Virginia

New Funding Brings Milk Dispensers to More Virginia School Cafeterias

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 16:37:54 GMT

A new partnership is expanding access to milk in Virginia schools while helping districts reduce waste and improve how cafeterias serve students.

The Dairy Alliance has teamed up with the Virginia State Dairymen’s Association (VSDA) and Farm Credit of the Virginias to advance the Milk Dispenser Grant Program for K–12 schools across the Commonwealth. Combined funding totaling $155,000 will support a new round of grant awards scheduled for early 2026, giving more schools the opportunity to access milk dispenser equipment designed to replace single-use milk cartons.

Milk dispensers allow students to pour the amount of milk they want, giving them more control over portions and helping reduce packaging waste in school cafeterias. The program also fits with sustainability initiatives underway in several districts.

“The Milk Dispenser Grant Program gives schools the tools and support they need to make real dairy milk more accessible for students,” says Farrah Newberry, CEO of The Dairy Alliance. “When schools remove barriers and modernize how they serve real dairy milk, students drink more of it and build healthier habits that last beyond the cafeteria.”

According to The Dairy Alliance, the youth wellness team works with school nutrition directors throughout the process, from planning and installation to ongoing support. Grant funding helps offset equipment costs and includes training to help schools integrate dispensers into daily service.

“Strong partnerships help schools deliver real dairy milk in a way that connects with students and supports local dairy farmers,” said Eric Paulson, executive director of VSDA. “This combined investment allows more Virginia schools to participate in a proven program as they plan for the 2026 school year.”

Early results from schools using milk dispensers have been notable. At one Virginia school, milk packaging waste dropped nearly 90%, while milk consumption increased by more than 50%. Across the Southeast, schools in similar programs report average milk movement increases of at least 14%.

The investment includes a $115,000 grant from the Van der Lely Foundation, a $30,000 contribution from VSDA to support K–12 school districts statewide and a $10,000 sponsorship from Farm Credit of the Virginias dedicated to schools in southwest Virginia. All funds will be used to support the MD Grant Program, which helps schools purchase milk dispenser equipment and kits designed to replace single-use milk cartons.

The expanded funding will allow the program to reach additional Virginia cities and counties beginning in early 2026, with ongoing data collection tracking milk usage, waste reduction and student participation.

Vanguard Renewables Partners with Virginia's Oldest Family Dairy for New Renewable Natural Gas Project

Wed, 23 Oct 2024 20:17:54 GMT

Vanguard Renewables recently broke ground on a new renewable natural gas project at The Moyer Family’s Oakmulgee Dairy Farm in Amelia Court House, VA. This historic farm, owned by fourth-generation dairyman Larkin Moyer and his sons, Brandon and Jeremy, is the oldest continuously operating family dairy in Virginia.

Vanguard Renewables is a major player in turning organic waste into renewable natural gas, according to a company press release. They currently operate seven facilities across the U.S., with three more under construction and plan to expand even further by the end of the year. According to the company, the new Farm Powered anaerobic digester at Oakmulgee Dairy Farm will generate over 259,000 MMBtu of renewable gas each year, while also diverting over 105,000 tons of food and beverage waste away from landfills or incineration.

“We are thrilled to partner with the Moyer Family who are truly building the farm of the future, to bring this transformative technology to life,” said Neil H. Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Vanguard Renewables. “By converting inedible and unsalable food and beverage waste and dairy cow manure into renewable gas, we are not only reducing greenhouse gas emissions and repurposing methane for good, but also creating a sustainable energy source that benefits both the environment and local communities.”

According to Vanguard Renewables, the renewable natural gas produced at this site in Virginia will go on to fuel AstraZeneca’s Maryland biopharmaceutical production facilities.

“We are pleased with Vanguard Renewables’ strong growth momentum and continued expansion throughout the United States, including this latest renewable natural gas project formed through the company’s joint venture with TotalEnergies,” said Doug Vaccari, Managing Director, Global Infrastructure Partners, a part of BlackRock.

Vanguard Renewables will build and run the project, which is part of a new partnership between Vanguard Renewables and TotalEnergies. Together, they plan to develop Farm Powered renewable natural gas projects on farms across the U.S., bringing more sustainable energy options to dairy operations nationwide.

