Dairy Farmers of America Wins NMPF’s Top Communications Honor
The National Milk Producers Federation awarded Dairy Farmers of America its top organisational prize in the federation’s annual communications competition. DFA also received first place in eight individual categories and won the contest’s “Best of Show” distinction.
Ben Smith, a farmer-member of Maola Local Dairies, which is part of the Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association, was named Farmer Communicator of the Year. The award recognised his advocacy on behalf of agriculture at the grassroots level.
The competition included 108 submissions from ten NMPF member cooperatives across the United States. The formal presentation was scheduled for an awards luncheon on Tuesday, October 20, during NMPF’s annual meeting in Kissimmee, Florida.
Judges assessed communications produced for cooperative members and the wider public. In DFA’s winning digital work, they noted an approach that combined dairy education with language intended to remain accessible to consumers. Cooperative communications teams now use digital publishing, search optimisation, analytics, video and other multimedia tools alongside established member publications and newsletters.
The communications work covers subjects including dairy science, farm biosecurity, animal-care practices and environmental stewardship. The National Dairy FARM programme, or Farmers Assuring Responsible Management, provides an industry-wide framework for communicating and documenting animal-care and sustainability practices to food buyers.
DFA markets milk produced by thousands of family farms in 48 states and operates through a cooperative structure that includes regional councils, equity programmes and milk-balancing logistics. The company’s member communications and financial reporting are used to provide producers with information about cooperative operations and farm-business conditions, including changes in Federal Milk Marketing Order prices, replacement-heifer costs and processing capacity.
The awards were presented as dairy organisations manage competition from plant-based beverages and long-term declines in per-capita fluid-milk consumption. The source also identified communication needs linked to congressional Farm Bill discussions, possible changes to Federal Milk Marketing Orders, supply-chain emissions reporting and responses to animal-health emergencies, including highly pathogenic avian influenza.
