A2B-Uncwtr Farming, Saturday, August 27,1994
Dairyman
(Conlbnwd from Pag* At)
ing Brook Farms with his wife
Mary Ann. He has a Dairy Hus
bandry degree from Pennsylvania
State University. Snider has work
ed on the farm since 19S1, deve
loping it into its current 1,200 acre
and 400 head dairy farm. Son
Bruce is now in partnership. Obie
and Mary Ann Snider have three
other children including Karyl
Lynn Harper, Jo Nell, and Ross
Ann Clark, along with 10
grandchildren.
Singing Brook Farms has
received numerous honors.
According to Tom Lyon, president
of Cooperative Resources Interna
tional, it “must rank among the
nation's elite breeding establish
ments from the standpoint of pro
ductive capacity, national and
international genetic influence,
and industry service.”
Four cows have been exhibited
to grand championships at Pen
nsylvania state shows by Singing
Brook Farms, three were owned
and bred by exhibitor. The farm
has received dozens of All-
Pennsylvania awards, 13 Premier
Breeder and four Premier Exhibi
tor awards. Its BAA is consistently
105-107. Six bulls currently in the
top 400 of the Sire Summary carry
the Singing Brook prefix, 40 bulls
have been placed in major U.S.
studs and 20 bulls are in Canadian
and foreign studs. “Beyond his
dairy and university leadership
roles,” says Lyon, “Obie Snider
has also demonstrated a deep con
cern for the preservation of our
land and water resources.”
Snider is on the national boards for the Hols
tein Association Foundation and the American
Farmland Trust He is president of the Pennsyl
vania All-American Dairy Show and the Christ
ian Workers Fund, and serves on the Bedford
County Planning Commission and Chamber of
Commerce.
DAIRY WOMAN OF
THE YEAR
Bonnie Jo Ayars of Mechanicsburg, Ohio, is
World Dairy Expo’s Dairy Woman of the Year.
She is “the type of person who is self-motivated,
organized and displays professionalism in what
ever project or job she touches.” That’s accord
ing to Neil Jensen, executive secretary-treasurer
of the American Guernsey Association, Rey
noldsburg, Ohio.
“Bonnie is active on the farm milking and
feeding, making management decisions, upkeep
of records, along with raising three sons,” Jensen
continues. “Yet, she still has time to work toward
the big picture whether it is promoting Guern
seys or the entire dairy industry.”
As owners and operators of Land of the Living
Farm, Bonnie and her husband John have
enjoyed great success. The couple’s favorite say
ing is “Anything good that has ever happened to
us has been directly related to cows.” They run a
diversified operation that includes three dairies,
three cattle breeds, a cattle leasing business, and
a thriving pizza business. Their sons, Eli, Austin,
and Lucas play an active role in the family
business.
Land of the Living Farm was the unofficial
high national Guernsey herd for 1993 and holds a
new world production record for Guernseys. Its
cattle have been merchandised across the U.S.
and three foreign countries. Twelve plus Guern
sey bulls with the Land of the Living prefix have
entered AI sampling. Cows from the herd have
made at least IS class leading records, while
seven have produced more than 30,000 actual.
The pinnacle of their showing achievement came
in 1992, when Wincrest Vayette Grace was
named Reserved Grand Champion at World
Dairy Expo.
But the Dairy Woman of the Year was not
raised on a dairy farm, according to Lee Majeski,
a Maryland extension dairy specialist Much of
Bonnie’s dairy “interest, enthusiasm and know
ledge were gained after marrying her husband,
John, and getting involved in the dairy industry.”
He says her “willingness to gain knowledge
about the breed has helped her be a critical part of
the farming operation including breeding and
management decisions.”
Of Year
Bonnie holds a bachelor’s
degree in Home Economics from
The Ohio State University. She’s
active in the Mechanicsburg
United Methodist Church, Ohio
Guernsey Breeder’s Association,
the local Parent Advisory Council,
and many other state and national
organizations. She is also recog
nized as a talented singer, writer,
and strong supporter of youth.
INDUSTRY PERSON OF
THE YEAR
Terry Howard “relates to the
dairy farmer,” says Dr. Lee
Allenstein, Whitewater, Wis.
Howard has been selected by
World Dairy Expo as the 1994
Industry Person of the year. He is
a dairy science professor at the
University of Wisconsin—
Madison, a member of the World
Dairy Expo Board of Directors, an
accredited judge for the Purebred
Dairy Cattle Association, and an
international dairy consultant
Howard understands his dairy
farm audience according to
Allenstein. “He knows their lan
guage, their problems, and most of
the time their solutions. The dairy
industry, at the level of milk pro
duction from the dairy cow, is a
better world due to the efforts of
Terry Howard.”
