People

Editor’s note: Progressive Dairyman features recipients of the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy’s eighth annual U.S. Dairy Sustainability Awards.

Three farms – Cinnamon Ridge Farms of Donahue, Iowa; Majestic Crossing Dairy of Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin; and Philip Verwey Farms of Hanford, California – were recipients of Outstanding Dairy Farm Sustainability awards.

In addition to the Outstanding Dairy Farm Sustainability honorees, General Mills and Foremost Farms were recognized for Outstanding Dairy Supply Chain Collaboration, and Gleaners Community Food Bank was recognized for Outstanding Community Impact.

The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy’s eighth annual U.S. Dairy Sustainability Awards were presented during a ceremony on May 8 in Rosemont, Illinois.

If I have been on your farm in the past three decades, you most likely heard me quote my grandfather on my mother’s side. He was the cow guy in my life: my mentor, my sounding board, my guiding light and my kicker-of-butts when I needed it. He was the king of one-liners, storytelling and the keeper of every corny joke ever told in the history of mankind.

Tom Kestell likes to joke his family’s physical stature means they’ll never be selected first when choosing sides for a basketball team.

When local specialty hardwood lumber store owner Lou Irion called, I thought it was about an upcoming orchard pruning demonstration I had organized for our Woodland Owners Association.

If you are direct marketing your farm products and need to hear a success story, this is a story to hear.