Tyler Woodman has been selected as the recipient of the Richard Caverly Memorial Dairy Award. Friends established the award in 2024 to honor the memory of Richard Caverly. Richard was known for his great cow sense, deep love of dairy cattle breeding and husbandry, and strong belief in the importance of training and guiding dairy youth.
The Richard Caverly Memorial Dairy Award is presented to an individual, age 18-30 (on Jan. 1st of the award year), who exemplifies the qualities that Richard is remembered for. Nominators submit the nominee for consideration, providing details about the traits the nominee shares with the late Richard Caverly and citing examples of how they have demonstrated these qualities.
Tyler Woodman is the herd manager of Mapleline Farm in Hadley, MA, overseeing the Jersey herd’s day-to-day care to produce the highest quality milk for their full line of dairy products that are delivered throughout the state. Like Richard, the 28-year-old Tyler is a New England native who grew up working with his family’s Ayrshire cattle. Using the Woodman Farm prefix, Tyler continues to develop a solid herd of his own Ayrshires within the Mapleline herd, paying careful attention to genetic selection and striving to develop profitable cattle. He and his wife Toni also own a few Jerseys under their Wood Valley prefix. To date, Woodman has earned nearly 20 All-American and Junior All-American nominations, along with 2 Reserve All-Canadian Ayrshires and 1 Reserve All-Canadian Jersey designations.
Woodman developed his cattle knowledge and fine-tuned his eye for cattle while fitting cattle at shows and sales across the US & Canada, with the New England/New York Herds – Four Hills, Liddleholme, Carpsdale, Tierney Farm, Morrill Farm and time spent across the border at Lookout Holsteins & Jerseys – being his favorite.
Regardless of the breed, Tyler is always reading sale & sire catalogs, keeping track of cattle prices on the internet, and quietly evaluating the genetics that will shape the future. Tyler believes strongly in progressive genetic improvement for all animals under his care, using genomic testing to gather additional Information to consider when making mating decisions. Richard Caverly was an advocate of the Ayrshire breed embracing the data available from genomic testing and this has influenced many young breeders, including Tyler.
Woodman is a New Hampshire 4-H alumnus and recognizes the value of the programs in his youth experience. Tyler volunteers with the dairy youth each year at the Massachusetts 4-H Calf Sale offering advice on feeding, clipping and ring presentation. This year, he and his wife Toni, with their good friends Zach Tarryk and Caitlin Small, planned and managed a new sale – the very successful Stars and Stripes sale at Greenfield, MA. Tyler wanted to offer opportunities for youth and organized the sales staff in offering workshops the night before the sale which focused on fitting, show prep & judging/cattle evaluation. The group made a point to reach out to youth to lead in the sale and Tyler also recruited a youth member to serve on the sales staff.
The nomination submitted for Tyler noted several specific examples of his interest in mentoring youth. Quotes like “he has given me the best tips for showmanship, fitting and judging”, “Tyler has also helped me with my dairy judging. He pushes me to follow my pattern and when I don’t agree with the placing, how to work through my reasoning.” “Tyler always has time to discuss pedigrees and mating choices for my cattle”, “I am thankful for the help Tyler gave me on improving my topline clipping”.
The theme running through these examples is time – Tyler always makes time for youth interested in the dairy industry, offering advice, encouragement and opportunities. These traits and examples demonstrate why Tyler Woodman is perfectly suited for this recognition. He is a breeder, caretaker, fitter, mentor, and a promoter and advocate for the dairy industry.
Recipients of the Richard Caverly Memorial Dairy Award become the caretaker of a beautiful traveling trophy – a wooden carving of Glenamore Gold Prize EX-97-6E created and donated by Scott Hussey, a close friend of Caverly. “Prize” was a five-time Grand Champion at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto, Canada. Richard worked with an extensive number of award-winning bovine during his career, but when asked to declare his favorite he would respond “Prize” without hesitation. Caverly award recipients also receive a commemorative plaque and embroidered item of their choice.