According to David Seiner,
21st Century Genetics, Shawano,
Wis., Howard’s “efforts to help
dairy producers milk the most pro
fitable way possible are probably
his greatest achievement,” Seiner
says. “He helped pioneer the least
cost ration balancing software
programs that are now standard
throughout the feed industry. He
still, today, is improving those
programs and challenging the feed
industry to maintain high stan
dards of scientific basis for ration
formulated programs. Generations
of dairymen have profited directly
or indirectly from Terry’s efforts.”
Howard provided leadership to
Wisconsin DHI for development
of feeding guides and options, as
well as nutrition and management
training program for DHI supervi
sors. He has provided nutrition
consultation to AI organizations,
served as instructor at the Mid
west Bankers Institute for 16
years, and served on the Wiscon
sin Governor’s Drought Commit
tee and Drought Assessment Task
Force. A strong supporter of youth
programs, Howard has been active
in teaching and cattle judging for
4-H and FFA members.
Terry and his wife Karen live in
Madison, Wis. But the interna
tional dairy industry is also famil
iar to Howard. His “influence is
being spread globally through his
frequent trips to advise foreign
fanners, governments and indus
tries,” Seiner explains. According
to Jim Crowley, Wayne Feeds,
Madison, Wis., Howard “is
respected for his abilities to imple
ment practical dairy management
concepts into developing dairy
markets.” He has been involved in
dairy nutrition and management
consulting in at least 17 countries.
The local community also bene
fits from Howard’s involvement
in the Ml Olive Lutheran Church,
St. Coletta School Board, Madi
son West Kiwanis, 4-H Junior Fair
Board, and 4-H Leader Council.
TR
INTERNATIONAL PERSON
OF THE YEAR
A cattle breeder from the
United Kingdom has been named
the International Person of the
Year by World Dairy Expo. John
Moffit, of New Castle-Upon-
Tyne, is “probably the best known
and most influential man in Brit
ish agriculture today,” according
to Robert Walton, chairman,
American Breeders Service,
DeForest, Wis. Walton says that
Moffit is “equally at home in the
milking parlor, in the show ring,
leading a discussion on a highly
technical committee, or chairing a
national meeting on international
agriculture policy.”
Moffit was bom in 1929 into a
long-standing dairy farm family.
He was educated at St. Bees
School, Cumbria, and the Univer
sity of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne,
before returning to milk cows at
his parents’ new home in the late
1940’5. At 33, Moffit was the
youngest breeder in the Breed
Society Council, and at 44, was
the youngest president. The cur
rent hum business consists of four
farms totaling 1,550 acres.
The Hunday herd, while small
er today because of milk quota
restraints, once consisted of more
than 1,000 head with three milk
ing herds totaling 450 cows. Hun
day hods have been extremely
successful in the show ring, win
ning more than IS championship
reserves, 500 first prizes and 100
breeder group awards. Moffit has
also won three championships at
the Royal Agricultural Show. The
farm business has exported cattle
to numerous countries including
Brazil, Columbia, Kenya, Japan,
and Spain. Hunday was named
Premier Breeder of the Year in
1980.
According to D.G. Spring, chief
executive of the Holstein Friesian
Society of Great Britain and Ire
land, MofFit was a founding mem
ber of Cattle Breeding Services,
the first private AI company in the
U.K. It eventually became Pre
mier Breeders. During that time,
Moffit began the MOET program
which used a mathematical model
and efficient ET operation to
establish a nucleus herd in the
United Kingdom selected from the
top one percent of the American
cattle population. Moffit sold the
opwation in 1990 to the U.K.’s
Milk Marketing Board.
Moffit has judged more than
600 shows including the Royal
Shows in Australia and New Zea
land. He is joint owner of Hunday
Electronics Limited and chairman
of the Animal Data Center, a
national organization he estab
lished to gather various data pro
cessing organizations into one
organized group.
Moffit is joined by his wife
Madge, daughter Susan, and son
Peter who currently runs the fami
ly farm business. He is an avid
traveler and photographer, and
sportsman. His love of agricultur
al history and old farm equipment
has resulted in the Hunday Coun
tryside Museum.
World Dairy Expo recognition
winners are selected from nomina
tions submitted each spring. Final
ists are named by an anonymous
selection committee. The four
dairy leaders will be honored at a
recognition reception and banquet
in October which kicks off World
Dairy Expo.
OUNTY