Age: 54

Location: Clovis, New Mexico

My dairy’s history: We originally rented two dairies in California and then relocated to a rented dairy in Stephenville, Texas, for five years. We moved to Clovis about 16 years ago and built our current dairy, El Dorado Dairy, 11 years ago. 

Currently, we are milking about 3,200 head, raising all of our heifers and farming about 3,000 acres. My three sons do a lot of the management of the dairy.

If I wasn’t a dairyman, I would be... an engineer or a pilot.

I have been a member of Dairy MAX for… about three years.

A little known fact about Dairy MAX is… how much behind-the-scenes work is done to promote milk. People get a little frustrated when they don’t see billboards or commercials; they don’t understand that we do more good working with schools, restaurants, and exports, etc. I believe this causes a little undeserved criticism, at times.

My favorite representative or employee of Dairy MAX is... This can’t be answered. Not only does everyone at Dairy MAX do a great job, everyone under the whole DMI [Dairy Management Inc.] umbrella is very deserving of praise.

What Dairy MAX does best is… promote milk and help with dairy image, design and implement issues and crisis response programs.

I feel valued as a member when… I see programs come together, such as working with McDonald’s, Domino’s, the NFL, Fuel up to Play 60, and school lunch and breakfast programs.

The dairy industry’s greatest opportunity is… the export market. The number of consumers in the world that currently consume little or no dairy is staggering. Domestically, I think yogurt has a lot of potential.

I hope my dairy legacy is… to see my children, grandchildren – and so on – be able to have a future in the industry, in one fashion or another.

My advice to all dairy producers is... get involved. I like being informed as to what is going on. I don’t appreciate people who sit on the sideline and complain, and then refuse to get on a board or try to make a change.  PD

Dairy MAX Inc.
2214 Paddock Way, Suite 600
Grand Prairie, Texas 75050
(800) 332-4790

Established in… the mid 1970s

Number of members… about 800 producer funders

Dairy MAX’s mission: Affiliated with the National Dairy Council and funded by dairy farmers in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and southwest Kansas, we are professionals devoted to the promotion of dairy’s lifelong health benefits.

We support the demand for dairy foods via strategic partnerships and programs while proudly representing the dairy farming industry’s positive image.