HILLSDALE, Mich. — Inspiration, recognition and great fellowship were on tap at the annual Hillsdale County Dairy Herd Improvement (DHI) recognition banquet in Hillsdale. Dairy producers and allied industry gathered last month to hand out hardware to deserving dairy farmers, highlight youth in the county and receive encouragement.

Getting recognition for their accomplishments were Arnold and Mark Reister, Pittsford, as they picked up the first award of the night for High Herd 2X with 24,459M, 887F, 778P and a value of $4,408. The High Herd 3X award went to Bruce and Jennifer Lewis, Jonesville, with 29,600M, 1076F, 874P and a value of $5,155.

The High Jersey Herd award went to Susan Green, Camden, with 18,623M, 793F, 651P and a value of $3,779.

When it came to individual high-producing cows, the High Cow 2X went to Cow 3742 owned by Scott Ferry, Litchfield, with a record of 33,031M, 1334F, 1020P and a value of $6,134. The High Cow 3X was owned by the Lewises, Cow 261, with a record of 43,536M 1464F 1166P and a value of $6,990.

Another cow owned by the Lewises, Cow 98, was the High Lifetime Cow award winner with a lifetime production record of 297,781M 8756F 6986P through nine lactations. The couple also won the Herd with the Greatest Increase award during the past five years.

Chris and Jeremy Brenner, Union City, were the Milk Quality award winners while Steve and Doug Denning, Jonesville, won the award for the herd with the Greatest Increase Since 2010.

The Outstanding Young Dairy Person Award went to Britney Lewis, daughter of John and Brenda Lewis, Jerome, and a senior at Addison High School. A Hillsdale County 4-H Dairy report was given and JW Hart, North Adams, shared about his recent dairy judging trip to Europe and thanked Hillsdale County DHI for its support of the trip.

Featured speaker Elaine Clark of Fishers, Ind., took center stage with her positive encouragement for the hard-working crowd. She spun stories of her work experience on a dairy farm and urged the crowd to look at things differently. She said they needed to create a fire that would give off persistent heat, light and enthusiasm. Then she admonished them to share the fire and create a legacy.

The evening concluded with a giveaway of door prizes.