NEW ULM - Jeff and Amber Leuthold of Ellsworth participated in the Young Cooperator (YC) program hosted in conjunction with the Associated Milk Producers Inc. (AMPI) annual meeting in Bloomington earlier this spring. The dairy farmers joined young AMPI members from across the Upper Midwest to focus on cooperative education and leadership development. The gathering is one of many opportunities available through AMPI’s YC program, which is open to AMPI members age 40 and under.
“The educational opportunities offered through the program are top notch. We receive an inside look at how the cooperative operates through manufacturing plant tours, and conversations with the management team and board of directors,” said Derek Peterson of Black River Falls, Wis. He and his wife, Marcie, currently serve as chaircouple of the AMPI YC Steering Committee.
“As members of the AMPI YC Program, we are part of a network of young dairy farmers who are raising families on the farm,” Marcie said. “We enjoy learning from each other and sharing in the ups and downs of dairy farming.”
Looking ahead, AMPI YCs will be traveling to Portage, Wis., June 20-21 for the annual summer tour. The event will feature tours of the AMPI Portage consumer-packaged cheese plant, where 10 percent of the nation’s American sliced cheese is produced.
AMPI is headquartered in New Ulm and owned by 2,200 Midwest dairy farm families from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota. AMPI members annually market about 5.9 billion pounds of milk, resulting in $1.7 billion in sales for the cooperative. AMPI owns 10 Midwest-based manufacturing plants where 10 percent of the nation’s American-type cheese, butter, dried whey and sliced American cheese is produced. The cooperative’s award-winning cheese, butter and powdered dairy products are marketed to foodservice, retail and food ingredient customers. For more information, see
www.ampi.com
.
