The executive director of Indiana Dairy Producers has announced his retirement after 10 years on the job. Doug Leman will end his tenure on July 31. He told HAT that he’ll miss working with dairy producers, but he feels really good about where the Indiana dairy industry is going.
“I feel really good about Indiana and what it has done, working with our state department of agriculture on the dairy strategies. We just renewed the Dairy Strategy 2.0 trying to bring more value to our state. As an organization, our vision has always been to make Indiana the most desirable state in which to produce milk, and so I feel go about Indiana. As our lieutenant governor says, we’re open and ready for business.”
Southern Indiana dairy producer Steve Obert has been announced as Leman’s successor and Leman says he couldn’t be more at peace with the selection.
“I have complete confidence in Steve. Steve was the president of our organization. He led us through our first strategic plan that we ever did as an organization and handled that phenomenally. He’s been involved in a lot of different things throughout his career that bring him great leadership experience. I’m excited to see where he takes Indiana Dairy Producers.”
So, what’s next for Leman? He’s not sure, but as a former dairy producer himself, he knows he’ll need something to keep him busy.
“We have this little sign at the back of our hallway. It says, ‘Until the Lord opens the next door, we’ll praise him in the hallway.’ So, that’s absolutely where we’re at right now, and I just trust that He will have something for us.”
Leman is preparing now for the next Indiana Dairy Forum to be held in French Lick on June 22nd and 23rd. Dairy producers can register here.