National Mastitis Council recognized the best of the best when it comes to quality milk production at its Feb. 1 Awards Luncheon, held in conjunction with NMC’s 58th annual meeting in Savannah, Ga. Receiving platinum recognition, Mil-View Jerseys, owned by David and Mark Miller of Millersburg, Ohio, was named among the top six dairies in the country. The award recognizes outstanding quality milk production through NMC’s National Dairy Quality Awards program. Other platinum winners include: Cottonwood Dairy, owned by Jim Winn and Brian and Randy Larson, South Wayne, Wis.; RKB Dairy, owned by Randy and Kathleen Bauer, Faribault, Minn.; Rock Solid Dairy LLC, owned by Zane and Juanita Garber, Shippensburg, Pa.; United Dreams Dairy LLC, owned by Tim and Lisa Evert, Rick and Ronda Lehman, Jeff Evert and Michael Nieman, North Freedom, Wis.; and the University of Wisconsin Marshfield Agricultural Research Station, Stratford, Wis.

In addition to the six platinum winners, there were 18 gold and 17 silver NDQA award winners. These farms were selected from 165 applications submitted for the 2018 awards. Farms were nominated by professionals, such as dairy plant field staff, veterinarians, Extension specialists and Dairy Herd Improvement supervisors, who serve the dairy industry.

NDQA judges considered many criteria when reviewing finalists’ applications. In addition to milk quality indicators, such as somatic cell count and standard plate count, 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 2019 NDQA program will be available on the NMC website, nmconline.org.

The gold award winners include:

• Beattie Farms (Don Beattie), Holton, Mich.
• Ber-Sher Farm (Ron and Barb Brinks), McBain, Mich.
• Chambers Valley Farms (Bob Chambers), Salem, N.Y.
• Circle K Farms (Brad and Debbie Kartes), West Branch, Mich.
• Clover View Dairy LLC (Steve and Kim Fischer), Manitowoc, Wis.
• Crandall Dairy Farms LLC (Brad, Mark and Larry Crandall), Battle Creek, Mich.
• Dick Haven Farms LLC (Gordon Dick), McBain, Mich.
• DNL Farms LLC (Dave and Lynn Dummer), Elk Mound, Wis.
• Dorner Farms (Cory and Maria Dorner), Luxemburg, Wis.
• Gasser Farms LLC (Virgil, Lois, Steve, Aaron and David Gasser), Creston, Ohio
• John Rohlfs and Tim Narges Partnership (John Rohlfs and Tim Narges), Eden, Wis.
• K&K Dairy Farms LLC (Matt and Kristi Keilen), Westphalia, Mich.
• Kleinhans Dairy Farm (Michael Kleinhans), Kiel, Wis.
• Mud Val-E Farm (John Christian and Rhoda Chupp), Sugarcreek, Ohio
• OARDC/Krauss Dairy Center (Brent Hostettler), Wooster, Ohio
• Oz Dairy (Paige Mier), Prescott, Mich.
• Selke Farms (Walter and William Selke), Dakota, Minn.
• White Gold Dairy (Terry, Kelly and Natalie Eick), Plainfield, Iowa

The silver award winners include:

• David Z. and Anna F. Beiler, Christiana, Pa.
• Benthem Brothers Inc. (Jason Benthem), McBain, Mich.
• Boehm Dairy Farm Inc. (Mark, June, Andrew and Jenny Boehm), Rawson, Ohio
• Bosscher Dairy (Michael Bosscher), McBain, Mich.
• Dinnerbell Farms LLC (Dale, Ann, Adam and Elizabeth Grahl), Eden, Wis.
• Hagley Farms (Timothy Hagley), Standish, Mich.
• Ladine Dairy Farm LLC (Lynn, Clint and Parker Bivens), Bellevue, Mich.
• Lambrath Farms (David Mageean), Ann Arbor, Mich.
• Harley and Marietta Lambright, LeRoy, Mich.
• Mark Ramer, Hale, Mich.
• Red Mountain Jerseys LLC, (Marco Verhaar), Bad Axe, Mich.
• Sandstone Dairy (Henry M. Miller), Millersburg, Ohio
• Stoney Creek Meadows (William and Rachel Yoder), Butler, Ohio
• Theisen Family Farm (Jonathan Theisen), Campbellsport, Wis.
• Van Rijn Dairy (Dick Van Rijn), Deford, Mich.
• Wenkel Farms (Gerald Wenkel), Standish, Mich.
• Wolf Farms LLC (Tom and Debbie Wolf), Bonduel, Wis.

Source: National Mastitis Council, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.