Producers
Honored for
Their Commitment
to Milk Quality
Winners of the 2003 National Dairy Quality Awards (NDQA) program were officially announced during the NMC Annual Meeting, February 1-4, 2004 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Now in its 10th year, the goal of the NDQA program is to honor dairy producers who successfully have placed high priority on producing milk of the highest quality. The NMC, along with Hoard's Dairyman, DTN Dairy, Alcide Corporation, IBA, Inc. and QMI, sponsored the awards.
Dairy farms are nominated for the award by professionals in the dairy industry who work with producers, such as dairy plant field representatives, veterinarians, DHI supervisors, or extension personnel. Finalists from this year's program were judged by a panel of milk quality judges who looked at milk quality indicators such as somatic cell count, bacteria count, and incidence of mastitis, along with overall herd health monitoring and management practices which are implemented on the farm. Silver, Gold and Platinum winners were designated from the group of finalists.
The top-rated Platinum award winners, honored during the NMC Annual Meeting, are pictured below.
Click here for a complete list of all Silver, Gold, and Platinum winners and nominators.
Click here to read the full article in the February 10, 2004 issue of Hoard's Dairyman about the NDQA program, featuring the nine Platinum winners and their day-to-day strategies to produce high quality milk [file size 275 KB].
| 2003 NDQA Platinum Winners | |
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THE COPPERNOLLS dairy at Leslie, Mich., where they can boast an average preliminary incubation count of just 2,000 for the past year. All fresh cows and heifers get checked with a CMT. They also forestrip religiously. Cows are dry treated twice monthly. DHI tests help spot high-cell cows, with problem quarters detected by CMT. Twice-a-week faxes from their milk buyer keep them informed about SCCs and bacteria counts. From left are Harry Coppernoll, Jr., and parents, June and Harry, Sr. |
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GARY AND HELEN LISOWE milk 40 Brown Swiss at Gillett, Wis. Their cows average more than 22,000 M. When the Lisowes CMT fresh cows, they take a milk sample to check for antibiotics and also have a SCC done on it. DHI testing helps screen for high cell-count cows, and they confirm infected quarters with the CMT. The Lisowes record treated cows in a notebook which notes date, cow's name, culture results, treatment used, if any, and the outcome of the case. |
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THE MEEKHOF FAMILY at McBain, Mich., are consis-tent milk quality award winners. Their 12-month SCC average was a remarkable 64,500, with September being their high month at 93,000. They had 17 clinical cases in their 160-cow herd last year. Front left to right are son-in- law Rob Bright, daughters Rebecca, Deborah, Emily, Sarah, and parents Ruby and Ken Meekhof. |
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THE NATHE FAMILY, at Melrose, Minn., milk 210 Holsteins. Their standard plate count averaged just 2,000 for the past year. The operation includes Irene Nathe (unrelated employee), and Virginia, John, Brenda (holding Payton), and Jeron Nathe. During milking, they follow a 10-step routine adapted from David Reid, D.V.M. The Nathes vaccinate for mastitis. They culture as needed and use the best treatment, accordingly. Staph aureus cows are housed and milked separately. Free stalls are cleaned each milking. |
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THE ROTHENBERGERS milk 95 Holsteins at Lansdale in southeast Pennsylvania. Merrymead Farm's milk quality team includes Scott Rothenberger (left), his daughter, Jewel (left front), Terry Pfister, farm team member (back right), and veterinarian Dale Stearns. The Rothenbergers forestrip all cows, vaccinate for mastitis, culture, and have meticulous treatment records. |
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DEAN AND PATTI TOHL (right), shown with key employees Salvardor Estrada and Joanna Johnson, have been recognized many times for their milk quality. Despite dairying in the often-wet, Tillamook, Ore., area, the Tohls kept their average SCC down to an enviable 74,000 last year. Their 97-cow herd includes Holsteins and Jerseys. Cows actually are predipped twice as part of the Tohls' meticulous milking routine. They run CMTs on fresh cows and fore-strip routinely to watch for clinical cases. |
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THE UHLENHOPPS, CHARLES (son), CAROL, AND PHILIP milk 43 Holsteins near Sumner, Iowa. Their highest SCC last year was 97,000 in July, and the average was 75,000. Preliminary incubation counts averaged a low 1,000. Treated cows are marked with a big, red "T" and get an ankle bracelet, and a reminder tag is put on pipeline on the side they're milked. Plus, the treatment is noted on a bulletin and calendar. Fresh cows get CMT'd three days after calving. |
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DOUG AND LOUISA WESTENDORP (dark shirts) head up Westvale-Vu Dairy at Nashville, Mich. Their children are Troy, Brittany, Tina (top), Eric, Levi, and Carlyle. The herd's SCCs averaged just 54,000 last year with a high of 68,000. The farm's SCC was cut in half following a switch from 2x to 3x milking. They also credit routine cleaning of stalls, udder singeing, and tail docking. |
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THE WINKELS, JACK (left) AND JIM, have the largest herd among this year's Platinum Winners. They milk 675 Holsteins at McBain, Mich., that average over 30,000 M. They choose to not forestrip routinely but watch for abnormal quarters during milking and keep an eye on daily milk weights. Fresh cows are strip-checked for several days after calving. The Winkels routinely culture to identify problem organisms and to target treatment approaches. |
