More than 70 auction items donated by dairy industry enthusiasts brought a total of $20,000 for dairy education programs of the Professional Dairy Producers Foundation in its 2011 Silent Auction. A package of 100 units of Semex Semen with tank topped the auction at $2,850. Dairy Producer Loren Greenfield from Markesan, Wisconsin, purchased the semen units and Justin Daniels of Kansasville, Wisconsin, purchased the semen storage tank, donated by Semex and ai24. Twelve tons of dry distillers grain donated by United Wisconsin Grain Producers garnered the second-highest amount of $2,100, purchased by Russ Warmka of Fox Lake, Wisconsin.

“Milking gloves for a year” donated by GEA Farm Technologies came in handy for Dairy Producer Carl Wolf of Allenton, Wisconsin, who purchased the package for $1,000.

Steve Gehrke of Platteville, Wisconsin, purchased a 7-Night Lake Buckatabon Getaway donated by Teres Lambert and John Krueger. Rounding out the top-five purchases was Charles Crave of Waterloo, Wisconsin, and Ralph Levzow of Rio, Wisconsin, who teamed up to purchase a Door County Walleye Getaway donated by ANIMART and Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Inc.

“This year’s auction was an outstanding display of all the dairy goods and services our people and companies have to offer,” says JoAnn Maedke, Foundation board member and coordinator of the Silent Auction. “I am extremely grateful to be part of an industry with such great cooperation and commitment to education.”

For the past seven years, the Foundation has helped fund such programs as PDPW’s Youth Leadership Derby, mentor program, and community education about dairying. This year, the Foundation also awarded grants to the Maryland Dairy Shrine for a program to educate producers about animal well-being topics, and to North Carolina Dairy Advantage to help producers build professionalism through educational video and webinars. PD

—From PDP Foundation news release