New Prague, Minn. (February 1, 2026) – NMC members from 15 countries, 32 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces gathered in Birmingham, Ala., USA, to focus on “What’s Best for Her. Keeping the cow’s well-being at the heart of milk quality.” The Jan. 26-29 event culminated with the group’s 65th annual meeting. NMC: The Global Milk Quality Organization attracts milk quality, mastitis and udder health researchers and graduate students, dairy producers and dairy industry partners. Meeting topics ranged from artificial intelligence to facility designs to cow comfort to milk harvest to small ruminant milk production.
“NMC continues to expand its reach beyond mastitis prevention, treatment and control – realizing the importance of cow comfort, health monitoring, balanced nutrition and proper milk harvest preparation,” stated NMC First Vice President Roger Thomson, MQ-IQ Consulting and Michigan State University. That’s why we focused on ‘What’s Best for Her’ care during this year’s NMC Annual Meeting.” Additionally, NMC continues to add training programs throughout the year that foster higher milk quality and animal care standards.
During this event, NMC honored Pamela Ruegg, Michigan State University (MSU), with the NMC Award of Excellence for Contribution to Mastitis Prevention and Control, which is sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim. Besides MSU, Ruegg has worked for Kiel Veterinary Clinic, Kiel Wis.; Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada; Monsanto Company; and University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis. With more than 40 years of experience working on mastitis and milk quality, Ruegg has dedicated herself to answering the toughest questions the dairy industry has faced. The 2010 NMC president, Ruegg is synonymous with milk quality worldwide.
In the National Dairy Quality Awards program, NMC honored six dairy operations as Platinum winners. These top-quality milk producers included Gettyvue Farm LLC, Brian, Kevin and Terry Getty, Granville, N.Y.; Green Hill Dairy, Donald Janssen, Scipio Center, N.Y.; Larson Acres, Mike, Sandy, Ed and Barb Larson, and Jim, Luke, Dane and Brooke Trustem, Evansville, Wis.; Schultz Dairy, Dave Schultz, Sandusky, Mich.; Tollgate Holsteins, Jim and Karen Davenport, Ancramdale, N.Y.; and Walnut Ridge Dairy, Jacob and Steve Palladino, and Keith Chapin, Lansing, N.Y. Judges selected outstanding dairies to receive this honor based on quality milk production indicators, such as somatic cell count and bacteria count, along with milking routine, systems of monitoring udder health, treatment protocols and strategies for overall herd health and welfare. These herds ranged in size from 84 to 2,902 cows. Annual milk production (per cow) averaged from 24,190 pounds to 30,801 pounds. For average somatic cell count (June 1, 2024-May 31, 2025), these dairies varied from 31,000 to 85,000 cells/ml.
NMC awarded scholarships to eight remarkable graduate students to attend the NMC Annual Meeting. This year’s NMC Scholars were Anna Acosta, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa.; Elizabeth Plunkett, Ohio State University, Wooster, Ohio; Emily Leonard, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis; Lara Juliano, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.; Maria Marin, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.; Delower Hossain, University of Milan, Lodi, Italy; Joanne Hanifin, Munster Technological University, Castlemaine, Ireland; and Karise Nogara, Federal University of Paraná, Paraná, Brazil. The NMC Scholars program fosters the development of mastitis research and milk quality professionals from around the world.
NMC held a research poster competition for graduate students and selected Maria Marin, University of Florida, as the winner. She presented “Characterizing Milk Flow Patterns in Dairy Cows Using Machine Learning: Implications for Milk Yield.” Marin won a one-year NMC membership and free registration to attend next year’s NMC Annual Meeting.
During the NMC Annual Business meeting, members elected Daniela Bruno, University of California Cooperative Extension, Fresno, Calif., to the NMC board of directors. Executive committee members are Roger Thomson, Michigan State University and MQ-IQ Consulting LLC, Battle Creek, Mich., president; Alfonso Lago, DairyExperts, Inc., Tulare, Calif., first vice president; Christy Dinsmoore, Michigan Milk Producers Association, Novi, Mich., second vice president; Pamela Adkins, University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo., secretary-treasurer; and Justine Britten, Udder Health Systems, Meridian, Idaho, past president. Other board members include John Penry, Dairy Australia, Southbank, Victoria Cross, Australia; Rick Watters, AgroChem, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; Amy Vasquez, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.; Stephen Jones, DeLaval, Trinity, Fla.; Ian Ohnstad, The Dairy Group, Dorchester, Somerset, England; Justin Graham, BrooksCo Dairy, Quitman, Ga.; Jessica Belsito, IBA Inc., Sutton, Mass.; Jeffrey Bewley, Holstein Association, USA, Elizabethtown, Ky.; and Carolina Pinzón-Sánchez, University of Wisconsin-Division of Extension, Madison, Wis. Keith Engel, GEA Farm Technologies, Hampshire, Ill., retired from the board.
NMC thanks its annual meeting sponsors who contributed to the program’s success. The Diamond sponsors were Boehringer Ingelheim, DeLaval International and Zoetis. Platinum sponsors included AHV International, GEA Farm Technologies, Inc. and Merck Animal Health. The Gold sponsor was IBA Inc. Silver sponsors were AgroChem, Axiota and McLanahan Corporation. Bronze sponsors included ABS Global, Acepsis, Ecolab, Michigan Milk Producers Association, milc Group and Udder Health Systems. Dairy Partner sponsors included Christian Hill Dairy, Jones Family Farm, Luck-E Holsteins and Tollgate Holsteins.
The 66th NMC Annual Meeting is set for Jan. 25-28, 2027, in Jacksonville, Fla. For additional information, go to: www.nmconline.org.
NMC: The Global Milk Quality Organization is a non-profit professional organization devoted to reducing mastitis and enhancing milk quality. NMC promotes research and provides science-based information to the dairy industry on udder health, milking management, milk quality, animal welfare and food safety. Founded in 1961, NMC has about 1,000 members in more than 40 countries throughout the world.
