Brabant Farm Wins 2000 National Dairy Quality Awards

Brabant Farm is owned and operated by Joe, Paul, Steve, Phil and Pat Van Lieshout, along with their father, Henry. "We believe we have an obligation to provide clean and healthy milk for consumers. That's what they're paying us to do," says family spokesperson Joe Van Lieshout.

The Van Lieshouts milk 500 cows with a rolling herd average of 26,050 lb. of milk on three-time-a-day milking. Their herd's somatic cell count, an estimate of mastitis level in the herd, averaged just 83,000 cells/ml.

NDQA, started in 1994, recognizes dairy producers and their families who do an outstanding job of producing high quality milk every day on U.S. dairy farms. NDQA is sponsored by the National Mastitis Council, World Dairy Expo, the National Milk Producers Federation and Dairy Today magazine. Financial support for the program comes from Westfalia-Surge.

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. This year, some 75 operations from 18 states were nominated. Four regional winners were selected from those nominated. In addition, merit winners from each region were also recognized, based on herd size (fewer than 100 cows, 100 to 499 cows, and 500 or more cows). In addition to milk quality indicators such as somatic cell counts, bacteria counts, and incidence of mastitis, the farms were also judged on overall herd health and management practices which are implemented on the farm.

Because the program has established a reputation for excellence, nominators typically submit just the very best operations from their areas for consideration. "Simply being nominated for NDQA signifies the operation has already achieved significantly high levels of milk quality," says Anne Saeman, National Mastitis Council Executive Director.

Winners of the 2000 NDQA awards follow:

National Winner
Brabant Farm, Van Lieshout Brothers, Verona, New York

Northeast Region
Regional winner:
Brabant Farm, Van Lieshout Brothers, Verona, New York

Merit winners:
Less than 100 cows
Androscoggin Holsteins, Inc., John and Sandra Nutting, Leeds, Maine

100-499 cows
Forbes Farm, Ralph, Jim and Fred Forbes, Cortland, New York

Midwest Region
Regional winner:
Smith Dairy Farm, Inc., Velmar Smith and Family, Fremont, Michigan

Merit winner:
Less than 100 cows
Eberhardt Dairy, Robert and Pat Eberhardt, Whitelaw, Wisconsin

Southeast Region
Regional winner:
Carletti Farms, Dan and Pat Carletti, Rayville, Missouri

Merit winner:
100-499 cows
Lindwedel Dairy Farms, Inc., Calvin, Ray and Wayne Lindwedel, Hillsboro, Missouri

West Region
Regional winner:
Stocker Dairy, Richard and Kathleen Stocker, Bloomington, Idaho

Merit winners:
100-499 cows
Larry and Linda's Brown Swiss Dairy, Larry and Linda Pitcher, Trenton, Utah

500 or more cows
Machado-Machado Dairy, David and Robert Machado, Manteca, California

The October 2000 issue of Dairy Today magazine carried a 12-page insert on the NDQA winners. Reprints of the articles on the Van Lieshouts (national winners) and the three other regional winners can be found at the following links:

Team Play Produces a Winner Brabant Farm, National Winner, and Northeast Regional Winner

Milking a Better Paycheck Smith Dairy Farm, Inc., Midwest Regional Winner

Being All They Can Be Carletti Farms, Southeast Regional Winner

Steeped in Tradition Stocker Dairy, West Regional Winner

For more information, contact:

Anne Saeman
National Mastitis Council
2820 Walton Commons West, Suite 131
Madison, WI 53718-6797
Phone: (608) 224-0622
Fax: (608) 224-0644
Email: anne@nmconline.org
Website: www.nmconline.org