World Dairy Expo honored four leaders as the “royalty” of the cattle business during the “Dinner with the Stars” on Wednesday evening.

The 2010 World Dairy Expo Recognition Award Winners are, pictured left to right: International Person of the Year – Mr. Tadanaga Komori, Japan Livestock Trading Corporation of Obihiro, Hokkaido, Japan; Dairyman of the Year – Donald T. Bennink, of North Florida Holsteins, Bell, Florida; Dairy Woman of the Year – Liz Doornink, of Jon-De Farms in Baldwin, Wisconsin; and Industry Person of the Year – Horace A. Backus, Backus Pedigree Company of Mexico, New York.

I had the opportunity to interview the dairyman and dairywoman of the year during the talk session on Thursday.

Liz Doornink has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and has raised three daughters on their 2,400 acre farm. The family milks 1,550 cows and employees 52 staff members at their three-times-a-day milking operation. We chatted about the challenges of managing dairy farm employees effectively and how they have worked to build a positive image with the public.

Listen to my interview with Liz here: Liz Doornink

Don Bennink started in the dairy business in New York by building a herd of his own as a youth. After getting a law degree and practicing law for awhile, he moved the herd to Florida in 1980.

Today, he has a herd of 4,000 milking age Registered Holsteins, the single largest dairy in the state and one of the largest Registered Holstein herds in the country. Bennink has led the innovation of dairy cattle comfort with tunnel ventilation to enhance production and herd health.

Don and I talked about the challenges and opportunities of dairying in the Sunshine State, how they have developed new technologies to improve cow comfort in that climate, and his international trainee program. Listen to that interview here: Don Bennink

Thanks to World Dairy Expo for the photo. For more photos from WDE10, check out our photo set on Flickr here:

2010 World Dairy Expo Photo Album

Thanks to our World Dairy Expo sponsors:
and by