“We have not shied away from the advances made in the dairy industry, and today is proof of my family’s commitment to a greener future,” stated Larkin Moyer, Owner, Oakmulgee Dairy Farm. “We have embraced innovation as key to preserving our family farm. In addition to our partnership with Vanguard Renewables, we have a ground mount solar array that powers all our farms electrical needs - from robotic milkers to heating and cooling our barns - to further reduce our own carbon footprint. We are also proud members of Dairy Farmers of America, the largest dairy cooperative in the United States.”

AstraZeneca has partnered with Vanguard Renewables to support the production of renewable gas at Farm Powered sites, which will help reduce their carbon footprint in the U.S. Beyond buying the renewable gas for their manufacturing needs, AstraZeneca will use their global manufacturing and digital expertise to increase renewable gas output at Vanguard’s sites.

“At AstraZeneca, we know that using clean energy to produce our medicines is essential for lowering our environmental impact,” said Liz Chatwin, VP of Global Sustainability at AstraZeneca. “Our partnership with Vanguard Renewables shows our commitment to sustainable practices and the move towards net-zero healthcare.”

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At Just 31 Years Old, He Bought The Dairy Farm From His Parents. The Growth Has Been Incredible

Wed, 10 Jan 2024 20:21:35 GMT

On the edge of a bustling and bursting Washington D.C., you’ll find a 4th generation dairy farm. The Smith family ventured to the Remington, Virginia area in the 1970s to uncover a land of opportunity.

“I’m the second-generation on this farm, but I’m the fourth generation of dairy farmers and Ben will be the fifth generation,” says Ken Smith, of Cool Lawn Farm in Fauquier County, Virginia.

Growing and evolving has become the way of life for Cool Lawn, LLC. Ben Smith, the fifth-generation to dairy in the Smith family, says he always knew he wanted to be a dairy farmer, but it took exploring throughout college to remind him he was destined for the farm.

Ben interned at dairies across the country while in college, and after graduation, he decided to return home to continue the family’s heritage.

“I thought it was great for him to be able to come into a progressive herd, but to start on the ground with the grazing operation was a good experience,” Ken says. “And it really brought him home to what he has become today, which is a successful dairy farmer.”

The First Signs of Growth

The farm’s grazing dairy is where Ben was able to get his feet wet right after college.

“It was a really good opportunity for me, because I had there I was alone, I had the opportunity to do well and to fail, to learn what works and to learn what doesn’t work,” Ben says. “I credit that to being kind of a one-man show over there and taking care of the cows and to developing some of my animal husbandry skills today.”

The dairy is still a 100% registered Holstein herd today, milking 800 cows, three times a day.

“We consolidated herds after we built a new freestall barn. And now what was a grazing dairy is now our dry cow facility,” explains Ben. “We’ve grown on the registered side to marketing genetics and selling registered bulls to either AI or other dairymen. We’ve also grown in grain production. What started as a 200-acre farm is now a 1,000 acre contiguous block of land. And we’re crop farming 2,500 acres.”

The family continued to make improvements to the freestall barn, but the Smiths simply outgrew the space.

“The building was built in 1967. So, it had served its purpose. And today, we’re milking in a BouMatic Rotary,” Ben says.

A Humbling Start

Ben will be the first to admit, the growth may be constant on the farm today, but when he first came home, there were bumps along the way.

“Those first few years back to the farm full-time were challenging,” he says. “You get out of school and you have all these big ideas that you learned in college, and we need to do this and do that now. It’s kind of humbling to come back and somebody tell you, ‘Hey, you need to slow your roll. Rome wasn’t built the day.’”

Remarkable Accomplishments in Year One

While his growth may have happened at a slower pace than what he originally hoped, his track record is already quite impressive, especially considering at just 31 years old, Ben purchased the operation from his parents.

“My gosh, he’s done a lot in the first year,” his dad says. “He expanded the calf raising facility. He saved us money right off the bat, and started going to bulk products. And he built a roof over the new bulk products.”

His dad says Ben also focuses on employee retention, launching training sessions on the farm.

“He created an environment that the employees would feel comfortable in,” Ken says. “He brought in a translator so that everybody understood what he was trying to accomplish. He gave me challenges. I handled things differently. Him and I, sometimes we’re black and white. And sometimes we’re just like a Holstein, we’re all mixed together.”

Keen Sense of Business Reaped From the Generations Before

Ben’s keen sense of business quickly became a tool to the farm’ progress.

“Our philosophy is if you’re not growing, you’re going backwards. So, the plan is always to grow. But growth could be a lot of different things,” Ben says.

His plans for the family farm involves more growth and expansion. And the growth here isn’t just happening in cow numbers. Ben says the goal is to become more efficient at every angle of the farm.

