Thad Montgomery

Thad Montgomery and his wife, Gayle, own and operate Double M Dairy and Melvin’s Farm to Fork Store alongside their six children. Based in Wirtz, Virginia, their operation includes a grass-fed dairy with approximately 75 cows, 60 replacement heifers, and a diversified livestock program that also feeds out steers, raises pastured hogs, and manages a large flock of pastured laying hens. Today, all of their milk, beef, pork, and eggs are marketed directly to consumers.

Their current model is the result of a long and difficult transition from a 130-head dairy that once sold entirely into wholesale markets. Around 2007, Montgomery began to question the disconnect between the quality of the product leaving his farm and what consumers were being offered in stores.

He also became concerned with how checkoff dollars were being used, particularly as they were directed toward promoting low-fat and no-fat products, which historically had been considered waste products for processors, despite full-fat fluid milk providing the highest return to dairymen from the consumer’s dollar.

That realization led him to dig deeper into industry issues and ultimately to R-CALF USA, which he believes is willing to challenge the status quo and stand up for independent producers.

He now serves as Region XIII director, representing producers across Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. He hopes to help this organization continue to stand firm on the principles of our Lord and Savior and to strengthen the blessings of a nation founded upon those principles.