During their annual regional meetings, the Producteurs de Lait de la Montérégie-Ouest celebrated this year’s winners of the Lait’Xcellent Awards. This competition was created to recognize dairy farmers who, over the course of the year, achieve the best results in terms of the quality of milk delivered to processing plants
The Producteurs de Lait de la Montérégie-Ouest represents 315 family-owned farms located in the Haut-Saint-Laurent, Vaudreuil-Soulanges, Beauharnois-Salaberry, Roussillon, Jardins-de-Napierville, and Haut-Richelieu MRCs. This year, one of the winners was a farm from Godmanchester.
In first place was Ferme E. Fankhauser Inc. from Saint-Sebastien. Owners Ernest, Simon, and Samuel Fankhauser, along with Barbara Strahm, have won the gold medal six times. These distinguished producers have achieved success through regular milk testing, milk analysis when the somatic cell count (SCC) is high, regular maintenance of milking equipment, and clean housing.
In second place is a local farm, Meganck Farms Inc. from Godmanchester, which is owned by Denise Brodeur and Wim and Claudia Meganck. The farm has 60 lactating cows and a quota of 92 kg per day. In 2000, the farm adopted an intense milking protocol using a free-stall milking parlour. Plus, to ensure their milk is of the highest quality, they conduct microbiological testing.
In third place, Marc and Claudia Drogue, owners of Ferme Drogue 2005 Inc. in Montreal-Saint-Grégoire were selected.
Ana Maria, the president of the Producteurs de Lait de Montérégie-Ouest says, “For the Producteurs de lait de la Montérégie-Ouest, it is a source of pride to highlight the achievements of the three winners, who produce milk of exceptional quality.” (CF)