Location: Hobbs, New Mexico
Age: 59
My dairy’s history: I started dairying in 1973. I had a cash-and-carry milk plant for 25 years, milking 200 cows and selling all fluid milk to stores in the local area. In 1998, I decided to close the retail facility and build a dairy. Today I operate two dairies – one with a herd of Holsteins and another with a herd of Jerseys.
If I wasn’t a dairyman, I would be ... a contractor building dairies.
I have been a member of DFA for ... 13 years.
I joined DFA because ... it was a prominent cooperative in the area, and I was glad to let someone else start marketing my milk. Marketing your own milk is a big task.
My favorite DFA representative/friend is ... Brian Harris, Pete Gibbs and Thomas Rogers, our field reps. They are always available and are very true to the members of the cooperative.
What DFA does best is ... it’s definitely very member-oriented and is constantly looking for ways to add value to my business.
I feel valued as a member when ... I’m involved in the cooperative, like my work with the board. DFA is designed for us all to be involved.
An influential person whom I’ve met through DFA is ... Dr. Lowell Catlett from New Mexico State University.
He or she is helpful/influential because ... he was a speaker at a DFA annual meeting, and it was a privilege to listen to his philosophy. His thinking is really ahead of the times, and many of the predictions I heard him make have come true.
My worst struggle in dairying is/was ... constant volatility.
I hope my dairy legacy is ... that I’ve made a difference and been a positive influence in the industry.
If I were running DFA, I would ... ask that you not let me do that! But if I was, I would continue increasing the focus on research and development for value-added products for domestic and export markets.
My advice to all dairymen is ... you’ve got to enjoy what you’re doing and constantly communicate with other dairymen. We’re all in this business together. PD
Dairy Farmers of America
10220 N Ambassador Dr
Kansas City, MO 64153
1-888-DFA-MILK
www.dfamilk.com
Year organized............................1998
Members.....................................16,000
Lbs of milk produced...................63 billion
Number of processing facilities...27
Number of employees.................3,000
Products:
Milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, etc.
Private-labels owned
Keller’s Creamery brands, Borden Cheese, Cache Valley Cheese, Borden Butter, Hotel Bar Butter, Breakstone’s Butter, Plugra European Style Butter and Sport Shake.
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