INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — In the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday, the Indiana Professional Dairy Producers (IPDP) recently hosted a luncheon to show thanks for its industry partners and sponsors.

“We wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for the generous support from our partners,” said IPDP Executive Director Doug Leman, who was hired to lead the dairy-farmer led organization in April.

Lehman went on to outline the platinum, gold, silver, bronze and corporate level sponsors as well as invited additional businesses and groups to support IPDP financially.

“This is our chance to tell you about what we do and share some of our challenges we’re facing in the dairy industry,” added Luann Troxel, dairy farmer from Hanna, Ind. and president of the IPDP board.

Following the catered lunch on Nov. 18 at the offices of the Indiana Soybean Alliance, Joe Kelsay, previous IPDP board president and current director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture presented the keynote address.

With Kelsay’s presentation on being thankful, he outlined the numerous ways in which farmers can be thankful this season.

“We can be thankful for the weather – it’s either too wet or too dry, we didn’t have the crop we’d hoped for,” he said. “But you know what it helps us to be better marketers and more efficient in what we do.”

Additionally, Kelsay said farmers can be thankful for, yes, even food inflation or something as negative as disease.

“Food costs are up 13 percent,” he said. “But is that an opportunity to showcase what we are doing in our industry to prove we can produce more calories and provide a safe, affordable food supply. And disease, we can be thankful for disease. Typhoid, in fact. Louis Pasteur lost three of his children to this deadly disease and if it wasn’t for that unfortunate loss, he may not have been one of the three fathers of germ theory and bacteriology later becoming the inventer of pasteurization.”

In additional to Kelsay’s presentation, Troxel briefly described some of IPDP’s accomplishments during the luncheon.

“First and foremost, we are not a checkoff organization, though we work closely with Deb (Osza) at Milk Promotions Services of Indiana,” she said. “The bottom line is we work for dairy farmers and we care deeply about the dairy industry. We are invested in the farmers, helping them be more profitable and more efficient.”

Listing profitability as the No. 1 concern of the organization, Troxel said that IPDP, formed in 1999, hopes to put “tools in the hands of producers.”

“Technology and innovation combined with science from Purdue University – now that is a great package,” she said.

Additionally, Troxel encouraged the luncheon guests to begin thinking about nominations for the Indiana Young Dairy Producer of the Year and Indiana Dairy Producer of the Year as applications are due by Jan. 15, 2012. For an application form or to view a list of coming events, visit http://indianadairy.org/

According to Leman in just the past 18 months, membership for the organization has increased by 80 percent, now up to 540 members in the database and 110,404 cows.

“That’s 65 percent of the cows in the state that belong to members of this great organization,” he said. “To me, that makes us a credible asset to you folks.”

Membership to the organization is $20 a year for any individual actively engaged in dairy farmers and $20 a year for an associate membership or any individual interested in the dairy industry.

To become a member of IPDP or for additional sponsorship details, visit the website at http://indianadairy.org or contact Lehman at 317-695-8228; dougleman@IndianaDairy.org