“It could be increase the rolling herd average from 32,000 to 34,000, increase our solids from you know seven pounds to eight. What can we do to be more efficient?”

Ben may be focused on the future, but for this fifth-generation farmer, he’ll always cherish the past.

“It starts with my granddad,” Ben says. “And then my father, Ken. They were the best mentors and coaches I ever could ask for.”

Like father, like son, those sweet sentiments are also shared by Ben’s dad.

“I’ve been really, really proud. If I talk too much about it, I will tear up, of just how proud I am of the young man he’s become.”

In just a decade on the farm, Ben’s journey has been one of dedication and innovation, which is what makes Ben Smith the 2023 Milk Business Conference Young Producer of the Year .

Longhorned Ticks Now in Four States

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:12:50 GMT

Agricultural officials this week confirmed the presence of the Longhorned tick (Haemaphysalis longicornis) in Benton County, Arkansas, increasing to four the number of states with confirmed sightings of the exotic Asian pest. The tick was first identified in New Jersey late last year, and since has been confirmed in Virginia, West Virginia and Arkansas.

The tick can carry a wide variety of human and animal pathogens, and as evidenced by its jump from the Mid-Atlantic region to Arkansas, has the ability to spread.

According to the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), the Longhorn Tick is an aggressive biter and frequently builds intense infestations on domestic hosts causing great stress, reduced growth and production, and exsanguination. It is also a known or suspected vector of several viral, bacterial and protozoan agents of livestock and human diseases.

TAHC also notes that the tick can reproduce parthenogenetically (without a male), meaning a single fed female tick can create a population.

The tick has not been found in Texas, but the TAHC has advised livestock producers and veterinarians to watch for the pest, especially since it has turned up in neighboring Arkansas. Texas and the TAHC currently are working to address the reappearance of cattle fever ticks , a pest that previously caused extensive damage in livestock herds, along its border with Mexico.

University of Arkansas Extension Entomologist Kelly Loftin, says that while the Longhorned tick may be a new arrival to Arkansas, residents should not panic, but use the same precautions they would with the state’s other ticks. “I think the big concern right now is the unknown,” Loftin says. “We don’t know how it arrived in Arkansas, or how widespread it is. The Longhorned is a big pest to cattle in some parts of the world, so of course that’s a concern here, along with the viral and bacterial pathogens it may transmit.”

And while the tick should certainly be taken seriously, the Longhorned tick doesn’t necessarily present any new challenges to the state’s human or animal populations, Loftin says. “There’s a fear that it could transmit the Powassan virus, various other pathogens, possibly Anaplasma spp., and so on.” he says. “But we already have ticks capable of transmitting these pathogens.”

Elementary School Implements Milk Machine, Saves 39K Cartons Annually

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 02:05:59 GMT

The students at Bluestone Elementary School have tossed their disposable milk cartons for good after recently implementing a milk machine into their lunch program.

Hoping to reduce the amount of waste their non-recyclable milk cartons contribute, the students and staff at the Harrisonburg, Virginia school worked together to incorporate the machine into their cafeteria.

The idea came after a study found that nearly 39,000 cartons per year were being thrown out at Bluestone alone, according to WHSV 3 News. It was also discovered that students only drank about 70% of what was in the carton, contributing to the growing food waste epidemic in the United States.

There are a number of benefits to these new dispensers according to Andrea Early, executive director of school nutrition. However, she told the Daily News Record that waste reduction is the major goal.

Comparable to a soda fountain, the machine allows students to decide just how much milk they want to take and uses reusable cups each day. The milk dispenser encourages mindfulness by allowing students to take what they’re actually going to drink; and of course, there are no cardboard cartons piling up in the trash can, according to Early.

“It’s good to know that we’re not, like, drinking chocolate milk only to have the environment destroyed because of it,” said Avery Holt, a fourth-grade student, in an interview with WHSV 3.

With the addition of the milk machine, the school plans to conduct another survey in a few weeks to see if adding it to their program has helped reduce waste. If the results are positive, the school administration will consider adding more milk machines to other schools in the district.

Dairy Farms Weather Long Stretch of Low Milk Prices

Thu, 12 Nov 2020 05:54:18 GMT

CALLAWAY, Va. (AP) — Despite stubbornly low milk prices forcing some dairy farmers to pinch pennies just to scrape by and others to call it quits and sell off their cattle, Bryan Matthews tries to remain optimistic.

