Numerous honors bestowed at Saturday’s 2005 Allamakee County Dairy Banquet

The Allamakee County Dairy Promotion Board presented ten major dairy awards at its Annual Dairy Banquet held Saturday, March 19 at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds Pavilion. Following is a listing of the awards distributed at the banquet:

Distinguished Dairy Family ...
The Robert and Gloria Hanson family was named Allamakee County’s Distinguished Dairy Family for 2005. Left to right in photo are sons Alan and John Hanson, Robert and Gloria Hanson, and daughters Lynn Johnson and Kari Gibbs. The Robert and Gloria Hanson family was named Allamakee County Distinguished Dairy Family. The Hanson’s milk 85 head of Holsteins near Waukon with their sons Alan and John. Their daughter Lynn Johnson also helps with milking chores. The Hanson’s herd has a rolling herd average of 20,758 pounds and they market their milk with Calhoun Creamery. __________________________________________


Outstanding Young Dairy Family ... Mark, Brenda and Mike Hartley (left to right in above photo) were named Allamakee County’s Outstanding Young Dairy Family for 2005.
Mike, Mark and Brenda Hartley of New Albin received the Outstanding Young Dairy Family award. Together with their mother, Nancy, they milk 105 head of Holsteins in a step-up parlor with an attached freestall barn. The milk is marketed through Calhoun Creamery and has a rolling herd average of 19,887 pounds.
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Pioneer Dairyman ...Fred Miller.
Fred Miller of Waukon received the Pioneer Dairyman award this year. Miller started milking on his family’s farm near Luana before moving to the farm where the herd is currently owned by two of Fred’s sons, Joel and John. Fred is mostly retired, but still takes an active interest in farm decisions. Fred has served as past president of the Allamakee County Farm Bureau as well as a past director for the IPLA board. __________________________________________


Distinguished Service to Dairy Industry Awards
Schwartzhoff Construction of Dorchester received the Distinguished Service to the Industry award. Owned by the Don Schwartzhoff family, this business built nine farm buildings in 2004 in Allamakee County, including two freestall barns, a milk house and two other sheds on dairy farms.

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Dairy Scholarships
Tom Gavin, son of Pat and Kay Gavin of Lansing, received a $300 scholarship this year from the Allamakee County Dairy Promotion Board. He is currently a senior at Kee High School in Lansing and is active in 4-H, the National Jr. Holstein Association, the Allamakee County Dairy Judging Team, the Iowa Dairy Judging team, and the Allamakee County Dairy Quiz Bowl team. Tom plans to attend Northeast Iowa Community College to major in Dairy Science. He would like to return to the family farm after college and work with their dairy herd to produce a high index herd of registered Holsteins.


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Junior Dairy Ambassadors ...
Serving as Junior Dairy Ambassadors for Allamakee County are (left to right): Front row - Landon Sivesind, Callie Thorson, Katie Kerndt, and Carly Quandahl. Back row - Brittany Johnson, Dylan Hammel, Adam Enyart, Josh Thorson and Ben Kerndt. Not pictured: Mariah Kucera.
Eight Allamakee County youth will serve as Junior Dairy Ambassadors in 2005. Josh and Callie Thorson, children of Joel and Janice Thorson; Carly Quandahl, daughter of Adam and Julie Quandahl; Mariah Kucera, daughter of Chad and Joyce Kucera; Landon Sivesind, son of Dan and Jane Sivesind; Brittney Johnson, daughter of Rob and Lynn Johnson; and Ben and Katie Kerndt, children of Brad and Mary Kerndt. Alex Enyart, son of Steve and Paula Enyart, and Dylan Hammel, son of Dave and Karla Hammel, were thanked for their participation in the ambassador program in 2004. __________________________________________
Production Award Plaques
Steve and Paul Enyart of Postville received the award for high herd for milk and protein production. Their rolling herd average was 28,208 lbs. of milk and 848 pounds of protein. Gav-N-View Farm of Lansing received the award for high herd for fat with 1,066 pounds.
The most improved herd award for milk and protein went to John and Becky Ruff of Monona. They had an increase of 3166 pounds of milk and 96 pounds of protein. Kevin and Karlton Eberling of Postville received the most improved award for fat with an increase of 102 pounds.

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Dairy Promotion Award
The Dairy Promotion Award was given to the Allamakee Community School District. Last year the school purchased milk vending machines for the high school and junior high for student use. The Dairy Board thanks the school district for recognizing the importance of dairy products in the diets of young people. __________________________________________



Golden Butter Knife Award...
Waukon Inn. Pictured above representing Waukon Inn are (left to right): Front row - Dacia Armstead, Kay Snitker and Jill Kiesau. Back row - Frank Armstead, Darrell Snitker and Dawn Snitker. The Golden Butter Knife award was presented to the Waukon Inn for their promotion of real dairy products. They have been a long-time butter customer of Calhoun Creamery. __________________________________________

Allamakee County Dairy Producers Earn State Production Awards
Eighteen dairy producers from Allamakee County were presented Dairy Herd Improvement Production Certificates and ribbons for having herds that averaged more than 10% above the state breed average for either milk, fat or protein, for the year ending December 31, 2004. The average milk production for all cows on test in Iowa for 2004 was 21,228# milk. To be recognized for an award a Holstein herd needed to average over 23,942# milk, 879# fat, and 733# protein. Based on DHIA records, forty-four county herds averaged over 20,000# of milk last year.
Dairy Producers in Allamakee County receiving state production awards included the following: Steve and Paula Enyart, Dean and Sue Meyer, John and Becky Ruff, Jeff and Martha Byrnes, Dougherty Brothers, Chris and Nancy Wonderlich, Johanningmeier Dairy, Gav-N-View Farm, Greg Palmer, Arlyn and Kevin Fossum, Ernlo Holstein Farm, Schwartzhoff Dairy, Regancrest Farm, Gibbs Family Dairy, Curtis and Bruce Anderson, Greg and Rosie Piggott, Leo and Greg Conway, Kirk and Lisa Snitker, Hagen Brothers Dairy, Kevin and Karlton Eberling, and Roger Rubendall. __________________________________________

Class Leader Cows
Class Leader Cows are the top producing cows for their breed and age group in Allamakee County for the year 2004. The Dale Rausch family had leader cows in the Ayrshire class. Kevin and Karlton Eberling and Dean and Sue Meyer had leader cows in the Brown Swiss class. Chad and Jan Winke had leader cows in the Guernsey class. Dean and Sue Meyer also had leader cows in the Holstein class. Weighner Brothers and Roger Rubendall had leader cows in the Jersey class. Weighner Brothers also had the leader cow in the Milking Shorthorn class for the county.
Dean and Sue Meyer, Matt and Michelle Byrnes, Gibbs Family Dairy, Roger Mathews, Gav-N-View Farm and Hagen Brothers Dairy had leader cows in the mixed breed class. Mark and Sandra Ehrhardt, Greg Kerndt, Mark Miller, and John and Becky Ruff had leader cows in the Red and White class.