Nominations are now being accepted for the title of the Innovative Dairy Farmer of the Year, an annual award co-sponsored by IDFA and Dairy Today magazine.
The winner will be honored at the 2013 Dairy Forum, January 27-30 at the JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes in Orlando, Fla. The deadline for nominations is September 17, 2012, and there is no entry fee.
The call asks for nominations of active U.S. dairy farms that are improving on-farm efficiency through progressive management practices, production technologies and/or marketing approaches. Nominees will be judged on current methods as well as their positioning to meet future economic and business challenges.
The award recipient will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the 2013 Dairy Forum to attend a special presentation ceremony held during the program. The person nominating the winner will receive complimentary registration to Dairy Forum.
In addition, the winning operation will be highlighted in the January 2013 issue of Dairy Today.
Dairy Forum is widely recognized as the most important processor and producer conference of the year for the U.S. dairy industry. The 2012 event drew a crowd of more than 900 industry participants.
This call for nominations begins the 15th annual competition for the award. The 2012 winner was Sweetwater Valley Farm, Philadelphia, Tenn. Previous winners were Brubaker Farms of Mount Joy, Pa.; Haubenschild Dairy Farm, Princeton, Minn.; High Plains Dairy of Friona, Texas; Mason Dixon Farms, Gettysburg, Pa.; Clauss Dairy Farms, Hilmar, Calif.; Baldwin Dairy/Emerald Dairy, Emerald, Wis.; Si-Ellen Farms, Jerome, Idaho; Pagel’s Ponderosa Dairy, Kewaunee, Wis.; C Bar M Dairy, Jerome, Idaho; North Florida Holsteins of Bell, Fla.; KF Dairy of El Centro, Calif; Joseph Gallo Farms of Atwater, Calif.; and KBC Farms, Purdy, Mo.
Source: The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA)