KENTUCKY
January - February w w w. k y d a i r y. o r g
Milk Matters Kentucky Dairy Partners Annual Meeting
Supported by
Check out the schedule on page 6
Kentucky Farm Bureau Update
page 11
Let KDDC help you with division of water requirements
page 18
Maury Cox Retiring from KDDC
O
n March 1, 2019 Maury Cox, Executive Director will officially retire from the Kentucky Dairy Development Council after serving as a founding Board Member, Dairy Consultant Director and Executive Director. The KDDC began as an official dairy farmer advocacy organization in March of 2005 after nearly a year of planning and developing. From the beginning, the KDDC Mission has been to educate, promote and represent dairy producers and foster an environment of growth for the Kentucky dairy industry. Maury was hired by the KDDC Board October 1, 2007 as Dairy Consultant Director where he was responsible for oversight of the regional Dairy Consultant Program. In this role, Cox developed and implemented training for the regional consultants to integrate the KDDC KY Dairy Improvement Program throughout the state, working with the UK Cooperative Extension Service and County Extension Agents. The KDDC Board developed other programs such as the Young Dairy Producer Initiative and the Market Incentive Leadership for KY (MILK) Program, one of the most dynamic programs of its kind in the nation. Through collaboration with the multiple milk marketing organizations in KY, the MILK Program has distributed over eight million dollars in premiums to KY dairy farmers since its inception. Cox was named Executive Director by the KDDC Board May 30, 2008 replacing Roger Thomas after he accepted the Executive Director position with the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy. Continuing in the leadership example set by Thomas, Cox guided KDDC over the next 10 years working collaboratively in helping KY dairy producers increase production over 5,245 pounds of milk per cow per year while improving milk quality in lowered somatic cell counts. Mr. Cox also was responsible for obtaining grants through
the KY Agricultural Development Fund and other sources such as the competitive KY Division of Water 319(h) grant and the KY Cattlemen’s Association to continue funding for KDDC. He was a regular spokesman before KY Legislative Committees on behalf of the KY dairy industry. Cox wrote articles and updates in several agri-publications as well. As part of his responsibilities he met quarterly with the KY Agricultural Development Board Committee submitting reports and updates of benchmarks and goals of KDDC.
In order to strengthen the Kentucky dairy industry’s position on a national scale, Cox worked to build relationships with other state’s dairy producer organizations. The KDDC hosted the National Dairy Leaders Coalition in 2016, an organization started by the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin and organized a meeting of the Southeast Strategic Steering Committee to seek solutions to the present dairy industry crisis. Maury plans to spend more time helping in the care of his mother, visiting his eight grandchildren, doing special projects planned by his wife and enjoy his favorite hobby, fishing, not necessarily in that order. He wishes to thank all those advocates of livestock and dairy farming, those that support and work for KDDC and the many friends made over a lifetime in agriculture.