IMLAY CITY, Mich. - A farmer’s stock on YouTube has possibly gone up from high recognition by his peers.

Kip and Rochelle Siegler are this year’s Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA) Outstanding Young Dairy Cooperator (OYDC). They were selected by a panel of judges representing leaders in the Great Lakes dairy industry.

“We view farming as a lifestyle not just a job and to be honored for excelling at something you love to do is the ultimate achievement,” Kip Siegler said.

According to MMPA, selection of the OYDC is based on the applicant’s farming operations, farm-related and community activities along with demonstrated leadership abilities. The couple operates a 200-cow dairy farm.

Corn, soybeans, wheat and hay are also raised on their 1,900-acre farm at Imlay City in the eastern part of the state.

Kip Siegler, 39, a third-generation farmer, along with his wife, will represent MMPA over the next year at various industry and association activities. “We’re going to have to leave the farm a little bit here and there which, is going to be alright. It’s going to be kind of cool,” he said.

Siegler and his wife are also known for producing segments on YouTube called “Kip Siegler Farming.” The roughly 20-minute monthly show featuring Siegler working on his farm and explaining his activities has more than 26,000 subscribers. Each video often receives more than 20,000 views.

One segment produced five months ago, “Deere Powered Silo Fill,” has more than 166,000 views.

In the video, Siegler is doing things like installing an auger for moving hay from a wagon into the silo for storage. His tips included wetting down the hay just enough for it move smoothly through a tube and into the silo without risk for spoilage.

Another video, “Round Bale Everything,” has more than 70,000 views over the past four months. In a segment, “Barn Find” Siegler showcased a 1980 Ford tractor he acquired for $6,500 to help on the farm.

He described it as a bargain and showed how the undercarriage was in excellent shape with no signs of oil leakage, before having a seat behind the wheel and firing up the engine. “She purrs like a kitchen,” he said.

According to MMPA, all of the videos combined have more than three million views.

The Sieglers were also featured on the recent cover of the Milk Messenger, a magazine distributed to MMPA members. According to MMPA, the Sieglers were among the finalists invited to the annual OYDC conference, an outdoor meeting hosted Aug. 10 by the 2020 OYDC winners, Brent and Emily Simon, at their farm in Westphalia in the central part of the state.

The OYDC conference provides information to participants about milk marketing activities, cooperatives, milk testing procedures and other current events within the dairy industry, according to MMPA. The program has been held annually for 70 years.

This year’s OYDC runner-up was Nolan Wieber, of Pompeii, also in central Michigan.

MMPA is a dairy farmer owned cooperative founded in 1916. The cooperative, which handles about 5 billion pounds of milk annually, serves dairy farmers in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin.

MMPA operates two SQF Level 3 certified manufacturing plants in Michigan and a cheese plant in Indiana. Products made at MMPA plants include cheese, ultra-filtered milk, butter, milk powder, cream and condensed skim milk.