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Midwest Dairy leaders elected to national boards

Five farmers from ten-state region will work on behalf of dairy industry for 2019-20 terms

St. Paul, Minn. – Five Midwest Dairy leaders are among the newly elected officers of Dairy Management Inc.™ (DMI), the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board (NDB) and the United Dairy Industry Association (UDIA) elected to serve the industry for the 2019-20 term.

These officers were elected at the 2019 Joint Annual Meeting of the NDB, UDIA and National Milk Producers Federation in New Orleans, and they will serve to lead national dairy checkoff strategies and programs to protect and grow sales.

“I look forward to serving the dairy community in the coming year as a member of the UDIA board,” said Allen Merrill, who is also the Chairman of the Midwest Dairy Board. “We will work together and, as an industry, address the challenges we’re facing, capitalize on the opportunities in front of us and continue to tell the story of dairy to drive demand.”

UDIA officers elected were:

  • Chair – Neil Hoff, Windthorst, Texas
  • 1st Vice Chair – Allen Merrill, Parker, S.D. 
  • 2nd Vice Chair, American Dairy Association – Tom Woods, Gage, Okla.
  • 2nd Vice Chair, National Dairy Council – Audrey Donahoe, Clayville, N.Y.
  • 2nd Vice Chair, UDIA Member Relations – Rick Podtburg, Greeley, Colo.
  • Secretary – Michelle Schilter, Chehalis, Wash.
  • Treasurer – John Brubaker, Buhl, Idaho

The UDIA is a federation of state and regional dairy farmer-funded promotion organizations that provide marketing programs developed and implemented in coordination with its members. The UDIA is overseen by a board comprised of dairy farmers elected by respective local and regional boards of UDIA member organizations.

DMI officers elected were:

  • Chair – Marilyn Hershey, Cochranville, Penn. (re-elected)
  • Vice Chair – Steve Maddox, Riverdale, Calif.
  • Secretary – Skip Hardie, Groton, N.Y. 
  • Treasurer – deb Vander Koi, Worthington, Minn.

DMI manages the national checkoff program and is co-funded by NDB and UDIA.

The NDB officers elected were:

  • Chair – Brad Scott, San Jacinto, Calif.
  • Vice Chair – Connie Seefeldt, Coleman, Wisc.
  • Secretary – Arlene Vander Eyk, Tulare, Calif.  
  • Treasurer – Alex Peterson, Trenton, Mo.

The 37-member NDB, formed in May 1984 under the authority of the Dairy Production Stabilization Act of 1983, carries out coordinated promotion and research programs to help build demand, and expand domestic and international markets for dairy products.

American Dairy Association officers elected were:

  • Chair – Tom Woods
  • Vice Chair – Jerrel Heatwole, Greenwood, Del.
  • Secretary – Lowell Mueller, Hooper, Neb.
  • Treasurer – Corby Werth, Alpena, Mich.

National Dairy Council officers elected were:

  • Chair – Audrey Donahoe
  • Vice Chair – Christine Sukalski, Leroy, Minn.
  • Secretary – Harold Howrigan, Sheldon, Vt.
  • Treasurer – Lynn Ramsey, Emory, Texas