Paul and Nancy Pyle are the 2019 YC Chaircouple and are members of the Michigan Milk Producers Association. They farm on a sixth-generation dairy (170 years) in Zeeland, Michigan. They milk around 140 registered Holsteins in a double-8 parallel parlor, housed in sand-bedded freestalls. They also farm 265 acres of corn, hay, wheat and soybeans. Paul and Nancy have been married for 14 years and have five children: Emily (11), Andrew (10), Megan (8), Chelsea (6), and James (5). Nancy is the preschool director at Zeeland Christian School.

Jonathan Vander Dussen is a farmer member of Select Milk Producers and current NMPF board member. He lends a hand on his family’s three different farm operations, which are located in Clovis, New Mexico, and milk a total of 10,000 Holsteins. The work is divided up within the family: Jonathan, his parents Randy and Jenise, and his brothers: Sybrand, Daniel, Bryan and Cody.

Daniel Perazzo, member-owner of Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), farms as part of Perazzo Brothers Dairy in Fallon, Nevada, which has been in operation since 1941. Daniel’s great grandparents started with just six milking shorthorns. Today, he is the fourth generation, milking 1,100 Holsteins.  Thanks to a DFA powder plant built in Fallon four years ago, Daniel and his family were able to build a new milking parlor that was finished shortly after the plant began operating.

Capstone Farms is a fourth-generation dairy farm and member-owner of Dairy Farmers of America. Lindsay Mitchell currently milks 215 registered Holsteins with her father, Bob Steinberger Jr. The dairy is in Windthorst, Texas, a small dairy community just northwest of Dallas-Ft. Worth. Lindsay’s husband James takes care of the crop work, and farms on his own. They also have a cow/calf operation. They have two children, Jack, 3, and Baylor, 1.

Corey and Kaitlyn Miller are members of the 2018 YC Advisory Council, representing Upstate Niagara Cooperative. They farm in Erie County, New York, about 20 minutes from Buffalo. In partnership with Richard and Lucille Janiga, the Millers milk 400 Holstein cows three times a day thanks to several employees. Corey and his wife started dairy farming in May 2013 with just 120 cows on a rented facility. They are now in their fourth year of farming alongside the Janigas. They hope to buy out the partnership over time and become a more efficient operation.

Alex Ode is a farmer-member of Land O’ Lakes, Inc., and member of the 2018 YC Advisory Council. As a fifth-generation dairy farmer, he operates Royalwood Farms – located east of Sioux Falls, South Dakota – alongside his father, uncle and grandfather. They currently milk 340 Holstein cows in a double-eight parallel parlor three times a day, and house them in a six-row, sand-bedded free-stall barn. They also farm 800 acres of corn and alfalfa.

Alex has been married to wife Alicia for almost five years, and they currently have a 15-month old daughter named Ava. Alicia is a registered nurse at Vance Thompson Vision.

Will and Lauren Butler are members of the 2018 YC Advisory Council, representing Southeast Milk, Inc. The Butler family has been farming for more than 80 years. Today, their operation is situated in Highlands County, Florida, directly on the Kissimmee River. While Will’s parents own Butler Oaks Farm, he has served as manager alongside older brother Ben for the past 10 years. They manage the 1,100 cow milking herd, which is housed in a free-stall management system. Butler Oaks milks mainly Holstein cows, with a few Brown Swiss and Jersey-Crosses. The farm has undertaken several environmental projects to control the phosphorus and other nutrients. Today, all the water on the farm is collected and treated or reused.

Will and his wife Lauren have been married eight years and have a daughter named Claire, 2. Lauren is the Okeechobee County UF/IFAS Extension Director and Livestock Agent.

Jennifer and Justin Malott are the 2018 Young Cooperator Chaircouple and members of Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association. They own and operate Misty Meadow Farms, where they milk 150 Holstein cows.

Josh and Emily Reinhardt are the 2017 Young Cooperator Vice Chaircouple and members of Prairie Farms Dairy. Josh’s grandparents started the farm in 1954 after receiving a dozen chickens and two mules as a wedding gift. Today, the farm is located outside of Red Bud, Ill., where the Reinhardts milk 240 Holsteins and farm about 1,000 acres. In March 2016, they moved into a new barn equipped with DeLaval robots. They’re currently focusing on genetics, and strive to produce heifers that mature into robot-compatible cows with high yields.

Shelby Knevelbaard is a member of the 2017 Young Cooperator Advisory Council. She and her husband Matthew farm in Tulare, Calif., for which she was elected district chairman through Dairy Farmers of America. They currently milk 600 Holsteins and have 50 acres of farm land for growing corn and wheat silage. The couple started the business in 2011, following Matthew’s family legacy of being in the dairy business for many generations. Matthew’s family came here from Holland, with Matthew being the fourth-generation to work in dairy. Shelby married into the family having come from a different background, one rooted in ministry and factory work.

Karl Wedemeyer is a member of the 2017 Young Cooperator Advisory Council. He and his family are members of Dairy Farmers of America and own White Diamond Farm in LaRue, Ohio. They currently milk about 170 jersey cows, raise about 140 heifers and farm about 80 acres.

Brooks and Katie Long are the 2017 Young Cooperator Vice Chaircouple and members of Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association. They operate Long DeLite Farm in Williamsport, Md. The farm is a seventh-generation operation that has been in the family and at the same location since 1831. They milk about 60 cows – crossbred cattle, plus some registered Jerseys and Milking Shorthorns – on a rotational grazing operation, where the cows consume a majority of their forage from grass on paddocks on which they are moved around daily.