The history entitled "The First Twenty-five Years of the Dairy Practices Council" was prepared and presented at the 1994 Annual Conference by Donald F. George. Early information was collected from Dick March.
The Northeast Dairy Practices Council was founded April 21, 1970, as an outgrowth of the Farm Practices Committee of the New York State Association of Milk and Food Sanitarians. Chaired by Dr. Robert Metzger with Dick March as secretary, the Farm Practices Committee was part of the New York Association, but functioned mainly as a northeast committee and seldom met in New York. The Farm Practices Committee meetings were held at the Old Newgate Coon Club in Norfolk, Connecticut, the Texas Block House in Buttonwood, Pennsylvania, at Hogback Mountain near Brattleboro, Vermont, and once at High Point Park, New Jersey. Since most of the topics considered by the Farm Practices Committee were of concern to the entire northeastern region it gradually became apparent to Dick March that it would be best if the committee were to exist independently from the New York Association. The Executive Board of the New York Association concurred and established their own Farm Methods Committee to deal specifically with instate problems, and they appointed board member Dick March to take the initiative in calling together representatives from the northeastern states to explore possibilities of forming a northeastern regional committee to replace the old Farm Practices Committee.
1966 Farm Practices
Committee of
the New York
State Association
of Milk and
Food Sanitarians-
Dick March,
Mike Roman,
Jim White, Dr.
Hobson
The exploratory
meeting for
the proposed
northeast committee
was held on
January 27-28,
1970 at the
Old Newgate
Coon Club, Norfolk,
Connecticut,
with 16 people
in attendance.
The decision
was made to
form a northeast
organization
and to name
it the Northeast
Dairy Practices
Committee. It
was agreed that
the organization
not be limited
in scope to
dealing just
with farm topics.
A second meeting
was held April
21-22, 1970
at the same
location with
42 people present
representing
seven states;
Connecticut,
Massachusetts,
New Hampshire,
New Jersey,
New York, Pennsylvania,
Vermont, and
also Region
II of the U.S.
Public Health
Service (USPHS).
A constitution
was approved,
officers, steering
committee members,
and task force
chairmen were
appointed. The
constitution
was drafted
by Wendell I.
Carr, Vermont
Department of
Agriculture;
G. William (Bill)
Fouse, Pennsylvania
Department of
Agriculture;
Richard P. March,
Cornell University;
W.Y. Perez,
New York State
Department of
Health; Don
H. Race, Dairylea;
and Robert L.
Sanders, USPHS.
1977 Farm Building
& Utilities
Task Force on
Coon Club Steps-
Rodney O. Martin,
John Ivol?,
Dick Guest,
Bill Franks,
Roger Grout,
Bob Pa?-
Dave Sheldon,
Light, Dick
March
The officers
elected for
the new organization
were Richard
P. March, Cornell
University,
Chairman; Wendell
I. Carr (VT),
Vice Chairman;
and Robert L.
Sanders (USPHS),
Secretary. The
Steering Committee
included representatives
from regulatory,
industry and
education. Representing
Regulatory were
Claude H. Colvin,
NY, State Health
Department;
Richard M. Parry,
DVM, CT, State
Department of
Agriculture;
and Richard
J. Weaver, PA,
Local Health
Department.
Representing
Industry were
Dr. Charles
W. Livak, PA,
Processors;
Fred E. Uetz,
NY, Services;
and Russell
Weinhold, MA,
Producers. Representing
Education were
Dr. Henry Atherton,
VT, Processing;
Robert G. Light,
MA, Engineering;
and Dr. Roger
Natzke, NY,
Production.
Ex Board at
Coon Club -
Don George,
Dick March,
Charles Livak
Five Task Forces
were established
and chairmen
appointed as
follows: I.
Building and
Utilities, Rodney
O. Martin, Agway,
Inc.; II. Equipment,
Stephen B. Spencer,
Penn State University;
III. Quality
Assurance, Dr.
