STEWART KIRCHER
Stewart dairies in Dayton, Oregon with his brother Robert, and the Bansen family. Forest Glen Oaks and Forest Glen Jerseys have been organic since 1996 and ship milk to Organic West. The farms consist of 100% Jersey cows, more than one thousand acres of irrigated pasture for grazing, and two thousand acres of organic land for corn, alfalfa, grass, and grain production. Stewart graduated from Oregon State University in 2006 with a degree in Agriculture Science and has been on the dairy since 2013. Stewart is also involved in the Oregon Dairy Farmers Association leadership program.
JENNEKE deJONG
Jenneke deJong was born and raised in the Netherlands in a small city south of Amsterdam. Her dairy and agricultural roots run deep as she grew up and worked on her family's dairy farm with her parents and two brothers, which is still in operation today. After highschool, she attended college where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in IT. She then worked for Heineken until she met her husband Arie deJong and moved to the US in 1989 after they were married. Currently, Arie and Jenneke with 4 of their 5 children own and operate 2 organic dairy farms in Southeastern Oregon: Bonanza View Dairy and Windy Ridge. The first load of organic milk was shipped in July of 2004 to Horizon Organic. Several years ago they moved to Organic West. Over the years they have been able to transition more farm ground to organic and are able to grow a lot of their own feed. Raising their children on the dairy farm and getting to work alongside them as a family has been a great opportunity for them to obtain dairy knowledge, learn valuable life lessons and skills and most importantly experience the joy and rewards of hard work. All of their children have worked within the operations since childhood and continuously work closely in the family businesses.
Besides working in the office, Jenneke enjoys being outside, working in the yard or going for a bike ride, as well as cooking, playing piano and spending time with her grandchildren. Jenneke also volunteers at the local Farm Expo and is involved in FFA. Jenneke previously served on the OMRI Board and the LLC Management Committee (CCOF). Currently she is on the Klamath Drainage District board in addition to the WODPA board. Arie and Jenneke are both 5th generation dairy farmers.
MIKE MORETTI
Mike was born and raised in Penngrove, California, where he grew up experiencing farm life in both Sonoma and Marin counties, working alongside his uncle on his dairy farm. In 1991, Mike and his wife, Monique, entered into the dairy business, and have been farming on the same land for over 30 years. In 2012, the Moretti Family Dairy converted to certified organic. Today, the Moretti's milk 270 Jersey and Jersey crossbred cows on 400 acres situated at the north end of west Marin County in the rural community of Tomales. Moretti Family Dairy is a proud organic producer for Straus Family Creamery. In addition to dairy farming, Mike is an active community member and agricultural advocate. He has served as a Board Member for the Marin Resource Conservation District (RCD) for the past 8 years, the President of the Tomales High School Ag Boosters for the past 5 years, and a past Board Member for Western United Dairymen and Dairymen's Feed & Supply Co-op. Mike and Monique have two grown children, Amanda Boggs and Danny Moretti, and grandchildren, who live nearby and remain active in the family business.
DARBY HEFFNER
Darby manages the Organic Dairy Unit at the California State University, Chico University Farm, one of only three certified organic university-based dairies in the nation. In this role, she oversees all unit operations, from herd management to developing and implementing hands-on training for student employees in essential dairy management skills.
The Dairy Unit's 80 crossbred Friesian-Jersey cows are milked seasonally. Building on her work at the dairy, Darby's newest project is the launch of Chico State Cheese. This product is made with 100% milk from the Chico State herd, creating a truly local product from start to finish.
Beyond her work at the dairy, Darby is a dedicated advisor for the Chico State Dairy Science and Industry Club. She resides in Chico, California, with her husband, Travis, and their daughter, Hadlee.
DEAN WESEN
The Wesens' farm is located in Bow, Washington which is located in the Northwest corner of the state - only about an hour from the Canadian border. Dean is in partnership with his three brothers. They farm around 1200 acres for feed for our 800 primarily Holstein herd. The Wesens' are able to grow around 300 acres of corn silage and the rest is in grass for pasture and hay silage. The Wesens started selling organic milk to Organic Valley in 2008. Dean really likes seeing the cows out on pasture again as do hundreds of passersby every summer who stop to take pictures. Dean is President of the local conservation district in Skagit County. Dean was also in the army reserve for 28 years and retired as a LTC.
