Tag: Cooperative Communications Contest

Prairie Farms Co-op Takes Top Communications Honors in NMPF Contest

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Michigan Milk Producers Association’s Chapin Wins Farmer Communicator of the Year

Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc., took top honors in the National Milk Producers Federation’s annual cooperative communications contest, winning five categories and the competition’s “Best in Show: Writing” award. A farmer-owner of Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA), Doug Chapin, received NMPF’s Farmer Communicator of the Year award.

Edwardsville, IL-based Prairie Farms also took one second-place finish and two third-place finishes in the competition, which recognizes the top communications efforts among NMPF’s member cooperatives. The Best of Show: Writing award was given for Prairie Farms’s  article, “R-Homestead Holsteins – 150 Years of Family Tradition.”

“This was a good feature showing the history of a small Illinois dairy with the father, Dave, having a long history of activism in Illinois boards and commissions,” the competition review wrote. “The story also touches on challenges such as why an 80-head dairy hasn’t expanded like others. It also highlights Dave’s interest in genetics with his herd as well. It’s a good, rounded, thorough story of a single family farm.”

Chapin was recognized for his leadership in communicating farmer and co-op perspectives on challenging issues that were of top priority to dairy farmers and the entire industry throughout 2024, including dairy’s response to the discovery of the H5N1 influenza virus in dairy cattle and efforts to modernize the Federal Milk Marketing Order system.

At a time when simply speaking out on H5N1 invited additional scrutiny, Chapin ably represented dairy farmers and the cooperatives they owned by addressing consumer and industry concerns during moments of great uncertainty early in the H5N1 outbreak.

“During the H5N1 crisis in Michigan, Doug was instrumental in advocating to legislators for a science-based regulatory approach , representing dairy interests to the media, and maintaining critical industry relations within the agriculture community,” Michigan Milk Producers Association said in its nomination letter. “His efforts ensured that the dairy community’s perspective was front and center, demonstrating his unwavering commitment to the industry and the health and safety of workers and cattle.”

Chapin also “played a crucial role in the Federal Milk Marketing Order reform by testifying on behalf of NMPF and the Michigan Milk Producers Association,” MMPA continued. “He advocated for the higher of Class 3 or 4 proposal for the Class I skim milk price mover, supporting his testimony with data and his farm’s experience during the pandemic. His participation ensured that his peers’ voices were heard in the reform process.”

Chapin is the chairman of the board for MMPA and a member of NMPF’s executive committee. He farms near Remus, MI. In an NMPF Farmer Focus article to be published later this month, he said that in the early days of H5N1, dealing with uncertainty about the virus and the necessity of a response by state and federal officials. “Our objective was to make sure that the response made sense and was manageable by our dairy producers, to make sure that they could operate within the guidance that Michigan was putting out and work with the USDA,” he said.

“It’s important to remember that there is still a lot we don’t know about the virus, and early on, there was even less,” he continued. “So we wanted to make sure we were using real facts and the best science we had to make sure we were making good decisions.”

The “Best of Show” award is selected from the first-place entries in the contest’s main areas: publication, writing, graphics and special projects. In addition to Prairie Farms’s recognition in the writing category, Upstate Niagara Cooperative won publications for its annual report; Dairy Farmers of America won graphics for its photo, “Dairy Fountain at Sunset,” and Land O’Lakes won the special projects category with its video series, “Rural is Incredible.”

Winners were announced at a meeting of NMPF member cooperative communicators yesterday. All the winners will also be recognized at NMPF’s annual meeting in Phoenix on Oct. 21-23. A full list of the winners of the NMPF communications contest, which received 95 entries from 11 member cooperatives, can be found here.

DFA Farmer Named NMPF “Communicator of Year,” Tillamook Recognized Among Co-ops

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Laton, CA dairy farmer Melvin Medeiros, a family farm-owner of Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), was named the National Milk Producers Federation’s (NMPF) Farmer Communicator of the Year at the organization’s annual gathering of dairy-cooperative communicators. Tillamook earned top overall communications honors among NMPF member co-ops.

Medeiros, who milks around 1,600 cows roughly 30 miles northwest of Visalia, is a member of NMPF’s executive committee. Melvin serves as chair of the Agricultural Council of California’s Dairy Committee, sits on the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and the California Cares and Environmental Justice Fund Committee. He is also chairman of DFA’s Western Area Council and a member of DFA’s Executive Committee.

He’s also a member of NMPF’s Dairy Voice Network of farmer spokespeople and was profiled in a recent NMPF Farmer Focus. He is the second straight DFA farmer to earn Farmer Communicator of the Year, following last year’s awardee, Charles Krause of Buffalo, MN.

“Melvin is a consistent advocate for dairy,” DFA wrote in its nominating letter. “This year specifically, Melvin testified in front of the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture. It’s imperative that dairy farmers tell their story in front of the committees that work on relevant and pertinent farm policy, and we’re proud Melvin was collectively representing dairy farmers alike in front of this committee.

“Producers like Melvin, who tell their story to the congressmen and women alike who are further away from dairy, create a trusted source and sounding board for policy decisions that directly affect dairy farmers.”

Tillamook was recognized for its numerous first-place awards in NMPF’s annual communications contest, highlighted by its “Best in Show” recognition for its 2021 Annual Report, led by Tillamook’s Corporate Communications team.

“Great balance of content across having the required business stats, mixed with content on leadership, cows, dairy products and most importantly the people who make it all happen,” read the judge’s comments in response to one of Tillamook’s prize-winning entries. “Loved the beautiful graphics, product highlights. Unique size/binding of the piece was a nice touch. Well done!”

Medeiros and Tillamook will also be recognized at NMPF’s annual meeting in Denver next week. A full list of the winners of the NMPF communications contest, which received entries from 13 member cooperatives, can be found here.