Prairie Farms wins 65 awards in 2024 World Dairy Expo contest

The Midwest-based Prairie Farms Dairy came home a winner from the World Dairy Expo (WDE) Dairy Product Contest picking up 65 awards and sweeping seven categories. 

Prairie Farms, which learned its rankings from the contest on Thursday, Sept. 5, announced in a news release this week it and its family of companies won awards in 37 of the contest’s 93 classes. Once again, Prairie Farms – with a presence in the Quad Cities – received more awards than any other company making it the reigning contest champion. 

Prairie Farms’ final tally from the dairy contest was 19 first-place awards, 23 second-place awards, and 23 third-place awards. 

Thanking the competition’s host, Wisconsin Dairy Products Association, Prairie Farms’ CEO and Executive Vice President Matt McClelland said “Winning 65 awards is a great honor, and not only did we top last year’s number of WDE awards, but we also retained our place as the competition’s most-awarded dairy.” 

Headquartered in Edwardsville, Illinois, Prairie Farms’ local footprint includes the former Swiss Valley, which merged into Prairie Farms in 2017. The north Davenport facility still serves as the offices for Prairie Farms Cheese Division.  A farmer-owned dairy cooperative, Prairie Farms also has numerous dairy farmers across the bistate Quad Cities region. 

“The hard-working dairy farmers who founded our cooperative in 1938 would be proud to see our  milk and dairy products compete and win on the world stage,” Mr. McClelland said in the release. “The awards are a true measure of the decades-long commitment of our farm families and employees to making the highest quality dairy products in America. The immeasurable pride behind each award belongs to them, and I am inspired every day by their effort.” 

The Prairie Farms family of companies claimed the top spots in seven of the contest’s categories: 

• Lactose Free White Milk: 1st and 3rd,, Prairie Farms – Hammond, Louisiana; 2nd, Prairie Farms – Anderson, Indiana. 
• Chocolate Milk: 1st,, Hiland Dairy, Kansas City, Missouri; 2nd, Prairie Farms, Fort Wayne, Indiana; 3rd, Prairie  Farms, Anderson, Indiana.
• Fat Free Chocolate Milk: 1st, Hiland Dairy – Conroe, Texas; 2nd Prairie Farms, Fort Wayne; and 3rd, Prairie Farms, Rockford, Illinois.
•  Flavored UHT Milk Awards: Prairie Farms, Battle Creek, Michigan, 1st, 2nd and 3rd. 
• Tropical Flavored Drinkable Yogurt: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Hiland Dairy, Chandler, Oklahoma.
• Lowfat Cottage Cheese: 1st, Prairie Farms, Fort Wayne; 2nd Hiland Dairy, Wichita, Kansas; 3rd Prairie Farms, Quincy, Illinois.
• Blue Veined Cheese Awards: 1st, Prairie Farms, Mindoro, Wisconsin; 2nd and 3rd, Prairie Farms, Faribault, Minnesota. 

Category wins included 22 fluid milk awards, 12 yogurt awards, nine sour cream/dip awards, seven cheese awards, six ice cream awards, five cottage cheese awards, three cream awards, and one whey award. 

Held in Madison, Wisconsin, the WDE Championship Dairy Product Contest is  sponsored by The Wisconsin Dairy Products Association and considered one of the country’s most prestigious dairy  judging competitions. Find the complete list of awards here.  

This year’s competition attracted entries across 93 classes of dairy  products, with each entry carefully judged by a panel of industry experts. 

The grand champions and the first, second, and third place winners for each class will receive their trophies, medals, and ribbons at an award reception and auction, Tuesday, Oct. 1, during the World Dairy Expo in Madison.

The first-place winner’s products are auctioned off that day, with proceeds going to scholarship programs focused on dairy education. 

The WDE awards come on the heels of summer fair season, where Prairie Farms’ family of companies received 137 awards from product competitions at the Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky,  Wisconsin and Iowa state fairs. 

“During the fairs, our products and cows intersect when it comes to awards,” Mr. McClelland said in an earlier news release. “We can’t celebrate our accomplishments without  spotlighting our 4-H and FFA members who prepare year-round to show their prize dairy cows at dozens of  state and county fairs. These young leaders shape the future of our cooperative, and I am grateful to them for  their hard work and dedication.” 

Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful dairy cooperatives operating in the Midwest and the South. The cooperative includes more than 600 farm families, 7,000 associates, 47 manufacturing plants, 100+ distribution facilities, and annual sales of over $4.69 billion. Its distribution footprint covers over 30% of the United States with its products sold in grocery chains, mass merchandiser stores, club stores, convenience stores, dollar stores, drug stores, schools,  foodservice outlets, and warehouse distribution centers.