GEORGE McCLELLAND
George’s father immigrated from Ireland and married his mother (also a product of Irish immigrants) in 1937. His parents started their first dairy with 8 Brown Swiss cows in Novato, CA – hand milking and selling the milk under “McClelland Dairy”. After a short hiatus from milking cows, the family re-established a herd in the early 1950’s. The family moved to Sonoma County on what is now McClelland Dairy in 1965. George milked and fed cows while in high school and married his high school sweetheart, Dora, in April 1971. With the help and support of his parents, George & Dora milked, fed calves, grew crops and raised 3 kids. The dairy is now home to approximately 2,100 head of livestock and they farm over 2,200 acres.
TRAVIS NOBLE
Travis Noble is a 4th generation dairy farmer who co-owns and operates the Noble Family Dairy, located in Southern Oregon just outside of Grants Pass. He inherited his love for cows, farming and the dairy from his grandfather, Jerry Noble, who passed away in 2021. Jerry originally had a dairy in Tulare, CA where he would bottle and deliver his farm fresh milk door to door before moving his family up to Oregon in 1972. Jerry had an unrivaled passion for Brown Swiss cows, of which Travis has kept to influence his current milking herd. Travis now dairies with his dad, Larry (head farmer), and his brother, Tanner (head mechanic). Together they grow corn silage, wheat, alfalfa and luscious pasture on close to 1,200 acres. Travis attributes his success and sanity to his beautiful wife, Kaleigh, with whom he has two kids – Boden (6 yrs. old) and Parker (4 yrs. old). Travis hopes to pass his passion on to his kids, just as his grandpa did for him.
HENK POSTMUS
Henk is a multi- generational dairy farmer who started dairying in the Netherlands where he was born and raised. He immigrated to his current dairy farm in Texas in 1998. Henk started his organic dairy farm in 2007 and to his surprise, really loves it. He really enjoys organic farming because of the grazing aspect and finds it to be similar to how he was raised up in the Netherlands. Henk spends most of his time working on the dairy and continuously researching how to make it better for our consumers and the next generations to come. Henk enjoys time in his pastures with his cows and being with his daughters. A fun fact about Henk is that he is very passionate about pro-cross breeding cattle. His favorite breed of cows are his red & white Holsteins!
ANDREW DYKSTRA
Andrew and his family operate their farm in Northwest Washington. The Dykstra's have been farming their land organically since 1989. Their farm includes vegetables, seed crops, and dairy. The Dykstra's dairy operation began in 2004.
JENNIFER BERETTA
Beretta Dairy is located in Santa Rosa, CA. They milk about 300 Holstein and Jersey cows. They have about 400 acres total; 150 acres are designated for endangered flowers, so they are unable to irrigate those, but are able to irrigate 250 acres for pasture. They are able to make silage and also are able to cut hay on some of the ground for a 2nd and 3rd cutting. Since their pastures are irrigatable, they can graze through the summer where many dairies around the area are not able to because they are dependent on rainfall. The dairy has been in operation for 55+ years and ship their milk to Clover Sonoma.
JOLYNN McCLELLAND
Jolynn and her husband Robert started their organic dairy in 2005 on 220 acres in Sonoma County. In November 2023, they began selling their milk to Straus Family Creamery. They milk 250 cows and manage 250 young stock. They rent other properties in Marin and Sonoma Counties for the young stock to graze and for silage. Robert and Jolynn have deep roots in the North Bay dairy industry, both having grown up on multi-generational dairy farms. They met in the summer of 1997 while exhibiting their dairy cattle at their local fair. Jolynn is active on the dairy managing bookkeeping, payroll, animal records, organic paperwork, animal health, employee trainings and HR. Robert and Jolynn have two sons who also keep her active as the 4H community club leader, high school sports booster President and various other school committees. Jolynn and Robert have been WODPA members for a number of years and Jolynn looks forward to giving back to an organization that continues to so much for the organic dairy industry in the west.
