Mary Margaret Cole, Executive Program Director of the Kellogg Dairy Center (KDC) at UConn’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources has had a very successful year. Cole and the KDC staff are setting the stage for top quality milk for Connecticut dairy producers.

At the 2013 Eastern States Exposition Holstein Show, Cole was awarded champion herdsman and UC Advent Mattrina was named highest producing cow at the show.

In October, the Department of Animal Science’s herd qualified yet again for the Progressive Breeders Registry Award. Cole and her staff have worked diligently in breeding a registered Holstein herd that has achieved high standards of both production and type.

Agri-Mark announced in November that the UConn Dairy herd won the Agri-Mark Top Milk Quality Award in the Region. UConn has been #3 for several years and it is a credit to Cole and her staff that UConn has moved up to the #1 spot in the region.

Most recently, Cole and the KDC staff were selected as the 2013 Gold Winner in the National Dairy Quality Awards Program of the National Mastitis Council. The panel of judges ranked UConn’s milk as some of the best in the country. Judges looked at many factors when selecting the winners.

UConn Extension connects the power of UConn’s research to local issues by creating practical, science-based answers to complex problems. Knowledge and success from Cole and the Department of Animal Science is shared with UConn Extension. The scientific knowledge and expertise of the UConn dairy herd will aid Connecticut dairy farmers in economic viability, production, and sustainability in their dairy businesses.