Throughout 2022, Midwest Dairy worked diligently on your behalf, focusing on being efficient and effective regarding your 15-cent investment for promotion and research. Our continual pledge to Make Every Drop Count focuses on building demand for and trust in dairy food and dairy farmers.
Midwest Dairy is proud to be farmer-led. The dairy farmer board leaders give Midwest Dairy staff an inside look into what dairy farmers feel is important regarding checkoff. The Corporate and Division boards are made up of dairy farmers from across the 10-state region who bring their peers’ voices to the table. These boards give Midwest Dairy staff direction and insight so we can plan promotion and research efforts that resonate with what is important to dairy farmers. The staff at Midwest Dairy are experts in their fields and use the direction provided by farmer boards when planning how to meet consumers where they are to build dairy demand. Staff are dedicated to bringing dairy to life for consumers, and we are passionate about serving you. Your dairy story – the unique wellness benefits of dairy and your dedication to caring for the earth and your cows is always at the center of what Midwest Dairy does.
As we celebrate Midwest Dairy’s 23 years of operation, we must remember where we came from. Farmers in Iowa, Missouri, and eastern Kansas formed Midland Dairy Association in 1971, and their counterparts in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota combined their state promotional organization in 1993, forming the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council of the Upper Midwest. These two larger organizations then joined forces in 2000, forming the Midwest Dairy Association that we are proud to be today. The same year, we added dairy farmers and territory in Arkansas, western Kansas, and eastern Oklahoma. The American Dairy Association of Illinois joined Midwest Dairy a year later, and The American Dairy Association/Dairy Council of Nebraska became part of Midwest Dairy Association in 2011. I truly believe we are stronger together. We have experienced 23 years of meeting consumers with dairy promotion where they are at, and together, we will continue to do just that for many more years to come.
The 2022 Annual Report looks different this year as we introduce a completely online version. The digital format aligns with farmer feedback for content available at your fingertips in engaging and user-friendly formats. In addition to aligning with farmer feedback, a digital report provides the following benefits:
- An online report allows the farmer to easily access it wherever they are with any of their devices (cell phone, computer, tablet, etc.).
- Going digital allows us to showcase checkoff resources and initiatives better and with more content. Not only can we showcase checkoff investments better through articles and photos, but we can also utilize videos and link to more information if necessary.
- The digital report allows us to measure how many farmers interact with the website and content.
As you interact with parts of the annual report, we hope you find pride in the work of your dairy checkoff. Your investment was focused on activations across Midwest Dairy’s 10-state region. Midwest Dairy’s work and our partnership with Dairy Management Inc. (DMI) reached millions of consumers in our region, nationwide, and even globally, to encourage all to choose dairy more often. On behalf of the Midwest Dairy staff, we salute you as we worked together to move the needle for dairy in 2022; these efforts will only continue throughout 2023. Click here to access the 2022 Annual Report.