Nebraska State Dairy Association members gathered in Columbus recently for the group’s annual state convention, honoring achievements of member dairies and looking forward to what is now a growing industry in the state.

Honored for milk quality, Butler County Dairy near Rising City ranked first, with the lowest average somatic cell count among the state’s dairy producers. Second went to Broken Bow Dairy at Anselmo, and third to Crook Dairy near Humboldt. There were 15 qualified entries in the 2016 contest.

NSDA honored Joe Bouslaugh and Dan Schindler with Industry Service Awards. Bouslaugh started in the industry working as a milk hauler in 1969. Over the past several years, he has worked in the state as a field representative for Dairy Farmers of America, serving on boards for the Midwest Dairy Association, Nebraska State Dairy Review Board, Nebraska Cooperative Council and Central Plains Dairy Expo.

Schindler started his career in 1981 as a district sales manager for BouMatic. From 1996 to 2015, he was the majority owner and president of Automated Dairy Services. Today, Schindler is still a minority owner in what is now Automated Dairy Specialists, and is actively involved in serving customers as always.

Dairy Herd Improvement Association herd awards were also announced for the top herds based on pounds of milk and pounds of protein, with a minimum of 10 tests recorded. Wallman Dairy at Diller won first place in the Holstein division, with second place going to Broken Bow Dairy and third going to Steffview Dairy at Hartington. The Jersey division of the DHIA awards was won by James Meyer at Roca. Nuttelman Dairy at Stromsburg won the crossbred and mixed breed division, with Crook Dairy placing second, and Steffen Ag of Humboldt taking third.

The Nebraska Holstein Association awarded the group’s Industry Award to Classic Dairy near Jansen. The dairy is owned and operated by brothers, Dean and Gail Engelman and their families. The third-generation farming operation celebrated 20 years in their new dairy facility in 2016.

Bill Thiele of Clearwater was re-elected as NSDA president. Dwaine Junck of Carroll is the vice president. Roger Sprakel, Crofton, was elected as the new secretary-treasurer.

GROWING DAIRY IN NEBRASKA: Bill Thiele of Clearwater was re-elected president of the Nebraska State Dairy Association at the organization’s annual convention in Columbus.

You can learn more about NSDA at nebraskamilk.org.