Alltech, a global animal health and nutrition company, has launched a program to recognize the hard work of dairy farmers.
“Long hours, inclement weather, rising feed costs, rollercoaster milk prices, labor management, environmental stewardship — the list goes on and on for the load a dairy farmer must carry each day,” said Pearse Lyons, president and founder of Alltech. “Yet even in this demanding line of work, we continue to see dairy farmers who go the extra mile and get the job done to put milk on our table.”
Launched at the company’s Global 500 in December, the Dairy Heroes program recognizes the important role dairy farmers have in feeding a growing global population.
The campaign features a Facebook page where members of the dairy community can nominate their dairy heroes. There’s also a website that features content such as herd health issues and solutions, dairy industry blog postings and an ask-the-expert forum.
The company so far has recognized farmers Leontien van de Laar, of Holland, and James Vaughan of the UK.
Van de Laar fell in love with farming when she was a young girl, and always dreamed of starting her own farm in America. Her dream came true when she moved to Indiana with her family and successfully started a 2,000-cow dairy operation.
Vaughan, herd manager of Moulton College's Dairy Unit in Northamptonshire, was chosen because of his attention to detail in the milking parlor and to herd health.
His operation was awarded “Most Improved Farm” from UK veterinarians and the National Milk Records. Since January, the farm has had no cases of mastitis. PD
—From Alltech news release
