The MN Purebred Dairy Cattle Association is pleased to announce this year’s recipient of their Distinguished Service Award as Larry Tande of Medford, MN. He was honored at the 2022 MN PDCA/All-Breeds Convention in Willmar, MN. The MNPDCA Distinguished Service Award is presented when the Board of Directors consider a person has been brought forward, who may or may not qualify for the Distinguished Breeder Award, that is deemed to have provided long-time leadership and service to the dairy industry through their work, volunteer and leadership positions.
Larry Tande started out his life on the family dairy farm at Madelia, MN where he learned to love dairy cattle and joined the 4-H program in Watonwan County. At the end of his 4-H career, which included a trip to the National Club Congress representing MN as the Dairy Project Winner, Larry attended college and then took a job with the University of Minnesota Extension Service as the Assistant County Agent working with the 4-H program in Steele County. In 1976 Tande moved up to take an Extension position with the State 4-H Staff as the Director of 4-H Animal Science programs. During his time in that position, he undertook re-writing all of the 4-H curriculum for all the livestock programs. He was later a Regional Director for Extension supervising staff in Central and Southeast Minnesota.
Alongside his extension career, Larry Tande quietly established himself as a breeder of Registered Holsteins. He started with seven cows and a small acreage near Medford, MN. He and his wife, Carolyn, enrolled their two children in 4-H, and began to develop a foundation of VG and EX Holsteins. Eventually, the Tandes leased a facility near Owatonna and built their dairy to a milking herd of 50 head. Over the succeeding years, Larry developed 100 cows that scored Excellent, five of which scored EX-94, seven scored EX-93, and 13 that scored EX-92.
Tande’s leadership outside of extension begin when his local Holstein Club encouraged him to run for a seat on the MN Holstein Board of Directors. This eventually lead him to serving as President of the Minnesota Holstein Association, and to chairing the 1989 National Holstein Convention. With the experience gained on the state board, he ran for and won a seat on the Holstein Association USA Board of Directors, and was elected President of the organization in 2010. Exhibitors at the Open Class Dairy Shows at the Minnesota State Fair know Larry as a former long-time Superintendent. Along the way, he also had leadership positions with MNPDCA and many other industry and community organizations.
Larry Tande also had a stellar career serving as a dairy cattle judge. He judged at most of the county fairs in Minnesota, countless state fairs, and twice at World Dairy Expo where he judged both the International Milking Shorthorn and International Brown Swiss shows. He also judged several foreign dairy shows and other US National Shows. Tande was well known for a keen eye and his descriptive reasons. Because of this, Tande taught at several state, regional and national judging conferences for all breeds of dairy cattle. He was well-regarded for his work teaching and supporting kids, from beginning 4-H members to the college judging teams, in learning to evaluate and select good cattle.
Throughout his career, Larry Tande has been supported by his wife of 60 years, Carolyn and their two children, Tara and Thane.
The MN PDCA is an association of the Registered Dairy Cattle Breed Association in the state of Minnesota with the mission to foster Purebred Dairy Cattle and the Dairy Industry. More information can be found at www.facebook.com/MNPDCA/