Your age: 68. I’m a third-generation Jersey dairyman.

Your location: Eastern New York, just 15 miles from downtown Albany – nearby but not pressured by a suburban community.

My dairy’s history: Dutch Hollow Farm was started in 1976 after being involved with my family’s farm for 13 years. We started with 55 milking-age females, mostly growth of my original 4-H project animals, along with some purchased females.

If I wasn’t a dairyman, I would be… I really don’t know what I would be doing. Outside of a few fleeting moments 40 years ago when I was being encouraged to get into the Jersey sales business, I never thought of doing anything else.

I have been a member of U.S. Jersey since... I became a member of the American Jersey Cattle “Club” when I was just a teenager.

I joined U.S. Jersey because... In my family, joining was just something you did. Jerseys were my passion as far back as I can remember.

What U.S. Jersey does best is… The elected leaders and staff have done an excellent job over the last 50 years developing programs that serve and benefit Jersey dairymen who milk cows for a living. They continually strive to help Jersey dairymen do a better job of breeding cattle and marketing their product.

The dairy industry’s greatest opportunity is… the growing world population and the need to provide food for that growth. How we react in developing products that fit the export market will determine our success, rather than the support programs.

I hope my dairy legacy is… I guess that will be determined by others. The legacy you leave will be the lives you touch. What we do for ourselves dies with us; what we do for others lives forever.

If I were running this organization, I would… I’ve had my time at the top. I had the opportunity to serve on the board of directors and for four years as president. My dad also served as president on two separate occasions.

I think it’s safe to say that no single body runs AJCA. Our CEOs and elected leaders have always been a pretty effective team. I think that is a very important part of Jersey’s success story.

My advice to all dairymen and women is… We’re all going to face similar situations running our businesses – milk price, feed cost, labor, etc. – how we deal with them will be determined by our own particular ideas.

One thing I do feel strongly about is telling our story to the consumer. As they become more distanced from any agricultural roots they seem more willing to listen to those with an agenda. American agriculture’s success is demonstrated by the fact that our consumer enjoys the safest, most abundant and most affordable food and fiber supply in the history of the world.  PD

American Jersey Cattle Association
6486 E. Main Street
Reynoldsburg, Ohio 43068-2362
(614) 861-3636

Year organized… 1868

Number of members… 2,300

Mission statement of the association:
To improve and promote the Jersey breed and to increase the value of and demand for Jersey cattle and Jersey genetics.