Michigan Milk Producers Association received the honor of Cooperative Communicator of the Year in the National Milk Producers Federation’s annual cooperative communications contest, winning five categories and a ‘Best of Show’ award in the Writing category. Dairy Farmers of America’s farmer-member Paul Windemuller received NMPF’s Farmer Communicator of the Year award.
MMPA also took six second place finishes and three third place finishes in the competition, which recognizes the top communications efforts among NMPF’s member cooperatives. The Best of Show: Writing award was given for its informational feature, “The Low Down on FMMOs.” “The feature did a great job of simplifying a very complex topic by taking the time to explain to readers what FMMOs are, along with other basic principles,” the competition reviewer wrote. “The piece explained the importance of why this issue matters from multiple audience perspectives. It was a very well-written feature on such a prevalent issue in the industry.”
Windemuller was recognized for his active presence in social media and other platforms, serving as a catalyst for consumer curiosity by sharing real-life stories from the farm. Windemuller is an active member for DFA, participating in both its Young Cooperator program and Emerging Leaders program. He also serves as a DFA content creator, enabling farmers to create authentic social media content that highlights the good story of dairy farming.
One of Paul’s clips, 3 Types of Tech on the Farm, has more than 445,000 views and 300+ comments on his dairy’s Instagram account. Paul also hosts his own podcast, AgCulture, sharing anecdotal experiences, insights and innovations in the agricultural space. With nearly 100 episodes, Paul has hosted many notable guests from the United States and worldwide, covering topics including risk management strategies, social media, farm succession planning, the future of organic farming, and more.
“As a hardworking dairy farmer with six children, we don’t know how Paul finds the time to also be such a strong advocate for dairy,” his nomination notes. “His efforts are much appreciated across the industry. He is respected by his peers, and on a path to continue informing the agriculture industry and beyond.” Paul, along with his wife, Brittany, are first-generation dairy farmers who own and operate Dream Winds Dairy in Coopersville, MI, where they milk approximately 260 cows with a robotic milking system.
The “Best of Show” award is selected from the first-place entries in the contest’s main areas: publication, writing, graphics and special projects. In addition to MMPA’s recognition in the writing category, Dairy Farmers of America won the publications category for its “Life on the Farm” special report and in graphics for its smartphone photo, “Caught in the Glow”; Associated Milk Producers Inc. won the special projects category with its Dinner Bell Creamery promotional video, “Meet Our Farmers: The Siewert Family.” Winners were announced at today’s meeting of NMPF member cooperative communicators. All the winners will also be recognized at NMPF’s annual meeting, Nov. 10-11 in Arlington, TX. A full list of the winners of the NMPF communications contest, which received 102 entries from 11 member cooperatives, can be found here.
