Her Royal Highness

When then 16-year-old Shelby Benjamin showed her first heifer at the Chenango County fair in Norwich, N.Y., she had no idea the effect her newfound love for the dairy industry would have on her community and state in the six years to come. And, she definitely didn’t know she would soon become New York’s first Black dairy princess. 

Shelby’s path to New York dairy princess is far from traditional. She didn’t grow up on a farm, and she didn’t study agriculture as an undergraduate college student at The State University of New York (SUNY) at Oneonta, like most dairy princesses. As a young girl, Shelby had two main interests: riding horses and playing sports. In college, she studied sports management while also playing Division III basketball for SUNY Oneonta. While Shelby had been introduced to the importance of dairy and the dairy community at livestock shows in high school, it wasn’t until her junior year of college when she discovered the nutritious value of milk, specifically chocolate milk, and became more interested in promoting dairy. 

“While playing basketball in college, I began to notice how tired I was after practices,” Shelby says. “I thought about what I could do to improve my energy level and began reading articles about the nutritious value of chocolate milk for athletes.”

Rita Garringar, Shelby Benjamin and Janet Sites

As her time as a college athlete came to an end, her desire to tell others about the goodness of dairy grew. Through the county 4-H club, Shelby connected with Sheila Marshman of Marshman Farms, a seventh-generation dairy farm owned by Sheila’s husband, John, and his brother, David, in Oxford, N.Y. With Sheila’s encouragement, Shelby decided to run for Chenango County Dairy Princess. 

Dairy princesses, ranging from 16 to 24 years old, serve as liaisons between dairy farmers and consumers at the county, state and national levels across the United States. The New York State Dairy Princess program is coordinated by American Dairy Association North East, with participation from dairy advocates throughout the state.

At age 22, Shelby thought it may be too late for her to serve in such a role, but Sheila reassured Shelby her passion and love for dairy would shine through to the youth, community members and consumers in which she would have the opportunity to interact. With the guidance and support of the Marshmans, Shelby became the Chenango County Dairy Princess, and in February 2021, competed for New York state dairy princess and won. 

“Here in the dairy industry, we have to do more to tell our story,” Sheila says. “Shelby really has a unique story to tell the consumer, and we’re looking forward to spending the year promoting the industry throughout New York state with her.” 

As New York dairy princess, Shelby attends many virtual events advocating for dairy and agriculture. As COVID-19 restrictions evolve, Shelby hopes to have more opportunities to interact with dairy’s youngest consumers — elementary students. Her favorite memories as dairy princess so far are of spending time with local third graders, engaging in activities to dispel dairy myths and educating the students about where their milk comes from. 

“The consumer is diverse in ethnicity and background; thus it is important to have spokespeople and influencers that are equally as diverse,” Shelby says. “I didn’t grow up on a farm, and I am proud to be a part of the dairy industry!”

With a different background and perspective on dairy than most, this princess is paving the way for young girls and consumers to learn more about dairy and advocate for the farm families who make it.

A Legacy of Caring

For the Roth family, producing high-quality milk starts with their family and carries over to their long-standing employees who have helped shape their family farm. 

The eight Roth siblings who partner to make their dairy a success focus on fostering a collaborative spirit with their employees — some who have been at Si-Ellen Farms since they built their dairy in Jerome, Idaho, nearly
27 years ago. 

 

This family philosophy is a legacy the Roth kids learned at a young age from their parents, Simon and Mary-Ellen, who founded Si-Ellen Farms with 100 cows in Vancouver, Wash., near the Columbia River. 

“I think it goes back to this great childhood we had,” Mike Roth, who serves as chief executive officer of the farm, says of the family staying together and continuing their dairy family legacy. “We just had a great mom and dad. We worked hard, but we had fun doing it.” 

Mike recalls growing up in a little house. With seven brothers and sisters, his parents and friends going in and out, space was tight. “It was not a big house, but there was always food on the table,” he says. He remembers mornings starting at 4 a.m., before heading out to the pasture with a flashlight and his dog. “In the spring and summer, I would walk out in the pasture, get the cows up and bring them into the barn,” he says. “We had about 15 minutes to have a cup of coffee, a piece of Swiss cheese and a piece of bread with honey on it, and out the door we went.” 

