National Mastitis Council recognized the best of the best when it comes to quality milk production as producers from Michigan, Ohio, New York and Wisconsin were recognized during its Jan. 31 awards luncheon. The award program was held in conjunction with NMC’s 56th annual meeting in St. Petersburg Beach, Fla.

For the National Dairy Quality Award, Simon Dairy of Michigan garnered one of six Platinum awards. Simon Dairy of Westphalia is operated by Larry, Therese, Brent and Emily Simon.

Also, 18 Gold and 20 Silver NDQA winners were recognized. The Michigan and Ohio winners are listed below. These farms were selected from 122 applications submitted for the 2016 awards. Farms were nominated by professionals, such as dairy plant field staff, veterinarians, Extension specialists and Dairy Herd Improvement supervisors.

Gold
Don Beattie, Holton, Mich.
John Christian and Rhoda Chupp, Sugar Creek, Ohio
Harold and Ruth Ann Dodde, Falmouth, Mich.
Randy and Cindy Dragt, Howard City, Mich.
Brad and Debbie Kartes, West Branch, Mich.
Ryan Litwiller, Middleton, Mich.
David, Marie and Mark Miller, Millersburg, Ohio
William and Kimberly Pirman, Skandia, Mich.
Robert and Mark Rau, West Branch, Mich.
Ken and Duane VanPolen, Marion, Mich.
Doug, Jake and Andrew Wirth, Evart, Mich.

Silver
Mark, June, Andrew and Jenny Boehm, Rawson, Ohio
Michael Bosscher, McBain, Mich.
Rod, Lynn and Chris Daniels, and Luke and Audrey Bischoff, Whittemore, Mich.
LeRoy and Linda Keim, Wilmot, Ohio
David and Susanna Martin, Fenwick, Mich.
Matt and Katelyn Seeley, Shepherd, Mich.
Milan and Clara Weaver, Navarre, Ohio
Raymond Yoder, Jr., Dundee, Ohio

NDQA dairy expert judges considered many criteria when reviewing finalists’ applications. In addition to milk quality indicators, such as somatic cell count (SCC) and standard plate count (SPC), judges looked at specific details about each operation, including milking routine, cow comfort, udder health monitoring programs, treatment and prevention programs, strategies for overall herd health and welfare, and adherence to drug use and record keeping regulations. This summer nominee information for the 2017 NDQA program will be available on the NMC website.

Source: NMC