The Professional Dairy Producers Foundation has launched a new campaign to allow dairy producers to easily contribute to support its programming. The Two Cents for Tomorrow campaign seeks to raise at least $2 million annually to help bolster the industry through producer-driven education programs. The campaign invites producers to contribute up to two cents per hundredweight of milk from their farms.
Foundation Board Chair Deb Reinhart announced the campaign at the 2011 Business Conference of the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin (PDPW). The Professional Dairy Producers Foundation is a separate, charitable Foundation started by PDPW to focus on long-term education projects and give dairy producers and industry supporters the opportunity to “give back” to their profession.
Reinhart said the campaign began early this year and already has the support of all the producer leaders who serve on the boards of PDPW and the Foundation, about 20 farms.
“We are directing the funds toward projects that we believe raise the bar for producer professionalism,” Reinhart said. “We believe we are building something that will last for future generations, and this is an easy way to allow producers to get involved.”
Reinhart says it will take about 400,000 cows to generate the Foundation's goal of $2 million dollars. Wisconsin currently has about 1.26 million cows milking in the state. She stressed, however, that the Foundation belongs to the entire dairy industry. Funding the Foundation provides for education programs is industry-wide.
She described the kinds of programs the Foundation has already funded, including the PDPW Youth Leadership Derby, Mentor Program, and the National Dairy Animal Well-Being Initiative. In addition, the Foundation initiated a competitive grant program to surface new ideas, resulting in grants being awarded for producer education programs in Maryland and North Carolina.
Reinhart says interested farmers can contact the Foundation to make arrangements if they would like to participate. All proceed that go to the Foundation are tax-deductible. More information is available at www.dairyfoundation.org PD
—From PDP Foundation news release
