Count the logos (including this ad) for your chance to win butter or cheese! See page 24 of the first section for details.
DAIRY ST R
Volume 20, No. 8
How is your 15 cents being spent?
“All dairy, all the time”™
June 9, 2018
“It’s a big learning curve and a huge learning experience.” – Bryton Miller
Having the time of his life
Checkoff program promotes dairy year round By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
Today’s farm economy has dairy farmers carefully deciding how to best invest in the future. Amongst the many options for farmers to plan for the years ahead, perhaps the greatest investment comes as 15 cents for every hundredweight put towards local and national dairy promotion. “Measuring success [of the program] is a challenge, but we know per capita consumption of dairy products has risen by 13 percent in the last 35 years,” Patrick Geoghegan said. “We take some of that credit, but not all.” Geoghegan is the senior vice president of communications with Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin. Local and national dairy checkoff programs were rst developed in the 1980s to increase demand of dairy products by farmers contributing 10 cents to the local program and 5 cents to national initiatives. Over the years, the purpose of the program has remained the same, but how the program reaches consumers and drives demand is ever changing. “It’s continually evolved, but the concept is the same,” Alan Merrill said about the checkoff program. “We’re trying to promote dairy products. We’re still working with consumers, but with a different approach. We also know how our consumers get their information and have to adapt to that, also.” Merrill is a dairy farmer in Parker, S.D., and also serves as the chairman for Midwest Dairy. Nowadays, dairy farmers’ checkoff dollars are allocated towards research, education and promotion. “We’re constantly developing programs that educate consumers about what’s happening on the farm because we want consumers to have condence in our dairy products,” Geoghegan said. In Wisconsin, the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin were an instrumental part in establishing the Center for Dairy Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Checkoff dollars provided 40 percent of
Turn to CHECKOFF | Page 5
KRISTA KUZMA/ DAIRY STAR
Bryton Miller looks over the cows in his herd, which he rotaƟonally grazes on his dairy near Kellogg, Minn.
Miller buys dairy from McMillins to start dairying career By Krista Kuzma
krista.k@dairystar.com
KELLOGG, Minn. – When Bonnie McMillin looks out her kitchen window and sees Bryton Miller on the farm he bought from her family, she knows they made the right decision. “He’s always grinning,” Bonnie said. “It looks like he’s having the time of his life.” And Miller is having the time of his life, fullling his dream of being a dairy farmer. It’s one he has had since his younger days when he would dress as a dairy farmer for career day at school. In 2017, Miller bought his 160acre, 50-cow dairy farm on contract for deed from Bonnie and Bill McMillin. They also happened to be his neighbors while he grew up on his parents’ dairy near Kellogg, Minn. Turn to MILLER | Page 6
KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR
Bryton Miller bought his farm from reƟred dairy farmers, Bonnie and Bill McMillin. The 22-year-old has been milking his 50-cow herd for over a year on his dairy near Kellogg, Minn.