Maryland and Virginia Milk Producers Recognizes 25-Year Members

At the beginning of November, MDVA recognized eight 25-year members in their cooperative during their annual District Meetings. Among these eight members is Shenandoah Jerseys, Boonsboro, Md. Shenandoah is owned by Janet Stiles Fulton and operated by Janet’s daughter and son-in-law, Jessica and J.R. Hess. J.R. and Jessica have two sons, Cole and Luke.

The family own and rent approximately 100 acres of pasture, 120 acres of alfalfa-grass hay, and 640 acres allotted for wheat, corn, soybeans, and triticale. The farm has recently converted to a fully robotic system, which includes a DeLaval milking system, a robotic feed pusher, an activity monitoring system, and automatic calf feeders.

MDVA Vice President of Sustainability and External Relations Lindsay Reames sums up the announcement with this: “We congratulate our 25-year members on their hard work and perseverance in dairy farming. Our member-owners are our foundation. We are pleased to recognize the farms who have grown with us over the last quarter-century.”

Maryland and Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association (MDVA) is a farmer-owned cooperative of about 900 dairy farmers that spans 13 states. These farmers are passionate and dedicated to bottling fresh Maola brand milk and dairy products. The cooperative owns five dairy processing plants that currently processes more than three billion pounds of milk annually.