ELMWOOD – The Pierce County Dairy Promotion Committee hosted the 71st annual Pierce County dairy banquet on Sunday, March 13 at the Elmwood Auditorium in Elmwood. Dairy farm families, agribusinesses and anyone interested in the dairy industry were invited to attend the event on Sunday afternoon.

During the luncheon, guest speaker Dr. Steve Kelm, animal science professor at UWRiver Falls, presented information on a statewide initiative that is a collaboration between three UW-system schools, called the Dairy Innovation Hub (DIH). “The concept came out of the Dairy Task Force 2.0 and this was a governor-appointed industry veil to brainstorm how we can make sure that Wisconsin stays at the forefront of the dairy industry, and so innovation and development and research was really high on the list and the DIH came from that task force,” he said.

The DIH is a research and development project that is aimed to keep the Wisconsin dairy industry continuously progressing.

The official description of the DIH states, “the DIH represents a $7.8 million per year investment by the State of Wisconsin that harnesses research and development at UW-Madison, UW-Platteville and UWRiver Falls campuses to keep Wisconsin’s $45.8 billion dairy community at the global forefront in producing nutritious dairy foods in an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable manner.”

During his presentation, Dr. Kelm listed several current projects at the UW-River Falls campus that will help innovate the dairy world and continue progress forward.

“A good friend said that what needs to happen is the dairy industry needs to find its ethanol,” he said.

The agriculture department at UW-River Falls is focusing on the foods part of four key areas related to the dairy industry: Stewarding land and water resources, enriching human health and nutrition, ensuring animal health and welfare, and growing farm businesses and communities.

The funding will support research personnel, farms and labs.

Dr. Kelm said, “The DIH has research going on in each of these areas, some campuses are stronger in certain areas than others. For example, in our case and in Madison’s case, we have more activity on the dairy foods side and Platteville’s emphasis is a little more toward the land and air stewardship aspect at this time.”

After Dr. Kelm finished, the Dairy Promotion Committee presented awards to farms and students who were considered outstanding in the year of 2021.

The first awards presented were for the 4-H Dairy Judging and Club awards, distributed by Bob Traynor, one of the dairy judging coaches in Pierce County.

“We had a really young team this year, especially the seniors, and they came along quite a bit over the year and we saw a lot of progress,” Traynor said.

Those recognized were Bryce Mark as high senior individual at the district contest, Ava Kolodzienski as high junior at the district contest, and Natalie Mark as a lead person for her outstanding awards and progress during the year.

Ron Thompson then presented the herd awards: Most Improved Herd, the Milk Quality Excellence Award and the High Herd Award.

The winner for both the Milk Quality Excellence and the High Herd awards went to Ti-Shi Dairy Inc., accepted by the Colbenson family. Most Improved Herd for 2021 went to Geraets Farm.

Brady Schroeder from Compeer Financial closed the ceremony by presenting the Dairy Service Award.

“Pierce County Dairy Promotion Committee and Compeer Financial would like to honor two individuals for the 2021 Dairy Service Award, Dave and Amy Bechel.”

The Bechels own Maple Grove Dairy off County Road S near Elmwood.

The luncheon closed with the “passing of the cheese curds” to the new chairperson, Jeff Johnson.

Dr. Steve Kelm, animal and food science professor at UWRiver Falls, gave a presentation on the Dairy Innovation Hub at the Pierce County Dairy Promotion spring luncheon on Sunday, March 13. Photo by Melissa Thorud

The “passing of the cheese curds” to new chairperson Jeff Johnson at the Pierce County Dairy Promotion Committee luncheon on Sunday, March 13. Photo by Melissa Thorud

Ron Thompson and members of the Pierce County Dairy Promotion Committee presented the awards in the Elmwood Auditorium on Sunday, March 13. Photo by Melissa Thorud

Brady Schroeder (left) from Compeer Financial, presenting the 2021 Dairy Service Award to Dave and Amy Bechel. Photo by Melissa Thorud