“At my age I have to be,” says the 35-year-old dairy farmer.

Across the country, dairy farmers are struggling to make ends meet. The main culprit: a prolonged period of low milk prices. The last time they were strong was four years ago, in 2014. Experts attribute the problem in large part to an imbalance between supply and demand. There’s simply too much fluid milk out there, driving prices down. That hurts farmers, because the milk isn’t any cheaper to produce.

There are other factors, too. Consumers are drinking less milk, particularly with alternatives like soy and almond milks flooding the market. And with talk of tariffs, dairy farmers face another potential stressor on the industry.

“It’s kind of a waiting game,” said Cynthia Martel, a cooperative extension agent in Franklin County who specializes in dairy. “Can they wait it out a year? Do they have enough money to cash flow until milk prices come back up?”

Franklin County is among the top dairy producers in the state, but farmers there face the same hardships. The county hasn’t been spared from closures, losing some farms this year. Martel said there are 40-some surviving dairy farms in the county today.

Matthews, who helps to run his father’s farm in Callaway, hopes to ride it out. The farm has been in the family since 1919. His great-grandfather died three years after buying it. If Matthews’ great-grandmother, then a widowed single mother, managed to hang on to it during the Depression, he should be able to get through this.

“People before you had the same amount of hard times, and they worked through it,” Matthews said.

The dairy farmer said he can’t imagine doing anything else. Matthews studied agriculture economics at Clemson University but realized he wasn’t meant to crunch numbers in a cubicle. He was meant to be out on the farm.

“Dairy farming’s in my blood,” Matthews said.

A farmer’s income is dependent on the price of milk, which they have no role in setting. There are complex systems in place at the federal and state levels to set the price of milk.

“Farmers don’t control what they get paid for their milk, by any means,” Martel said. “They can’t go in and say hey I’m going to charge you X number of dollars, do you want my milk? That’s not really how it works.”

Elaine Lidholm, director of communications for the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, described dairy pricing as “probably one of the most complicated procedures in all of agriculture.”

Fluctuation in milk prices is not unusual; the fact that prices have been depressed for so long is the unusual part. Historically, Martel said, prices would have bounced back by now.

In recent years, milk prices have become extremely volatile, said Eric Paulson, executive director of the Virginia State Dairymen’s Association. That’s proven true in 2018.

“Obviously what we’re seeing a lot in 2018 is very depressed milk prices,” Paulson said.

Most people in the workforce know what they’ll be paid in a given year; they have a set salary, Paulson noted. Not so for dairy farmers. The milk leaves the farm, and the farmer finds out how much he earned for it the next month when the milk check arrives, Paulson said.

Because milk is a perishable product, he said, farmers can’t just store it and wait for prices to turn around like they might with some other crops.

Though farms are going out of business, Lidholm said, the state’s milk production remains relatively unchanged. That’s because often, when a dairy goes out of business, their cows are purchased by a larger operation.

Milk prices have dropped to about what they were in the 1980s, Matthews said, yet the input costs are in 2018 dollars.

“To make ends meet, the American farmer — this goes for beef farmer, grain farmer, dairy — we have to produce more,” he said. “And the laws of economics say when you produce more you’re going to put more product on that market, when you put more product on the market that’s going to decrease the demand, so therefore prices drop.”

In the 1970s, Matthews said his family’s farm milked between 90 to 100 cows. Now, they’re up to 155. Though the herd has increased drastically, the number of employees has not. It’s only Matthews, his father and two others. Everyone just has to do more.

“It’s stressful when you work all day and you go home and you start to pay your bills and there’s not enough money to do it,” Matthews said. “No matter how much you work, how much time you put into it you’re not going to get paid any more.”

Meanwhile Cline Brubaker, another Callaway dairy farmer, is allowing his herd to gradually shrink. He’s had as many as 90 cows in the past but is now down to 30. He tried to sell his remaining cows a few years ago but was unsuccessful.

At 74, Brubaker is looking toward retirement. And he isn’t encouraging the next generation to go into dairy farming. There’s no need for a large herd.

Brubaker said low milk prices are hitting farmers hard. Right now, he earns less for 100 pounds of milk than he did in the 1980s. But it’s more expensive to produce today.

“It’s causing farmers like myself to say hey, it’s time to quit,” he said.

Brubaker said his veterinarian was recently lamenting how many clients he’d lost. The dairy farmer said his records easily explain why. His payments to the vet have steadily gone up since 2006. But his milk check — which shows what Brubaker’s milk has earned him — today is down compared to a dozen years ago. He told the veterinarian to expect to lose more clients.