It was a work ethic he learned from his parents. “My dad wouldn’t get in the house until 8 p.m. at night, and he was so tired that he would sit in the wintertime by this oil stove in a chair, and the next morning, he was in that chair with his clothes and boots on. That’s how tired he was. We’ll never work as hard as our parents or our grandparents did,” he says.

Mike Roth, Bruce Whitmire and Eginio Cordova | Si-Ellen Farms | Jerome, Idaho

A new beginning

The family pulled up their roots in Washington state and journeyed to Idaho in the 1990s, and it all started with an advertisement in a dairy magazine recruiting dairies to come to Idaho. “Because of the economies of scale and because we were a large family, we started growing, and I think part of the reason we made the move was to keep everybody involved,” Mike says. 

Five of the eight siblings moved with their parents to Idaho and three stayed in Washington, with one transplanting to Idaho later. “It was a leap of faith,” Mike says. “We wanted to grow, and Idaho was the opportunity we were looking for. My mom and dad were in their 60s, and lock, stock, and barrel, moved to Idaho, and it became our new home.” 

A culture of caring

As the farm grew over the years, Mike credits his sister Judy with nurturing the relationship with employees, many of whom are Hispanic. 

“She worked with the Hispanic population, having never studied Spanish in school, and became fluent. It’s just amazing how she did it,” he says. “She really became the conduit for the family with the Hispanic community, and she became involved with the employees. She’s just a real giving person. So, she created that culture in the beginning. Plus, my mom and dad were real caring people, too.” 

Now, with roughly 8,000 cows, Mike values the family’s tradition of providing helpful resources, comfortable breakrooms and a comprehensive benefits package for their employees. To ensure staff members understand expectations, have the resources and training to care for their cows and are committed to their operational values, employees are required to regularly attend trainings on cow comfort, worker safety and continuing their on-farm practices. 

In addition, once a month, Fridays at Si-Ellen Farms turn into pizza Friday. With 150 employees on their operation, that’s a lot of pizza to provide, but Mike and the rest of the Roth family value the collaboration it builds within their workforce. 

“The employees know they don’t have to bring lunch on that day, and food is a good equalizer,” Mike says. “They just love it.” 

Like any business, he says they have some employee turnover, but many of the employees have worked on the dairy for years. “Creating the right culture helps to retain employees, obviously, and it helps to attract new employees,” he says.

Keeping employees safe

The COVID-19 pandemic didn’t leave the farm and its employees untouched. “We’ve had quite a few cases despite taking precautions,” Mike says. 

Once vaccines started becoming more widely available, the farm hosted a COVID-19 vaccine clinic on-site in April of this year and again for the second dose in May. Partnering with a local pharmacy, the clinic administered more than 50 vaccines to employees. Si-Ellen Farms has about 150 employees, and many of them had already received the vaccine. 

But for those who didn’t, the clinic provided an easy way for employees to get the vaccine — without needing to figure out where to go or how to make an appointment. Mikes says he and his wife struggled to figure out how to get their own vaccines when they became available, and their daughter ended up helping get them signed up. He says the clinic on the farm took the stress of it away for employees and he commends his office staff for coordinating it. 

The farm even provided an additional bonus to employees who got the vaccine — a case of Chobani® yogurt.

Giving back to the community

For the Roths, it is important to show their appreciation for their employees’ passion, so they continue a tradition their parents helped create by hosting regular events for their employees and their families, such as a holiday party featuring Santa Claus handing out presents to each child. 

“We’re proud of what we’ve done and are doing,” Mike says. 

In addition to caring for the farm’s employees, Mike and his family care about their community too — because their employees are part of the local community. One way the farm has helped give back to the community is through fundraisers for Voices Against Violence, a shelter in Twin Falls, Idaho, that helps survivors of violence, including domestic violence. Mike’s son Evan led the charge for these fundraisers. 

“We have helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for this shelter,” Mike says. “It is very gratifying, and I think it helped them tremendously.” 

By caring for their loyal employees and community, Mike and his siblings can be sure their dairy farm continues to operate as a family — by everyone who calls Si-Ellen Farms home.