HARRISBURG, Pa. — Four dairy professionals were awarded the 2024 Pennsylvania Dairy Industry Awards at this year’s Pennsylvania Dairy Summit, held Feb. 5-6.
The annual awards program, put on by the the Professional Dairy Managers of Pennsylvania, Center for Dairy Excellence and Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association, recognizes dairy professionals who showcase leadership, service and excellence across the state’s dairy industry. Nominees were evaluated for their contributions to the industry and letters of support from their peers and fellow dairy producers.
Distinguished Producer
Timothy and Jared Kurtz, of Kurtland Farms in Elverson, Pennsylvania, received the Pennsylvania Distinguished Dairy Producer Award. Kurtland Farms is a fourth-generation family dairy farm that is over 100 years old. Timothy Kurtz has been farming for 40 years, and his son, Jared, has been farming in partnership with him for the last 10 years.
The Kurtzes actively serve the Pennsylvania dairy industry through several leadership positions. Tim has served as a Land O’Lakes Region Delegate and a Board Member for American Dairy Association North East and the Center for Dairy Excellence. Jared is currently a Professional Dairy Managers of Pennsylvania Board Member and their farm received the Berks County Conservation District Farm of the Year Award.
The Kurtz family is progressive and driven by innovation, incorporating a robotic milking system several years ago. They are 100% no-till and use cover crops on the 275 acres they farm. They also installed stream bank fencing in all pastures, routinely inject manure (drag line and tank) on over 200 acres of the closest fields, partnered with the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay to plant over 350 trees in a Riparian Forest Buffer along a portion of the stream, use a manure solids separator to recycle manure solids as bedding,and installed a covered manure lagoon. The Kurtz family regularly hosts training tours in partnership with the PA Academy for Animal Care and Control and has hosted “Breakfast on the Farm” events for their community.
Service Awards
Amy Yeiser Leslie, director of industry relations at American Dairy Association North East, and Dr. Brian Reed, of Agricultural Veterinary Associates, e Pennsylvania Dairy Service Awards. Leslie has been with the dairy checkoff for nine years. Her impact and commitment to the dairy industry spans through a six-state territory, covering nearly 8,500 farms. Her responsibilities range from spokesperson training to key leader to youth development. She manages sponsorships, activities and programs with the PA Farm Show, the Calving Corner, PA Dairy Summit, Ag Progress Days, Maryland State Fair, PA Dairy Princess Program, All-American Dairy Show and more. Her involvement in the dairy industry was sparked during her college years at Pennsylvania State University and internship at the Center for Dairy Excellence.
Reed has been a dairy veterinarian with Agricultural Veterinary Associates, LLC since July 1987, shortly after graduating from the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine. Since that time, he has served dairy farm families with veterinary services in the practice’s core coverage area of Lancaster, Lebanon, Berks and Dauphin counties.
Since becoming an owner in 1989, Reed helped grow and manage the practice and helped recruit, manage and develop veterinarians serving the agricultural communities, particularly the dairy industry. Reed also got his MBA from Lebanon Valley College and has worked with well over 150 dairy farms on projects including renovations and expansions, feasibility studies, strategic business planning, helping young farmers get started, and many generational farm transition projects.
Reed part of the original Dairy Task Force, founding treasurer (2004-2011) and board member for the Center for Dairy Excellence (2004-2015), and commissioner for the Animal Health and Diagnostic Commission since 2007, serving as the vice-chair since 2014. Reed also works as a dairy farm consultant with the Center for Dairy Excellence to provide farm transition and transformation services to dairy farm families. On the national level, Reed has represented Pennsylvania’s veterinary and dairy interests while serving the American Association of Bovine Practitioners, the national organization for cattle veterinarians.
Innovator Award
Dr. Hayley Springer, Extension Veterinarian at Penn State Extension, received the Pennsylvania Dairy Innovator Award. Springer received her DVM from Iowa State University in 2010 and her master’s in Biomedical Sciences in Physiology from Iowa State University in 2008. Her areas of expertise include calf health, infectious diseases, Beef Quality Assurance, antimicrobial resistance, pre-harvest food safety and one health. She provides producer education through presentations, publications, and other events across the industry through her role as an Extension veterinarian.
Springer also completes field investigations to assist Pennsylvania veterinarians in addressing herd-level animal health issues across the state. For several years, she’s played a key role in the Animal Care Workshops for dairy producers hosted by the Center for Dairy Excellence and its partners. Springer also assists the Pennsylvania Beef Council in conducting BQA trainings that benefit both beef and dairy producers. Springer also educates the next generation of dairy and the general public, from holding STEM programming at the PA Calving Corner and youth programs such as the Dairy Leaders of Tomorrow Exploration Experience at Penn State to a discussion with a physician’s group about antibiotic stewardship in animal agriculture.
Awards information
The Dairy Industry Awards are offered annually to Pennsylvania residents. Qualified applicants stay in the nomination pool for three years after being submitted for consideration. Nominators can update the nomination each of the two years following their original submission. Once a candidate is honored as a winner in an award category, they or individuals representing them are not eligible to win in any other category for two subsequent years. Nominations for next year’s award program will open in the fall of 2024.
For more information about the awards program, visit www.centerfordairyexcellence.org/awards or call the Center at 717-346-0849.