But even those who choose to leave dairy farming face challenges. Because milk prices are so low, few can afford to buy the cattle up for sale. As a result, Brubaker said, many good cows are headed for slaughter.

Asked how long he’s been dairy farming, Brubaker has a simple answer: “All my life.” He bought the Blackwater Valley Farm from his parents in 1967. Blackwater Valley is on the state’s century farm list, recognizing farms that have been in operation for a minimum of 100 years. It saddens him to think one day that streak might come to an end.

“You do get emotionally attached to it,” Brubaker said.

It’s been more than two years since Debbie and Mike Brubaker decided to give up on dairy farming. But Debbie Brubaker still gets emotional talking about it.

For years the lives of Debbie Brubaker and her husband, a third-generation dairy farmer, revolved around dairy. Mike ran the operation, and Debbie handled the books. Both served on industry boards. When they closed shop in January 2016, they also left behind that community. Debbie Brubaker said it was harder than just losing a job; they lost a way of life.

“Your passion and everything doesn’t go away,” she said.

When examining their finances, Debbie Brubaker came to the conclusion they had to do one of two things to keep the farm afloat: increase its herd size, or cut back on expenses. Neither was a real option. The farm had already reduced its herd size after losing its one paid employee, and there were no expenses left to cut.

So the couple worked with an auction company and sold their remaining cattle. Debbie Brubaker said they managed to get a decent rate for the cows, though less than they would have just a few years prior.

She said it was difficult for her husband to part with the cows.

“He knew each one of them,” she said. Owners of large farms probably don’t have that same connection, Debbie Brubaker said.

The family kept its Rocky Mount farm, where it now grows crops like soybeans and corn. They switched from dairy to beef cattle, though they have only 28 head of cattle, Debbie Brubaker said.

The couple’s son, who was a teenager when they shut down their dairy operation, had expressed some interest in keeping the family tradition alive. But his parents weren’t sure they could advise it.

“With the dairy industry and the struggle that we had, I hate to say it but we didn’t encourage him to do it,” Debbie Brubaker said.

She doesn’t know how dairy farmers are managing to survive now, years into the downturn.

“Our heart is still going out to the dairy farmers who are struggling right now,” Debbie Brubaker said.

The Virginia State Dairymen’s Association advocates on behalf of their dairy farmer members, primarily at the state level.

One of their current initiatives is increasing donations of milk to food banks, said Paulson, the executive director. It’s a commonly requested product, but difficult to transport. Food banks could perhaps provide another “home” for milk. As a perishable product, milk needs to find a home quickly. Paulson said the effort is in early stages.

The association is also working to diversify dairy processing in the state. In 2017, 86 percent of Virginia’s milk was used and consumed as fluid milk. In other parts of the state, that figure is as low as 25 percent, Paulson said. New York has yogurt, Wisconsin does cheese, but in Virginia it’s all about fluid milk. But maybe that could change. Paulson would like to see Virginia get into dairy products for which the demand is growing.

“We have a great product, we have the milk here,” he said. “We’re just trying to figure out how do we get those processors to come to Virginia.”

Lidholm, with Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, also said diversifying could help dairy farmers survive; she cited a farm that added a drive-in ice cream shop as an example. Farms can also add efficiency through robotics. However, such adjustments would require significant investments.

“There are ways to address the problem, but it is a problem and we are losing farms,” Lidholm said. “There’s no question about it.”

The Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association has seen a decrease in membership numbers this year, said director of corporate communications Amber Sheridan. Through May, it was down 98 farms. The cooperative represents the area stretching from Pennsylvania to Georgia, and west to Kentucky and Tennessee.

“We’re in a painful period of attrition right now,” she said.

Like other industry experts, Sheridan said the problem is clear: too much milk in the marketplace. The Maryland & Virginia association shared data illustrating as much.

Milk production, which includes fluid milk and other dairy products, in the United States has been steadily rising for 20 years. It has increased by 38 percent between 1997 and 2017, looking in the shorter-term, by 13.4 percent since 2008. Dairy farmers tend to increase production year over year, Sheridan said, and over time that adds up.

“As you can imagine, domestic consumption of milk and dairy products is not keeping pace with that,” Sheridan said.

The export market helps to serve as a “release valve,” she said. In 1997, 4.6 percent of dairy produced in the country was exported. In 2017, it was up to 14.7 percent. But discussions of tariffs and trade negotiations that could affect U.S. dairy products have created more uncertainty.

