Celebrating National Dairy Month with Ashley Messing-Kennedy, Sheridan Dairy

Ashley Messing-Kennedy, owner of Sheridan Dairy in Huron County. Photo provided

June is National Dairy Month. There’s no question of how vital dairy is to the state’s economy. Michigan’s 1,200 dairy farm families rank 6th in the country in terms of milk production.

However, consumers are fed a lot of myths about the industry. Ashley Messing-Kennedy, owner of Sheridan Dairy in Huron County, says one of the biggest they believe is dairy isn’t good for the environment.

“It’s such a misnomer—that data you always hear that dairy puts [out] so much methane,” she said. “That’s not accurate to a really modern dairy system. We don’t put a ton of methane out into the environment. We’re environmentally friendly. We do all kinds of resource management and sustainable practices.”

Practices like recycling water and using manure as fertilizer. She added that because farmers do these practices daily, they don’t get discussed as much.

“It’s things we’ve done everyday that we do on the farm so we don’t think about it,” said Messing-Kennedy. “As an industry we need to talk about it because consumers really care about that. They want to hear that yes, we are sustainable. Checkoff is doing a lot of work toward trying to put values on it.”

Messing-Kennedy said the health benefits of dairy can’t be ignored, especially compared to non-dairy alternatives.

“Dairy is a very nutrition-packed food—it has protein, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals, and all kinds of dense, healthy nutrition,” she said.

As a runner and weightlifter, she can attest to the power of dairy in a post-workout routine.

“When I get done, I use a whey protein powder and milk in my shake—it’s a great recovery fuel whether I’m lifting or running,” said Messing-Kennedy. “Like chocolate milk—it really has an ideal balance of nutrition along with hydration for a post-practice, post-race, post-game fuel.”

Dairy can fit into almost any lifestyle and diet. Messing-Kennedy says it’s great if you’re on the mooove, like her family.

“When we’re on the go, dairy is the thing we grab,” she said. “If we don’t have time for a sit-down snack or something that takes a little bit more time, dairy is where we go. Whether it be something like Core Power that has a little bit of extra protein to sustain us for longer, or we need a refresher on a [hot] day, and an ice-cold chocolate milk is perfect. I highly recommend it for everybody, unless of course you’re allergic to milk or lactose intolerant.”

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