This past January, Val Lavigne became one of Dairy Management Inc.'s (DMI) newest board members. Leading up to this point, Lavigne has always been intrigued with checkoff and involved in her local efforts.
“I’m kind of dipping my toes into the big pool and getting to know more about what it’s like because I still kind of feel like a lot of farmers are still not sure about what to think about checkoff,” she says. “But it’s my job to help make sure that they do understand that checkoff is being responsible. They’re doing a really great job on a grand scale of things and making sure that the public is aware of the dairy industry and the great things that dairy farmers do.”
Strong Leadership
Lavigne is quite involved with her local milk cooperative, Agri-Mark, and has served as the Young Cooperator (YC) Vice President.
“As one of the three officers, I got to sit in on the board meetings and learn how the co-op runs,” she shares, explaining that the YC’s got to interact with board members.
“It’s all very eye-opening, especially right now with the FMMO pricing changes,” she says.
Lavigne loved being part of Agri-Mark’s YC program where she has been able to get a glimpse of what other co-op members are challenged with and overall, how to bring value for dairy in the Northeast.
Lavigne was also on the NMPF Advisory Council and was elected the YC chair for the past year.
“What a great experience,” she explains that she got to speak to the NMPF board of directors. “It was a great opportunity to learn more about the policymaking that happens on behalf of dairy farmers.”
Lavigne and her family milk north of Albany and her parents represent the first generation of dairy farmers. Today, Brock Farm milks around 170 cows. Before coming home to the farm, Lavigne graduated from Suny Cobleskill in New York with a degree in dairy science.
“My dad always believed that in order to come back to the farm, I needed to go experience working for someone else,” she explains, sharing that she did an internship on a nearby dairy farm. “They milked around 900 cows at the time, and I was the assistant herdsman.”
Lavigne continued working for that farm after graduation. She then worked as a field rep/milk inspector for Dairy Marketing Service. This unfolded into her ‘day job’ today, where she is a field rep/milk inspector for the state of New York.
Her husband, Greg, also works for her family’s farm and after having twins eight years ago, Lavigne decided to step away from her day job, although today she now does some similar part-time work. She credits her husband, her mother, Kris for helping her balance it all—with kids and work.
“All my work and involved has helped make me a more well-rounded farmer in general because most farmers don’t have the opportunities to do all of these different factors and understand all of the different facets of the industry,” she says. “And it’ll help me make better decisions on our farm.”
Today, she is also working on the home farm with her husband and family, helping with the financial bookwork, as well as some herdsman work. Along with being a mom of three to two 8-year-old twin girls and a five-year-old boy.
“I stepped back into the role and thankfully we were able to find an assistant herdsman that allows me to still have opportunities to travel and do different things within the industry,” she says.
Unique Diversification
Lavigne’s mother has always loved to cook, and her husband used to work as a chef in a restaurant, so they ventured out to start a food truck business.
“Why not find a way to work even more,” she says jokingly. “Because when you work all week as a farmer, you really want to work all weekend in a food truck.”
The food truck business began ten years ago and now the family has two trucks.
“One of our food trucks has a full kitchen. It has two full ovens, a six-burner stove and flat top fryers,” Lavigne explains, allowing them to cater weddings and other events.
They serve anything and everything from a roast beef carving station to barbecue.
“Seven years ago, we purchased a second food truck that is set up just for food trucks,” she shares, saying they are in high demand and booked more than a year out.
All of this adds an alternative profit line to the small dairy business.
“Our farm size is probably one of the least profitable herd sizes out there,” Lavigne says. “We don’t have room to milk more in the barn, so finding ways to generate extra revenue has allowed us to find a recipe that works.”
Follow Lavigne along with her social media channels, Dairy Gal Val and listen to her podcast, The Dairy Hour Podcast.