Though milk production is on the rise, milk consumption has actually been on the decline. Since 2008, fluid milk sales are down by 13.4 percent. And, Sheridan noted, the Southeast is “a very fluid-focused marketplace.”

Laird Bowman, 64, is a sixth-generation dairy farmer. And he works alongside the seventh, running Bowmont Dairy Farm in Boones Mill with his daughter. His family has been in dairy since 1839 — or, as Bowman says, “a good while.”

Bowman also serves on the board of directors for Maryland & Virginia, the dairy cooperative through which Bowmont sells its milk.

Bowman’s farm has about 250 head of cattle. But he said dairy farms of all sizes are struggling with low milk prices.

In the month of May, Bowman said, his farm received $1.49 a gallon for the milk it produced. Just to break even, he needs to earn $1.72 a gallon. So basically, he said, Bowmon lost 23 cents on each of the 39,000 gallons of milk it produced that month. That’s a loss of nearly $9,000.

“That’s pretty much been the scenario all of this year,” Bowman said. “It doesn’t take long for it to start adding up into a lot of money very quickly. It’s a difficult situation.”

Farmers are left with three choices, Bowman said: use savings to pay their bills, borrow money to pay their bills or don’t pay their bills.

“There are people in all of those situations,” he said.

Bowman was actually planning to make improvements to his farm, bettering it for the next generation. He hoped to make facilities more efficient and modernize the operation, perhaps acquiring robotic milkers. But that’s on hold, he said, “until we understand what the future will be.”

In his years on the farm, Bowman has seen ups and downs in milk prices. But today, the shifts are much more drastic. Farmers might have seen a 50-cent variance per 100 pounds of milk in a year 15 to 20 years ago. These days, he said, prices can fluctuate between $3 and $4 in just a few months’ time.

“That creates huge swings and just makes it much more difficult to manage,” Bowman said. “And we don’t have enough margin, or profit, to absorb those huge swings.”

But this dairy farmer hasn’t given up hope. Farmers are optimistic by nature, Bowman said — they’re always looking to the next spring, the next year, the next crop, the next birth of a calf. They just have to hold on to that feeling.

“We’re a little stubborn,” he said. “We’ve been milking cows a long time. We hope we can continue to do that.”

Copyright 2018, Associated Press

Information from: The Roanoke Times, http://www.roanoke.com

Select Sires Reveals Cooperative Merger Creating Premier Select Sires

Thu, 12 Nov 2020 05:53:45 GMT

Combining forces, the Select Sire Power, Inc. and Southeast Select Sires, Inc. will officially become one and renamed Premier Select Sires, Inc. effective Jan. 1, 2019.

The same specialists who currently serve beef and dairy customers will continue to support their local member-owners, only as part of a larger team with a wider network of in-house support, according to Select Sires. Premier Select Sires will combine the territories of the two previous cooperatives, covering a total of 23 states.

These states include:

Maine
Vermont
Maryland
New Hampshire
Massachusetts
Delaware
Connecticut
New York
Pennsylvania
New Jersey
Rhode Island
West Virginia
Virginia
North Carolina
Florida
Kansas
Tennessee
Arkansas
Louisiana
Mississippi
Alabama
Georgia
And Washington DC

“Premier Select Sires is the result of combining two financially strong cooperatives in order to benefit both memberships with pooled resources. We look forward to working together to continue to be the Premier genetic provider,” said Tim Riley, General Manager of Southeast Select Sires, in a press release.

Because of an aligned set of strengths and goals, the boards of Select Sire Power and Southeast Select Sires unanimously approved the affiliation agreement.

“This is a very exciting time for both organizations and we look forward to charting a successful future together. The larger cooperative will allow us to provide greater diversity of products and services to meet the modern needs of beef and dairy producers throughout our territory,” said Mark Carpenter, General Manager of Select Sire Power and future CEO of Premier Select Sires.

This is not the first merger the company has experienced throughout the past two years. In June 2017, Select Sires and Accelerated Genetics announced that Select Sires would acquire the assets of Accelerated Genetics.

This news also comes after the announcement of the holding companies Alta Genetics and GENEX forming their new organization, URUS. The intent to merge Koepon Holding BV and Cooperative Resources International (CRI) was first announced last December. Included in the merger are the following companies: AgSource , Alta Genetics , GENEX , Jetstream Genetics , PEAK/GENESIS , SCCL and VAS .