Recently, dairy farmers and industry partners gathered in Boise, Idaho, for the United Dairymen of Idaho’s annual meeting. Several awards were given out to honor dairy farmers who have achieved excellence in their industry.

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  • Milk Quality Award winner – James Bazil of the J-O Bazil Dairy in Rigby, Idaho, has been awarded the 2014 Idaho Milk Quality Award. The award is based on quality indicators submitted by Idaho companies (milk processors, co-ops and associations). Bazil earned this award based on the results of 12 monthly milk quality tests, including standard plate count and somatic cell count. The monthly quality scores that determine this award were taken from July 1, 2013 to June 20, 2014.
  • Friend of the Industry Award winner – Rick Norell has managed the Idaho Milk Quality Award since its inception in 1989, soliciting producer nominations from Idaho milk handlers and selecting the winner based on defined criteria from the UDI board.
  • Hall of Fame inductee – Alan Andersen of Seagull Bay Dairy and Andersen Dairy in Burley, Idaho, has been inducted into the Idaho Dairy Hall of Fame. Andersen has been a dairy owner for 39 years, having started his own dairy with 30 cows in 1976 in Tyhee, Idaho. The family currently has more than 2,000 cows on two sites, Seagull Bay Dairy in American Falls, Idaho, and Andersen Dairy in Declo, Idaho. Currently, 15 Seagull Bay-bred bulls are being marketed by four A.I. studs in the U.S. and Canada, including Seagull Bay Supersire, the number one Net Merit Holstein bull. Seagull Bay Holsteins has the highest breeding index (CTPI) average of any dairy in the western U.S. Andersen is an Idaho State Holstein Board member and has earned the Holstein Association’s Progressive Breeder Registry Award for the past six years, as well as the Holstein Association’s Progressive Genetics Herd Award for 11 years in a row. PD