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Ritters honored by MMPA
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Saturday, October 11, 2008 9:09 PM EDT
BYRON - Brad and Tonia Ritter both grew up on farms and never felt they had anything handed to them for free.
“There are a lot of kids who, when they get out of school, their day is done,” Brad said. “I had responsibilities at the age of 12 and 13.”
Tonia, Brad's wife, also had many responsibilities on her family's farm at a very early age.
“I think it is a good thing for kids to have responsibility and to realize that we don't just go through the world with a sense of entitlement,” Tonia said. “You've got to put in a little bit of elbow grease to get there.”
It was this work ethic that helped Brad, 31, and Tonia, 33, get selected as the Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA) Outstanding Young Dairy Cooperators (OYDC). They represented the Owosso Local of District 6.
The MMPA serves 2,300 dairy farmers in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Wisconsin.
“It recognizes leadership within the (MMPA) and it gives them opportunities to further grow in their leadership,” Tonia said. “In some ways, it probably also prepares (the winners) for leadership in the organization in the future.”
The Ritters were first nominated by the Owosso Local of the MMPA. After that, they had to be chosen over all of the local nominees to be the winner of the their district.
As the district representatives, the Ritters then went to Novi for an interview with the judges, along with other district winners.
Then, after the couple became one of the finalists, judges came to look at the farm. It was following the annual OYDC Conference in August that they were chosen as the winners.
“It's just a nice honor,” Brad said. “I mean, you don't go into (dairy farming) thinking you are going to win it someday.”
The title of OYDC also comes with some responsibilities as well. They will represent the MMPA at various functions, including the annual National Milk Producers Federation meeting.
And while some may view the responsibilities as added work, the Ritters are looking forward to the trips and places they now will be visiting.
“We get to travel a little bit - free of charge,” Brad said. “It's not a true vacation, but it is always fun to travel.”
The Ritters have also been featured on the cover of Michigan Milk Messenger, the official MMPA publication.
The farm was owned by Brad's parents, Jim and Val Ritter, but in January of 2005 Brad became the co-owner of the farm with his father. The farm was first purchased by Brad's grandfather in 1954, making Brad the third generation to work the farm.
However, this year was not the first time the Ritters had been nominated for the OYDC. Only 10 days after Brad became co-owner with his father and joined the MMPA, the Owosso Local nominated the Ritters as their representatives.
“We accepted the local nomination, but we declined to go any further,” Brad said. “I just didn't feel like going through it when I don't have much to offer because I haven't had an opportunity to be involved.”
Also, around that time they had a new-born baby, Trevor, 3. The Ritters other son is Bryce, 2.
But Brad started working at the farm once he graduated from college in 1997, but was considered a hired hand at the time. He added that since he has gotten out of college, the family farm has doubled in size.
The farm employs one full-time and three part-time workers. And even though Tonia works full-time in the governmental affairs division at the Michigan Farm Bureau, she is still in charge of the farm's financing - managing the books and records.
Brad said he loves the variety of the work that comes with daily life on a dairy farm.
“Everything is always changing,” Brad said.
Also, the Ritters added that even though the country's economy has fallen on hard times, agriculture seems to be fairly untouched as of now.
“If there is a bright spot in Michigan, agriculture is doing pretty good right now,” Brad said. “Especially with the prices of fuel and fertilizer, we have definitely seen challenges in the past couple of years, but agriculture - as a whole - is doing well.”
- Contact Michael Peterson at 725-5136 extension 223 or mpetersonarguspress@gmail.com.
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BigBrother wrote on Oct 12, 2008 12:51 PM:
