People

At the age of 23, Tony P. Lopes is managing employees twice his age. As the operations team leader for his family’s multisite dairies, this California dairyman credits his family, mentors and educators with putting the passion for dairying on his heart.

Providing 4-H dairy youth the chance to purchase a purebred dairy calf and start their own herd is the cornerstone of the Heritage Calf Project, an effort initiated and kept alive by a committee of local dairy farmers, industry representatives and county fair supporters.

At Siemers Holsteins, genetics and management culminate with a 37,500-pound rolling herd average, touting 1,500 pounds of fat and 1,100 pounds of protein.

When two farms form a partnership that closes the circle on operational and marketing needs for each farm on its own, a creative business fusion is formed.

The high desert of Clovis, New Mexico, where rainfall is rare and wide-open spaces are plentiful, is also where Joel and Jaimie Van Dam call home on Route 77 Dairy.

When it comes to consistency, it’s hard to beat a robot. For brothers Jon and Mark Qual, their father, Alan, cousins Nathan and Tyler, and uncle Rodney, who all own and operate Qual Dairy in Lisbon, North Dakota, a robotic rotary parlor fit what they wanted in their new parlor.