Member, Indy 500 milk presenter says dairy producers win with race publicity

     Winners drink milk, Indianapolis 500 winners in particular. Gulp. Aaaahhhh.
     On May 25, two National Farmers women led the 53-year winner's circle milk presentation tradition.
     Anita Schmitt, Indiana National Farmers member and dairy producer, served as official Indiana American Dairy Association milk presenter to the '08 Indianapolis brickyard champ. Sam Schwoeppe, who markets cull cows through Cash Cow Plus, assisted.
     New Zealander Scott Dixon won, and the cameras were rolling when he took a drink of milk, and then christened himself.
     In the winner's circle, the owner and crew chief stood nearby, waiting for their milk bottles. "It's their trophy," she explains. "The owner was just loving it. . . .because he got a bottle of milk."
     But Schmitt focuses most on one thing. "For milk promotion, it's when [the driver] drinks that milk - that big, beautiful bottle of wholesome milk," that really reaps publicity, Schmitt says.
     Schmitt dairies with her husband, Jim, near Evansville, Ind., marketing their milk through MaximumMarketing's Milk Profits Plus since 2002. They also belong to the Southwest Indiana Holstein Association, Evansville Young Dairymen's Club and Farm Bureau. Schwoeppe dairies near Huntingburg, Ind., with her husband, Darren. She will be 2009 lead milk presenter.
     A host of events and media interviews surround the Indy 500. And the Indiana ADA engages in many. Schmitt and Schwoeppe spoke to about 10 reporters, from ABC and ESPN, to local television, sports radio, Hoosier Ag Today and Brownfield Network.
     "Sam and I rode in the float in the parade. It was great publicity for Indiana farmers," she adds. "People were yelling slogans. 'Milk. It does a body good. Got milk? Winners drink milk.' They were giving thumbs up and everything else," Schmitt says. "We just thought that was fantastic."