Don Bennink receives the distinct honor of the 2024 Distinguished Dairy Cattle Breeder from the National Dairy Shrine. This award is given annually to a progressive dairy
breeder who excels in managing their dairy herd based on sound genetic and business principles. Bennink established North Florida Holsteins in Bell, Florida, in 1980, and has been an icon of dairy genetics ever since.
Honoring dairy leaders is a core element of the National Dairy Shrine mission, and Bennink becomes the 46th person to receive the breeder award. The organization is in the process ofcelebrating its 75 th anniversary this year.
Through work and research collaboration on his own farm, Bennink has played a fundamentalvrole in advancing selection for functional traits. He has accomplished this through development of outstanding cows and bulls and circulating his knowledge and perspective with other breeders through genetics conferences and research facilitation.
Between 1981 and 2021, more than 200 bulls carrying the NO-FLA prefix have been enrolled with the National Association of Animal Breeders. During this time, Bennink also developed several key females that have heavily impacted the Holstein breed. Most notably, he bred the dam of Mr. T-Spruce Frazz LIONEL-ET – NO-FLA Montross 42446-ET – who traces back to at least five generations of North Florida breeding. LIONEL topped the TPI list in April of 2022. Additionally, NO-FLA MATRIARCH is top-20 all-time among proven bulls with a PTA Productive Life of 7.3. North Florida has also bred 55 dam of merit awardees and 11 gold medal dams, nine who have scored 94, and he’s bred another 15 93-point animals.
Early on, Bennink recognized the importance of health and fertility traits in sustaining the profitability of the Holstein breed. His perspective in this area made him an ideal speaker and panelist at genetics conferences across the country. Over the years, Bennink has paid close attention to Protein percent, even though his home state is a fluid milk market where producers are not paid for milk protein. Through these efforts he explored beyond his own herd and noticed an opportunity to increase value within the Holstein breed.
One of Bennink’s greatest contributions to the dairy industry has been his participation in research projects. Most recently, his meticulous record keeping was instrumental in assisting researchers from Pennsylvania State University to identify early onset muscle weakness in Holsteins. Without his records from genotyped animals, it is likely that the defect would have remained undetected for some time. Regular collaboration with the University of Florida also helped advance the field of embryo transfer and IVF.
Nominators Andrew Steiner of Pine-Tree Dairy and Chad Dechow of Pennsylvania State University say, “We have worked with Don as a fellow dairy cattle breeder and as a collaborator on many dairy genetics projects. We believe there are few breeders that have advanced the cause of breeding for efficient and profitable cows to the same extent as Don.”
Bennink will receive the Distinguished Dairy Cattle Breeder award at National Dairy Shrine’s Awards Banquet on Monday, September 30th in Madison, Wisconsin. His portrait will then be displayed in National Dairy Shrine’s Dairy Hall of Fame and Museum in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. For more information about National Dairy Shrine or this year’s award winners, please contact National Dairy Shrine at [email protected] or visit their website at www.dairyshrine.org.