Page 8 - BCHNews-WCDN1224-Web

8 WC DAIRY NEWS  CHRISTMAS 2024
Announcing Announcingthe Nominees for the Nominees for
BC Cow BC Cow
of the Year! of the Year!
EVERGRAZE MONETARRI DEMPSEY EVERGRAZE MONETARRI DEMPSEY
SILVERVALE ALTABAXTER BABS SILVERVALE ALTABAXTER BABS
EX-92 7E 4* EX-92 7E 4*
EX-91 6E EX-91 6E
Owned by Evergraze Holsteins, Armstrong, BC
Owned by Gordon J. Fox, Westwold, BC
Together these cows have
produced 484,038kgs of
Milk (1.06 million lbs!),
20,051kgs of Fat, and
15,887kgs of Protein!
WESTCOAST LADD ASPEN WESTCOAST LADD ASPEN
WESTCOAST SID CHEREE WESTCOAST SID CHEREE
Winner announced Winner announced
EX-95 4E 1* EX-95 4E 1*
EX-93 5E 3* EX-93 5E 3*
on page 14. on page 14.
Owned by Westcoast Holsteins, Chilliwack, BC
Owned by Tazo Farms, Falkland, BC
Holstein Canada Past Presidents Holstein Canada Past Presidents
(L-R) Ben Cuthbert (Silvermaple), Richard Bosma (Vedderlea), (L-R) Ben Cuthbert (Silvermaple), Richard Bosma (Vedderlea),
Pascal Lemire (Madystar) and John Blair (Langview). All four Pascal Lemire (Madystar) and John Blair (Langview). All four
of these gentlemen attended the BC Branch AGM in Vancouver of these gentlemen attended the BC Branch AGM in Vancouver
on November 27 and a picture seemed fitting. Thanks to all for on November 27 and a picture seemed fitting. Thanks to all for
serving our Holstein fraternity during your tenure and beyond. serving our Holstein fraternity during your tenure and beyond.
Honourary Lifetime
Member: Ben Cuthbert
BC Dairy Achievement
Award
The BC Holstein Branch recognized Ben Cuthbert
for his outstanding contributions to the Holstein
industry by presenting him with an Honourary
Lifetime Member award at the 2024 BC Branch
AGM in Vancouver on November 27.
Ben has been active in a wide range of roles in
BC’s dairy industry for many years. He and wife
Suzanne, along with son Thomas and daughter-
in-law Catherine, own and operate Silvermaple
Holsteins, in Ladysmith, BC. The Cuthberts run
approximately 300 head of Holsteins, including
110 milk cows, and crop roughly 300 acres of land.
Ben has always had a keen interest in Holstein
genetics and the Silvermaple herd reflects that
passion with investments in cow families from
some of the breed’s biggest names like: Frosty,
Missy, Tony Beauty, Elegance and Star Lily.
Silvermaple left their own mark on the genetics
world in a big way with SILVERMAPLE DAMION
CAMOMILE EX-95 7*. Camomile was Intermediate
and Reserve Grand Champion at World Dairy Expo
in 2011, as well as Intermediate Champion at the
Royal the same year. She is a 2X All-American and
All-Canadian winner and was Grand Champion at
the BC Spring Show in 2012.
Ben served his first term with the BC Milk Marketing
Board from 1996-2014, acting as Vice-Chair during that time, as well as BC’s representative
on the Western Milk Board and Canadian Milk Supply Management Committee. Ben has
just been re-elected to the BCMMB for another term.
In 2015, Ben became the BC National Director on the Holstein Canada Board, serving on
a variety of committees before becoming Chairman of the Board in 2021 and President
of the Association from 2022-2024.
Ben has always been a strong advocate for western dairy producers and remains an
excellent ambassador for Canadian genetics locally, provincially and internationally,
making him well-deserving of the Honourary Lifetime Member award.
Thank you, Ben, for all you have done to promote the BC dairy industry
throughout your career. Congratulations on this fitting recognition!
With notes from Jim Byrne
Congratulations Mike Yusko!
Even well into retirement, Mike Yusko’s
life remains intricately entwined with the
dairy industry. He grew up in the Fraser
Valley surrounded by dairy farming –
including generations of his family.
“They were all proud members of the Fraser
Valley Milk Producers’ Association,” Mike
says of his father, uncle and grandfathers.
Following the completion of a diploma
in Food Production from BCIT, Mike was
straight back in dairy – beginning his
career first as a dairy inspector with the
provincial Ministry of Ag. But his long
career began in 1979 when he was hired
to be a fieldman with the FVMPA. In this
role, Mike supported countless dairy
farms to improve their milk quality and
helped investigate and resolve stubborn/
challenging quality problems.
Highlights over his career included
setting up the Mastitis Control program,
developing the whey feeding program,
c o o r d i n a t i n g t h e F V M PA Yo u n g
Cooperators which lead to the Mainland
Young Milk Producers. Mike was also
pleased to support fundraising for the
Mobile Dairy Classroom. For eight years,
Mike also served as the secretary/
manager of the Mainland Milk Producers
Association.
Since ‘retiring’ in 2010, Mike has digitized
and organized the extensive BC Dairy
Historical archives, including publications
– Butterfat magazine, Milk Stories and
more. Dedicated to the preservation
and accessibility of BC’s dairy history,
Mike developed the bcdairyhistory.ca
website where all the digitized materials
are hosted. It was recognized in 2015
as the best historical website by the BC
Historical Federation. Another of Mike’s
major undertakings saw the BC Dairy
history physical and digitized archives
preserved at the UBC library – for use by
anyone interested in BC’s dairy history – in
perpetuity!
“I am truly honoured to be recognized with
this award,” Mike began.
“I have deep respect for all the many
great industry leaders I saw over the
years. Our industry is strong because
farmers work together. Cooperation is the
thread that runs through our industry,” he
emphasized.
Mike and his wife Trudy have been married
52 years and they continue to enjoy the
outdoors and travel.
The western dairy industry continues
to benefit from Mike’s historical
passion as he has written dairy history
articles for the BC Holstein News and
now, the Western Canadian Dairy News.
Thank you Mike, for your meaningful
contributions to dairy over 5+ decades.
Preserving dairy history for future
generations is a truly noble mission!