day. Please send all your letters to us and we will pass them along:
Dairy Excellence Foundation, Attn: Brittany Snyder, 2301 N Cameron Street, Suite 407, Harrisburg, PA 17110

Do I get my very own calf?

The Adopt A Cow Program works diligently to provide an individual experience for everyone involved. However, as a FREE program, we do only work with about 85 calves in the program, and we have more than 40,000 registrants this year. We do adopt each calf multiple times to provide everyone with a calf.

When will I get updates about my calf?

We will announce your calf adoption in October, and send updates in December, February, and April. In between the updates, we will share activity and lesson ideas through our Sunday Funday resource emails and landing page.

What is the Cow Kit?

We offer the Cow Kit option each year from August 1 to September 15. Cow Kits are a $35 donation and in return you get a stuffed cow, a classroom journal, a lesson with standards, cow stickers, and a packet full of classroom ideas to try with the Adopt A Cow program.

NOTE: Any donations given to the program through our general donate page will be considered general contributions to our Foundation and will NOT add get you a Cow Kit. Cow Kits will only be given when the donation is made through the Cow Kit order form.

How do I donate to the Adopt A Cow Program?

As a 501c3 non-profit organization, we greatly appreciate your donations! Your support allows us to offer this program for free for nearly 1 MILLION students around the world.

To Donate, CLICK HERE!

How do I sign up for text alerts?

Make sure to update your account with your current cell phone number and select “Yes” to I want to receive text notifications throughout the year.”

See Sample PowerPoint

Register For Adopt A Cow

Registration is over for this year. If you would like to be notified when registration and re-enrollment opens for the 25-26 school year, please register for Discover Dairy at www.discoverdairy.com/register. This will give you access to the elementary and middle school Discover Dairy lessons that are free for you to use at any time throughout the year on our website. On May 1st, 2025, you will get an email notification when the Adopt A Cow enrollment opens again.

Thanks,

The Discover Dairy Team