Charles W. Livak,
Penn Dairies;
IV. Communication
& Uniformity,
Robert L. Sanders,
USPHS; V. Cleaning
and Sanitizing,
Professor David
A. Evans, University
of Massachusetts.
1977 Cleaning
& Sanitizing
Task Force
Charles Livak,
Dick March,
Albert Zimmerman,
Ogden Baron
April 1977 Floyd
Boydfelt, Sid
Barnard, George
Watress, Dick
March
1977 Communication
& Uniformity
Task Force-
Dick March,
Dick Brazis,
Charles Johnson,
Sid Barnard,
Don George
April 1977 Quality
Assurance Task
Force- Don George,
Bill Hasting,
Al Zimmerman
April 1977 Quality
Assurance Task
Force- Don George,
Bill Hasting,
Al Zimmerman
Charlotte Heinz,
Floyd Boydfelt
The states
included as
members were
Connecticut,
Delaware, Maine,
Maryland, Massachusetts,
New Hampshire,
New Jersey,
New York, Pennsylvania,
Rhode Island
and Vermont.
Since then four
additional states
have become
members; West
Virginia in
1976, Virginia
in 1978, and
Ohio and Kentucky
in 1988.
During the first 25 years there have been many accomplishments and there are many ways in which the Northeast Dairy Practices Council helps the dairy industry.
Following
are some examples:
The Council had distributed guidelines primarily in the Northeast, however, they are requested from locations all over the world. In the late 1980's national recognition also came from another source. The work of the Dairy Practices Council was recognized by the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments when Guideline #45, "Gravity Flow Gutters for Manure Removal in Milking Barns" was adopted as an Appendix for the Grade "A" Pasteurized Milk Ordinance. In 1991 the Council submitted another proposal to the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments which reduced the Somatic Cell Count standards from 1,000,000 to 750,000. In 1993 the Council submitted still another proposal to set standards for Vitamin Fortification of Fluid Milk. This resulted in Guideline #53, "Vitamin Fortification of Fluid Milk", becoming part of the Grade A Pasteurized Milk Ordinance as Appendix O. In 1999 DPC Guideline #18 and the DPC address were listed in the PMO as a reference for somatic cell counts.
Professor March, and the numerous people representing education, industry, and milk regulatory agencies over two decades, provided a solid operational foundation, developed a highly respected library of Guidelines, and played a key role in promoting the adoption of uniform laws, rules, and regulations governing milk and dairy products by official agencies in the Northeast.
At the end of 1990, Professor Richard March retired as Executive Vice President having served the Council with outstanding leadership for 21 years. At the 21st Annual Meeting, attendees bid farewell to Dick and Barbara March and thanked them for the very special attention they had given to the dairy industry throughout the years and for the foresight in forming the Northeast Dairy Practices Council.
Dr. Gil Porter, formerly Vice President of R&D with Agway, Inc., commenced as Executive Vice President in January of 1991. Pat Delledera was hired as an employee of the DPC office. Dr. Porter led the Council well on its continued path of expansion and recognition. Early in his tenure, Dr. Porter initiated a campaign to bring into NDPC more sustaining members and he began the Silver Eagle Program. Any member who brought a new sustaining member into DPC was awarded an Eagle Silver Dollar mounted in a wooden case prepared by Gil.
The presentations
were made at
the Annual Conference
during the Awards
Luncheon. From
1991 through
March of 1994,
sustaining memberships
increased from
62 to 86 - nearly
a 40% gain.
During 1991,
Dr. Porter successfully
completed a
contract with
HOARD'S DAIRYMAN
to distribute
NDPC guidelines.
HOARD'S DAIRYMAN
markets sets
of dairy farm
related guidelines.
In early 1994,
a contract was
finalized with
the International
Association
of Milk, Food
and Environmental
Sanitarians
(IAMFES). IAMFES
markets the
complete library
of NDPC guidelines
called the 3-volume
Complete Set.
Gil retired
from DPC in
December 1994.
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