California Ag Network

Tag: FARM Program

  • Kingsburg CA Dairy Receives National Dairy FARM Excellence Award

    Integrity, ingenuity and the pursuit of excellence earned three farms and one program evaluator this year’s National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program’s Excellence Awards. The awards announced today recognize participants who uphold program values by demonstrating U.S. dairy farmers are committed to producing high quality, wholesome milk.

    The 2025 FARM Excellence Award recipients are:

    • Animal Care & Antibiotic Stewardship — Bar E Dairy (Land O’Lakes Inc.)

    • Environmental Stewardship – Five Star Dairy Farm LLC (Associated Milk Producers Inc.)

    • Workforce Development — Glezen Farms, LLC (Maola Local Dairies)

    • Evaluator of the Year — Lisa Ford (Cayuga Marketing)

    “These winners exemplify FARM’s mission of continuous improvement through action, integrity and resilience,” said Chief Veterinary Officer Dr. Meggan Hain. “It’s our honor to highlight the good deeds of the dairy industry, not only to assure customers, but to reward farmers for their continued contributions and dedication.”

    Winners were announced at the 2025 Joint Annual Meeting of the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board (NDB), National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and United Dairy Industry Association (UDIA) in Arlington, TX.

    The FARM Excellence Awards were created in 2021 to celebrate farms dedicated to continuous improvement in each of the FARM Program pillars, and to recognize a FARM Program evaluator for their exceptional care and attention to the farms they evaluate. The awards are judged by FARM Farmer Advisory Council members and other subject matter experts. Farms and evaluators may be nominated by fellow dairy farmers and evaluators, members of their communities, extension, cooperative or processor staff, veterinarians, or other industry professionals.

    Visit the FARM website for more information about the FARM Excellence Awards.

    About the Winners:

    Bar E Dairy is located in Kingsburg, CA and is a member of Land O’Lakes, Inc. Bar E Dairy received the 2025 FARM Excellence Award in Animal Care & Antibiotic Stewardship for its commitment to exceptional animal welfare and judicious use of antibiotics through on-farm technology and innovation.

    Five Star Dairy Farm LLC is located in Alma, WI and is a member of Associated Milk Producers Inc. Five Star Dairy earned the 2025 FARM Excellence Award in Environmental Stewardship for its use of conservation practices to promote and maintain the land, water and wildlife in its community.

    Glezen Farms, LLC is located in Lisle, NY and is a member of Maola Local Dairies. Glezen Farms secured the 2025 FARM Excellence Award in Workforce Development for its dedication to fostering a safe, informed and responsible workforce through training and resource investment.

    Lisa Ford is based in Auburn, NY and is a FARM Program evaluator for Cayuga Marketing. Lisa took home the 2025 FARM Evaluator Excellence Award for her devotion to serving Cayuga members through education, leadership and advocacy.

    The National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program was created by NMPF with support from Dairy Management Inc. in 2009. Program participation is open to all U.S. dairy farmers, cooperatives, and processors. Participants follow rigorous guidelines to ensure the utmost social responsibility on our nation’s dairy farms, while committing to continuous improvement. For more, visit nationaldairyfarm.com.

    The National Milk Producers Federation, based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. NMPF’s member cooperatives produce more than two-thirds of U.S. milk, making NMPF dairy’s voice on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more, visit www.nmpf.org.

  • National Dairy Council Communicates Dairy’s Nutrition, Sustainability Story Ahead of UN Summit

    The ability to nourish people amid unprecedented population growth of close to 10 billion by 2050 with escalating climate concerns takes center stage at the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) on Sept. 23. The virtual event, which takes place during the UN General Assembly, will convene international stakeholders from across the food system with the goal of making food production and consumption more sustainable and will serve as a call to action to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

    The farmer-founded National Dairy Council (NDC) has conducted various dairy-focused educational outreach efforts with key thought leaders who have a shared interest in the outcomes the Summit can potentially have on a more nutritious and sustainable future for the world.

    “National Dairy Council is dedicated to sharing U.S. dairy’s science-based contributions to health and sustainable food systems as part of global conversations driving toward more sustainable food systems worldwide,” said Dr. Greg Miller, global chief science officer of NDC. “Our message has been clear: dairy is both a nutritional and environmental solution.”

    NDC has participated in one-on-one conversations and dialogues surrounding various UN-sanctioned meetings and events, including:

    • Conducting more than 30 conversations to share the science and progress demonstrating dairy’s role in sustainable food systems with thought leaders, including those representing the Food Systems Summit Scientific Group and Committee on World Food Security (CFS).
    • Teaming with the checkoff-founded U.S. Dairy Export Council, Global Child Nutrition Foundation and The Nature Conservancy to host an independent Food Systems Summit dialogue, which included dairy farmers and Fuel Up to Play 60 and GENYOUth students with more than 100 participants representing multiple sectors of the food system. Findings from the dialogue were submitted to UNFSS as part of its official process and included in a publicly available report that will be considered by UNFSS leaders.
    • Participating in more than a dozen other FSS dialogues, hosted by various organizations. Seven dialogues featured dairy farmer participation.
    • Reviewing and responding to seven scientific group reports through the UN’s public comment process to ensure the science-based perspective about dairy’s contributions to sustainable food systems is represented and shared with thought leaders.
    • Hosting a series of virtual experiences that highlighted the U.S. dairy industry’s game-changing solutions and the role dairy plays in building more sustainable food systems. The sessions, which were in collaboration with the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), included a focus on the Net Zero Initiative, FARM program and food security/hunger efforts.
    • Participating in UNFSS-related meetings, including public forums and informational sessions, such as Science Days and a pre-summit meeting with stakeholders.
    Marilyn Hershey, Dairy Farmer and DMI Chair

    Pennsylvania dairy farmer and DMI Chair Marilyn Hershey also spoke at sessions hosted by the World Farmers Organization and Solutions from the Land where she summarized the Net Zero Initiative, the industry’s environmental stewardship goals and the technologies and upcycling practices she implements on her farm. Her story reached hundreds of global thought leaders.

    Hershey said these checkoff-led efforts will help position the U.S. dairy industry in a positive light, domestically and globally, when the discussions get under way.

    “We’re really seeing the benefits of having decades of checkoff-led research in nutrition and sustainability, which has been part of the dialogue and considerations leading into the Summit and beyond,” Hershey said. “Being able to share science-based proof points is an important part of people seeing dairy’s holistic value when it comes to both human and planetary health.”

    Added Miller: “I can’t emphasize enough that our work to use science to continuously improve, to be a solution to environmental progress is just as important as our contributions to human health. In fact, in today’s landscape, you could argue it’s even more important. The Summit is a great opportunity for dairy’s heritage in science and activation of our science to shine brightly.”

    For information about the dairy checkoff, visit www.usdairy.com.