Bill and Betsy Bullard of Turner, Maine have been chosen as this year’s Young Dairy Leaders Institute Distinguished Alumni Leader award recipients. Each year, the Holstein Foundation recognizes a Young Dairy Leaders Institute (YDLI) graduate or couple who have made noteworthy contributions to the dairy industry, applying skills gained during their YDLI experience.
“Working through YDLI's framework centering around communicating from a position of better understanding, whether by identifying different personality types and their effect on interactions or working through very real hypothetical scenarios with expert guidance, has been an invaluable basis for our on and off-farm experiences,” Bill says.
Bill and Betsy are both graduates of YDLI Class 4. Together, the Bullards own and operate Brigeen Farms, Inc., a herd of 600 Registered Holsteins. They set high standards for cow care, employee development, and sustainability practices on their dairy farm. In 2020, the Bullards opened Canty Cow Creamery, an on-farm micro creamery that serves delicious frozen custard.
Beyond the farm, the Bullards are champions of the dairy community through leadership and service roles in several organizations. The couple takes their YDLI skills with them as they contribute to the dairy industry through many different roles.
“The personal connections and resources developed during YDLI have certainly reinforced the idea that it is indeed a small world, and that baseline level of connectedness imbue new governance and service opportunities with a level of accessibility that would have been absent without the YDLI experience,” Betsy says.
Betsy serves on the Holstein Association USA board of directors. She has also been a director on the Maine Dairy Promotion Board since 2018 and is active in the New England Holstein Association and serves as a trustee for the Eastern States Exposition. Bill serves as a director at-large for the Maine Dairy Industry Association and is on the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency Maine State Committee.
Bill and Besty have two children, Sydney and Will, who are actively involved in many youth-focused dairy programs.
The Bullards will be recognized with the award during Phase III of YDLI Class 13, being held January 27-30 in Tampa, Florida.
The Young Dairy Leaders Institute, a program of the Holstein Foundation, is a nationally recognized three-phase leadership and communication skills development program for young adults (ages 22-45) working in the dairy industry. For more information about YDLI or Holstein Foundation programs, visit www.holsteinfoundation.org.
