The National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program Excellence Awards are back for the third year. The prestigious awards recognize farms and evaluators who demonstrate excellence in their engagement with the FARM Program.
Awards are presented in four categories: Animal Care & Antibiotic Stewardship, Environmental Stewardship, Workforce Development and FARM Evaluator.
“We are so proud of the farms that participate in our program areas and our dedicated evaluators, and we believe it is important to publicly recognize the people that make the FARM Program so successful,” Emily Yeiser Stepp, executive director of the FARM Program, said. “These awards are given to dairies and evaluators who exemplify on-farm social responsibility principles every day and each year I am blown away by the outpouring of support for the nominees from their peers.”
Farms or FARM evaluators can be nominated by fellow dairy farmers, members of their communities, extension, cooperative or processor staff, veterinarians, themselves or others. Nominations are open until 11:59 p.m. PDT Aug. 1 and should be submitted using the online form on the FARM website.
Nominated farms must have a current FARM Program evaluation in the respective category area and must be in good standing with the program. Evaluators who are nominated must be FARM Program certified in any of the program areas as of June 1, 2023. The awards are judged by a committee of FARM Farmer Advisory Council members and other subject matter experts.
Winners in each category will receive a hotel room and travel for two individuals to attend the Dairy Joint Annual Meeting Nov. 13-15 in Orlando, Florida, where the winners will be celebrated during a luncheon. Visit the FARM Excellence Awards page for more details.