SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Four dairy farmers have been elected to lead the Midwest Dairy Association Iowa Division, helping to guide programs conducted through the dairy promotion checkoff. Officers were elected during the group's 2009 annual meeting held in conjunction with a national dairy checkoff forum in Scottsdale, Ariz. Officers are:- G. Joe Lyon, (Toledo, Iowa) - chairman;
- Norbert Schmidt, (Readlyn, Iowa) - vice chairman;
- Dan Hotvedt, (Mabel, Minn.) - secretary; and
- Larry Shover, (Delhi, Iowa) - treasurer.
The four officers, along with Pam Bolin, Clarksville, and John Grafenberg, West Union, were elected to serve on the Midwest Dairy Association corporate board.
Shover and Schmidt will join other state representatives on the American Dairy Association of the Midwest board, which controls the organization's non-cash assets.
Suzette Vander Veen, Harris, Gerrit Davelaar, Inwood, Scott Feuerhelm, LeMars and Alan Steffens, Clermont, were seated as new members of the board.
The group's annual meeting emphasized the need for promotion during the current economic challenges. "Dairy producers have good promotion efforts in place, and we're evaluating other ways we can respond to dairy producers needs for improved sales," said Lyon.
Midwest Dairy Association represents more than 11,000 dairy farmers in nine states including North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri and eastern Oklahoma.
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Midwest Dairy Association is a non-profit organization funded by dairy farmers to build demand for dairy products through integrated marketing, nutrition education and research. Per capita consumption of total milk has climbed to 605 pounds today compared with 522 in 1983 when the national dairy checkoff was created.
