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Senior, Virginia Tech
Corporate Communications Intern with Select Sires, Inc.
Based in Plain City, Ohio
Background
Q. In what area are you pursuing a degree?
I'm majoring in professional writing.
Q. What is your agricultural background?
I grew up in Woodbine, Maryland, on a 160-cow Ayrshire and Holstein farm
Q. What previous internship positions have you held?
Internship during the Summer of 2009 at Rosedale Genetics in Oxford, Wisconsin and Van Exel Dairy in Lodi, California. Click here to read Caitlin's 2010 dairy intern feature.
Opening up a dairy farm to more than 18,000 people over the course of a year is pretty impressive. When you take into account that the majority of those people are under the age of six, you gain a whole new level of respect for this dairy farm mom of three.
Meet Amy Kelsay, who grew up on a hog operation and married into the dairy industry after attending Purdue University and meeting her husband, Joe.
Per-capita fluid milk consumption in the U.S. has been in decline for a number of years. Progressive Dairyman Editor Walt Cooley recently asked Dairy Management, Inc. CEO Tom Gallagher why fluid milk consumption is in decline and what can be done to reverse the trend.
Q. Why is fluid milk consumption declining?
A. GALLAGHER: It’s a fact that for all but one of the last 25-plus years, per-capita milk consumption has declined. There are a lot of people who operate under the myth that the fluid market is a mature market and it’s just not capable of growing. That’s just not true.
Age: 35
Location: Clintonville, Wisconsin
My experience as a trimmer: Nine years as a professional hoof trimmer
I got started in trimming because … I wanted to be self-employed
If I wasn’t a trimmer, I would be ... doing something that allows me to use my talent in fixing things. I used to be a HVAC-R service technician and can fix almost anything mechanical. I get great satisfaction from fixing things, including cows, and making them work again.
In their health classes, elementary students usually learn they should get three servings of dairy a day to build strong bones and muscles.
But for most kids, that’s probably not the most exciting lesson. A dairy farm family in western Wisconsin looked to change that for one school district.
Age: I’m 61, but feel 39
Location: Riverdale, California
My dairy’s history: My grandfather, A. F. Mendes, started dairying in about 1917 after working a short while as a milker. He owned dairies in various locations near Riverdale during the 1920s. He started the dairy at our current location in 1937.
In 1961, he sold his interest to four of his six children. Between 1980 and 2005, the family underwent various reorganizations resulting in three separate dairy farms.
My parents and I each acquired 50 percent of the current A. F. Mendes, Inc. in 2005. My son Paul is the fourth generation of dairy farmers in our family.
Age: 60
Location: Madison, New York
My dairy’s history: This is a first-generation farm. I was brought up on a farm in Massachusetts, but moved to this farm 36 years ago.
If I wasn’t a dairy producer, I would be … a rancher or crop farmer. I taught school for three years but soon realized I needed to be outside working the land and raising animals.
I have been a member of the Beef Board for … four months.
Progressive Dairyman Editor Walt Cooley discusses the Dairy Industry Advisory Committee report’s findings with committee leaders Erick Coolidge and Andy Novakovic. This online article contains more of the interview than what was printed in the May 2 issue of the magazine.
Q. Tell me about the name of your farm. – Le-Ma-Re Farm. That’s a unique name.
A. COOLIDGE: My father desired to attach a prefix to any animals that we would register. He thought he would like to include the first names of our family as the base for the prefix. Lynn, my father, and Erick, myself, make up the “Le” in Le-Ma-Re Farms. “Ma” stands for Mary, my mother, and “Re” is for Reba, my sister.
"As a first-rate dairy producer who also runs his own processing facility, Les brings a unique perspective to his USDEC chairmanship. He truly understands both sides of the equation. It’s exactly this kind of experience that we need to help grow strong global markets."
—Tom Suber, president, U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC)
Age: Young enough to still be having fun and enjoying life.
Location: Greeley, Colorado
My dairy’s history: Sherrill and I are the third generation that has marketed milk for consumption. We operate two dairies: the 700-cow Painted Prairie Dairy as well as our small, educational showcase farm, Cozy Cow Dairy.
When the conventional way of dairy farming wasn’t working for Norm Nickerson and his sons, Chris and Joe, they decided it was time for a change.
“Our philosophy is to keep it simple,” Norm says. “We carry it a little farther than other dairy farmers.”
The Nickersons are graziers. They have four farms in south Florida, which are all divided into paddocks.
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