John Pagel

The Pagel family founded its dairy farm 72 years ago with fewer than 10 cows, a handful of hogs and some chickens. Now, it has a 72-stall rotary milking parlor that produces about 500,000 pounds of milk a day. The business also owns Ron's Cheese in Luxemburg. Pagel’s four children all returned to the family business that now employs more than 100 people. Pagel also was a founder and the president of Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative. The Green Bay-based organization is the nation’s sixth-largest dairy cooperative, with nearly 800 members in nine states. In 2017, that group, then called Dairy Business Milk Marketing Cooperative, helped dozens of dairy farmers find a home for their milk after their buyer, Grassland Dairy Products, dropped them in a trade dispute with Canada. Pagel also worked on the national level, representing the interests of Edge members and discussing the impact of federal farm legislation on Wisconsin agriculture with Congress.