Congratulations to two of North Dakota’s most distinguished leaders: Allen Tellman and Virgil Johnson. The two were honored at the 44th Annual North Dakota Dairy Convention with the Merit Award and Milky Way Award, respectively. Tellman is a fourth generation dairy producer from New Salem, and Virgil Johnson is a Mandan cheese maker with a rich history.
Tellman farms with his wife, Debra and son, Shane, and his family. Their 200-cow dairy includes production of small grains, corn, soybeans, sunflowers and specialty crops. His activities in the industry include leadership in the Milk Producers Association, N.D. Beef Commission, N.D. Dairy Coalition, Land O’Lakes, and the Lions, Development Committee and church community in New Salem. He is also a past director for the New Salem Farmers Union Oil Company.
Johnson has been making cheese for 62 years, 48 of them in North Dakota, and retired after the closing of Dakota Country Cheese in Mandan last June. His career began in southern Wisconsin in 1948, followed by a move to Five Star Cheese in Selfridge, N.D., in 1961. He started up Timber Lake Cheese and a plant in Wishek in 1967, and then built a whey processing plant in Mandan in 1974. His later ventures included producing barrel cheese in Dickinson and starting Dakota Country Cheese. He also ran a trucking company to haul cheese from 1967 to 2003.
The awards are sponsored by the Milk Producers Association of North Dakota.