The All West Executive Board includes Randy Kortus (Lynden, WA), Pete DeGroot (Fresno, CA), Chad Martin (Tillamook, OR), Mark VanMersbergen (Lynden, WA), Jace Leal (Tulare, CA), Vice President Dennis Areias (Los Banos, CA), President Jerry Lanting (Mt. Vernon, WA), Frank Borba (Escalon, CA), Frank Ausman (Nyssa, OR), Dennis Stauffer (Washougal, WA), Tony Neles (Sonoma, CA), Jim Boogerd (Prosser, WA).
February 23-24, 2018 in San Francisco, CA
Each year, we look forward to gathering the All West/Select Sires directors and delegates. This year, our Annual Meeting was held in San Francisco, CA on February 23-24, 2018. Beyond the standard business meetings with financial reports, elections and department presentations, the group had the pleasure of hearing from several special guest speakers.
Jonathan Lamb of Oakfield Corners Dairy in Oakfield, New York made the trip to California to share his experiences as a progressive dairy producer. Jonathan and his wife, Alicia, have taken advantage of the industry’s latest technology to create their successful Oakfield Corners herd. They are well-known friends of Select Sires as the breeders of several bulls offered by the 7H stud code including young genomic stars 7HO12897 SAMURI, 7HO12898 SUPERSPRING, and 7HO13866 RIO, along with proven favorite 7HO11525 DONATELLO. One of Jonathan’s key take-home messages pertained to the value of genetics. He reminded the delegation that the best way to guarantee a return on investment in the future is to invest in genetics today. “There’s no more economical investment than genetics. I know many producers are spending a lot of money to find their highest genomic animals and sort their herds on a genomic level. To me, a better use of dollars is to simply spend more on each dose of semen. Your entire herd benefits from an increased level of genetics being used at a fraction of the cost. It’s a win-win for producers of all sizes.
Select Sires’ Chief Development Officer, Todd Kranz traveled from Ohio to All West Territory to share updates from the federation headquarters with our members in attendance. This information provided great content for discussion and awareness, and Todd was very helpful in answering all questions regarding Select Sires Inc. and the future of our cooperative. Working closely with the World-Wide Sires team, Todd also provided an extensive look at global partners of Select Sires and the varied markets that we work with. Our lineups that include GenerVations, Accelerated Genetics and Select Sires bulls fit these various channels extremely well.
Besides learning from our guest speakers and All West/Select Sires staff, we also took time to celebrate our team’s success. Jeff and Jerome Reidman of Southern California were recognized for surpassing the achievement of selling 1 million units of semen as Reidman Dairy Services. Meanwhile, All West Sales Representative Arden Van Peursem was honored for becoming our next All West Legacy team member. Arden will officially be retiring on April 1, 2018 and his name will be added to two perpetual plaques which hang in each All West/Select Sires office. Technician Dave Porter was recognized for serving All West customers for over 20 years and Tom Frisbee received recognition for over 25 years of service as an All West AI Technician.
We honored Jim Regli as our outgoing All West/Select Sires 2016-2017 Board President. Jim, his wife Susan, and their family received a hand-painted milk can as a token of our appreciation for his service. As Jim stepped down from office, Jerry Lanting of Mt. Vernon, Washington became the new All West Board President and Dennis Areias of Los Banos, CA became the All West Board Vice President.
Kyle VanDyk, New Delegate, District 05
Growing up in the very northwestern part of the state, Kyle began his dairy experience at his family’s VanDyk-K Registered Holstein Farm in Lynden. Known around the world for extremely successful show cattle, including VanDyk-K Integrity Paradise, Kyle had the opportunity to meet all kinds of cattle breeders either at home or on the road. Working with this caliber of cattle meant the VanDyks made frequent trips to World Dairy Expo and the Royal Winter Fair, as well many farm visits throughout the U.S. and Canada. (full profile)
Frank Leonardo, New Delegate, District 29
The man of few words will bring a strong set of skills to the All West Board, including the organic component, and a belief in balanced breeding for ultimate profitability. Darryl Olson, All West/Select Sires Salesman shared, “Frank has always been very involved in the dairy industry through serving on various boards. I think he will be a great addition to our board because he understands cows, genetics, and the dairy industry as a whole through his variety of experiences.” He also has quite a love of golf, so any future board outings that include some time on the greens would be a plus for this new delegate! (full profile)
Of course, it wouldn’t be an All West Annual Meeting without a little fun! We incorporate a theme in to each year’s meeting and encourage members to play along. This year, several members of our team took part in our game show theme by dressing as hosts and contestants and participating in a friendly game of Family Feud, complete with customized All West related survey questions.
Although business is important, the true benefit of gathering our directors and delegates for this yearly “family reunion” is the fellowship that is created. We realize that is a unique privilege to take our member/owners off their farms and ranches to gather in one location from 23 districts and four states. This opportunity allows them to share a wealth of information, exchange ideas, and hopefully learn something that they can take back to their businesses or share with producers in their communities. We are thankful to have these producers, not only as customers, but as dedicated member/owners who care about the future of our cooperative. Under their guidance, All West/Select Sires will continue to enhance our member/owner’s success through genetics.
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