The organizations within the Voice of Milk along with Farmers for Sustainable Food have embarked on a new strategic plan. This plan aims to provide more relevant, reliable and innovative programs and resources to their members and other stakeholders.
The strategy is an integrated approach anchored by a robust research initiative based on information gathered and analyzed from dairy farmers and processors across the Midwest. The objective of the plan is to support members to be the best positioned to fully integrate into the dairy value chain. The current partnerships between the Voice of Milk organizations and the full value chain uniquely positions them to achieve this objective in a way that is mutually beneficial to all stakeholders. The plan will be integrated over three years.
“Our organizations are rooted in advocating for farmers at the local, state and federal levels, and this remains a top priority, now more than ever, as we see the continual pressures put on our farmer members,” the Voice of Milk CEO Tim Trotter said. “Over the past several years, we have also established nationally recognized, farmer-led sustainability programs that enable our members to better identify and tailor conservation practices for their individual farms and that provide tools to document the environmental and financial effects. We will build on this foundation and take our programs and members to the next level in understanding and implementing environmental metrics on their farms that can transfer through the value chain.”
Voice of Milk’s leadership has been restructured as part of the strategy, with a focus on strengthening service delivery to members and stakeholders. The organizations established an executive team and named new directors:
Executive Leadership Team:
- Tim Trotter, chief executive officer
- Lauren Brey, chief experience officer
- Anna Waldron, chief of staff
- Karen Gefvert, chief policy officer
- Laura Hensley, chief marketing officer
Senior Leadership Team:
- Lucas Sjostrom, executive director of Minnesota Milk Producers Association, and managing director of Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative
- Chad Zuleger, executive director, Dairy Business Association
- Jamie Fisher, managing director, Farmers for Sustainable Food
- Tim Baumgartner, director of regulatory and permitting services
- Jennifer Block, director of value chain partnerships
- Jim Eckberg, director of science and innovation
- Andy Kamenick, director of finance
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