Troy-Area Native Gets Dream Dairy Job

By Eric Hrin, The Daily Review, Towanda, Pa.

Aug. 5–TROY — A former Troy-area woman has landed a job promoting the industry that she loves.

Amberleigh Yurkanin, 23, of Harrisburg, formerly of Columbia Cross Roads, was hired last September as an industry and image relations manager for the Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association. It’s one of 18 state and regional promotion organizations working under the umbrella of the United Dairy Industry Association, and is the local affiliate of the National Dairy Council, which has been conducting nutrition education and nutrition research programs since 1915, according to the organization’s Web site. Before she was hired by the association, Yurkanin completed an approximately seven-week internship with the press office of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture in Harrisburg.

“I love it,” Yurkanin, a 2007 graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, said of her job.

Yurkanin, the daughter of Blair and Cammy Yurkanin, has a bachelor of science degree in communications, and she’s been around the dairy industry her entire life. She grew up on her family’s small dairy farm, where they have 90 head of Ayrshire, Brown Swiss, Jerseys and Holsteins.

And at the Troy Fair this year, she was back in town. Her cow, Lily, won the Grand Champion Ayrshire award in the Dairy Open Show, although she wasn’t in town when the judging took place. She learned about it when her mother called her in Harrisburg.

“My mom called me and said she got a Grand, and that’s all I had to hear,” she said. Her mother showed the cow. It had been eight years since she had last gotten this type of award in the Dairy Open Show. The cow that got that award eight years ago was Lily’s great-grandmother.

In her job with the Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association, Yurkanin spreads the word about the dairy industry.

Headquartered in Philadelphia, the Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association is supported by more than 7,500 dairy farmers in the Mid-Atlantic region through the national 15-cent dairy checkoff program, the Web site notes. The organization works closely with Dairy Management Inc., the Milk Processors Education Program (MilkPEP) and regional counterparts to bring a fully integrated national promotion program to the Mid-Atlantic region.

“We’re showing the public dairy farmers love what they do and how they care for their animals,” she said. “We’re letting people know milk and dairy products are a great product.” She said the association’s efforts include ballpark promotions that include a picnic for dairy farmers, and even working with the Pittsburgh Steelers to promote a product called “Smash Mouth Milk.” According to a story on the WPXI.com Web site, “Smash Mouth Milk” is a Pittsburgh Steelers-branded flavored milk that honors the team’s “trademark playing style.”

Yurkanin also works at the YMCA in Harrisburg in the membership office, and plays in kickball and cornhole leagues. She enjoys seeing the Harrisburg Senators play baseball. And she still comes home to help with barn chores. She also spends time with friends.

Gary Hennip, dairy extension educator for Penn State Cooperative Extension Service based in Towanda, was impressed by Yurkanin’s accomplishment in working for the association.

“I think it’s wonderful. She’s one that grew up here on a local dairy farm. She always had an interest in 4-H and dairy. It’s nice to have someone local to be able to follow through with a career in the dairy industry.”

Yurkanin, meanwhile, wants to look out for dairy farmers — it’s her job and her passion.

“I feel like it’s not only my job, it’s something I like to do. I make sure the correct message is out there about dairy products and dairy farmers.”

Eric Hrin can be reached at (570) 297-5251; e-mail: reviewtroy@thedailyreview.com

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