VANESSA NUNES
Vanessa Nunes farms with family on the Alexandre Family Farm in Del Norte and Humboldt counties in Northern California. Vanessa is the Del Norte Dairy Manager and Co-Manages Marketing for their family milk brand. Their organic pasture-based dairies are spread between five milking facilities, milking 4500 organic milk cows. The family primarily ships their milk to their own AFF milk brand, as well as to Humboldt Creamery and Rumiano Cheese. Their cattle breeds are a cross between the New Zealand Kiwi Cross, New Zealand Ayrshire, Danish Jersey and German Fleckvieh. Vanessa graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a BS in Agriculture Business and a minor in Dairy Science in 2015. Leaving for five months to study pastured dairy farms in New Zealand, Vanessa solidified her love for cows and lush pastures. In 2020, Vanessa married Agriculture and Woodshop teacher, Justin Nunes, and in 2022 welcomed their daughter Jora, who is now Vanessa’s right hand gal on the farm. Vanessa represents the family and business on the boards of the 41st District Del Norte County Fair, Del Norte Farm Bureau, Del Norte Resource Conservation District and WODPA, while utilizing her love for youth and service as a Del Norte County 4-H leader.
CAMERON DOTTI
Cameron is a 4th generation dairy farmer from Santa Rosa, CA. He works alongside his father and brother on the same farm that was founded by his great-grandfather in 1937 after immigrating from Northern Italy.
Together, they manage a herd of 160 milking cows, which are mostly Jerseys and Holsteins with a handful of Brown Swiss. They became certified organic in 2015 and since 2022 they sell their milk to Sierra Organics.
As one of the first dairies to utilize the Santa Rosa Reclaimed Water program, they are able to irrigate their fields while helping the local community recycle their waste water.
Cameron and his wife, Nikki, have been together since meeting in high school in 2008, and now have two young children who aspire to carry on the family legacy and continue farming alongside their dad.
DOUG HALE
Doug (Bruno) Hale is a 3rd generation dairy farmer in Etna, California. Doug’s family started dairying in Petaluma, CA in 1978 before moving to Etna in 1996 in order to expand their herd. After 5 years of service in the US Marine Corps, Doug purchased his grandfather’s dairy and transitioned to organic in 2016. He milks 500 cows on 900 irrigated acres of beautiful ground surrounding his milk barn where he also grows corn, triticale, barley and sorghum. He currently ships his milk to Organic West.
RICHARD HUGHES
Richard and Marilyn Hughes have been in the dairy business for over 50 years. Richard started shipping organic milk in 2006 to Straus Family Creamery and has been shipping to Straus Family Creamery ever since. He milks year-round on a total of 182 acres with 72 acres designated for the lactating cows; the rest is for heifers and silage. He is able to double crop silage ground during the good rainfall years. He is able to get 3 crops of hay and then graze the heifers on it to clean up the residue. His pastures are designed small fields where he rotationally grazes with about a 14-16 day rotation. He uses manure water and dam water to irrigate through big guns. Richard thinks the best irrigations are when he is able to mix the manure water with the fresh water. He is generally able to irrigate almost all summer depending on rainfall and availability of water. He tries to grow as much on farm feed as possible.
ZACH CAHILL
Zach shares a certified organic farm with his dad in Ferndale, CA where he has milked about 500 cows since they became organic in 2006. He grows pasture and corn silage for his Jersey cows. He sells his milk to a local processor - Rumiano Cheese. Zach likes to spend his time watching his cows graze on his fresh pasture and enjoys the famous cool weather of the Northern California Coast. A fun fact Zach is very proud of is that they converted an old milking facility into a very popular, local wedding venue. His mom gets the barn April - November and the heifers get the barn from December - May (after a lot of power washing!).
Lia (Van Egmond) Sieler is a third- generation farmer born and raised on her family farm in Galt, Ca - about 45 minutes south of Sacramento. Lia graduated from Chico State with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture. After graduating, she moved to the foothills of California where she lives now with her husband, Robert, and their baby boy, RC. Lia worked for a cheese plant immediately out of college before accepting a position as the Quality & Field Manager for an organic milk broker. Now, she works for WODPA as the Executive Director as well as working part time for DairyWorks helping farmers with animal welfare certifications and documentation. She has worked in many facets of our industry which she says has given her the distinct honor of understanding the many stakeholders within the business, but her heart brought her back to working closely with farmers acting as a conduit between them and the decision makers within the industry.
Lia Sieler - Wallace, California