Florida is home to a thriving dairy industry that includes farms all across our state. Every morning, these farmers begin the process of providing fresh milk for consumers. Just who are these farmers? Get to know them and their stories.

Darryl Register, D&D Dairy, Inc., Baker County

Farm Upbringing Benefitted Kids

Darryl Register’s priorities changed once he and his wife Danette were expecting their first child.

Darryl is a third-generation dairy farmer who grew up working the family farm alongside his grandfather and father in the Jacksonville area. As an adult, he switched his career path and went into the insurance business.

But his mindset changed with a baby on the way.

“That’s when the appeal of dairy farming started to come back,” Darryl said. “I wanted my kids to have the opportunity of being raised on a farm. Being a dairy farmer is not a job, it’s a lifestyle.”

The Registers’ daughter and son – both now in their early 20s – enjoyed the same values their father experienced growing up on a dairy farm. One of Darryl’s fondest memories is of his toddler son, Garrett, tagging along with him each day around the farm before he was old enough to attend school. It wasn’t long before each child pitched in at the farm.

“From the time they were big enough, they fed baby calves and did chores that were appropriate for their ages,” Darryl said. “It taught them a work ethic and it also taught them the value of money because dollars were just not handed to them. They worked for what they had.”

The Registers’ farm – D&D Dairy – is located west of Jacksonville in an area that has experienced growth with more being projected. Darryl has neighbors on three sides of his farm and a highway that borders the fourth. He always is willing to educate those around him about his farm and what it takes for his 500 cows to produce fresh milk every day of the year. He even visits local elementary schools with his portable milking machine and a cow to continue the education there.

He speaks of how providing food for people each day is the most rewarding part of being a dairy farmer.

“All farmers are the backbone of our nation,” he said. “One of the things that has made our nation so strong is the affordable, abundant and safe food supply that we have.”

Darryl Register serves as second vice president of Dairy Farmers, Inc., Florida’s milk promotion group.