Whole Milk Advocate Inspired by Life as a Feed Truck Driver

From left, Jay Hoyt, Anne Diefendorf and Duane Spaulding display a 97 Milk sign used at fairs throughout the region.

As a feed truck driver for more than 40 years, Duane Spaulding watched the countryside change along his routes in upstate New York.

More and more dairy farms sat idle. The loss of farms impacted Spaulding's job, but it also touched him personally.

"It really bothers me, even today," said Spaulding, who retired in 2020.

Five years ago, he decided to do something about it.

Spaulding, along with fellow dairy advocates Anne Diefendorf, Jay Hoyt and Dr. Lynn Kahn, drove to Pennsylvania to attend a 97 Milk meeting. Spaulding embraced the group's mission of educating the public about the benefits of whole milk. If more people drank whole milk, and if it could be provided to children in schools, it could save dairy farms, he surmised.

Since the meeting, Spaulding has worked tirelessly to promote 97 Milk and whole milk throughout New York and the New England region. Whether it's phone calls, visits to the state capital or driving hundreds of miles to hand out whole milk at fairs and schools, Spaulding is determined to do what he can to help.

"I want to change peoples’ minds about whole milk," he said. "I do this because we need to keep our farms. We need to keep our cows."

Duane Spaulding serves whole milk at a fair in New York last year. His childhood on a family dairy farm and career as a feed truck driver fueled his passion to promote whole milk as a way to save dairy farms.

Spaulding's passion for dairy began in 1963 when his parents, Clinton and Beatrice, purchased a dairy farm in Seward, New York. Spaulding, who was 5 years old at the time, cherished growing up on the farm, which started with 25 cows and eventually grew to 60.

He remembers the struggles as the family worked to improve the land in order to expand the herd. But Spaulding also recalls the pride they had in the small farm and the positive impact the dairy, and others in the area, had on the community.

"My mom and dad were very fussy about appearance because they knew they were representing the dairy industry," he said. "Every five years they would have the building pressure washed and the barn was painted. It was a beautiful farm."

As the dairy became successful, the Spaulding family kept improving the farm. Two silos were added, the ground produced twice as much as before, and an addition was built onto the barn to accommodate more cows.

At its peak, the dairy was shipping 7,000 pounds of milk every two days and was named a Dairy of Distinction.

In 1998, after Spaulding's father became ill, the family sold the farm. But Spaulding's love of dairy was fully ingrained, and it's what drives him today to work tirelessly to promote whole milk for 97 Milk.

"Last year we had so many fairs ask us to hand out whole milk that we could only spend a day and then go on to the next one," he said. "This year we’re planning to go to fairs in Vermont, Connecticut and Massachusetts in addition to a ton of events in New York. It's not slowing down."

And to Spaulding, it doesn't feel like work.

"When you see the smiles on the kids’ faces when they drink a carton of whole milk, I love doing this," he said. "We volunteer our time and spend our own money for this because we feel kids should have the choice to drink whole milk in school.

"If we don't fix this, the small dairies aren't going to stay in business."

Spaulding, who credits Diefendorf and Hoyt for contributing much of their time to hand out milk and paint round bales with the 97 Milk message, said the number of requests from events tripled last year. This year things are expected to get even busier, and he's fine with the extra work.

"I get at least one phone each day about this, and I’m not going to slow down. I actually think we should speed up and do more," Spaulding said. "I’ll never forget driving the feed truck and seeing hundreds of beautiful dairy farms sitting idle. It makes no sense and this is a way to fix it."

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Staff Reporter

Tom Venesky is a staff reporter for Lancaster Farming. You can reach him at [email protected].