Fred Shipley

It is a distinct pleasure to present the 1976 Dairy Leadership Award to a seasoned veteran of the dairy industry.

Fred L. Shipley, retired Market Milk Administrator in the St. Louis-Ozarks Federal Order Area, is known as the “Dean of Market Milk Administrators.”

He was born in middle Tennessee and attended Tennessee Technological College at Cookville, Tennessee. One of his first positions was in DHIA work in Illinois. He next became manager of the Champaign County Milk Producers Association at Champaign, Illinois. From that position he moved to St. Louis, Missouri to become Assistant Manager of Sanitary Milk Producers Association at St. Louis.

In 1934 he was appointed by Secretary of Agriculture, Henry Wallace, as the Market Administrator for the St. Louis­Ozarks Federal Order. He went on leave as Market Administrator from 1942 to 1946 (World War II) for service in the Army. While in service he set up and operated centralized procurement of milk and fresh dairy products for the armed services.

He returned to St. Louis as Market Administrator in 1946 but shortly thereafter during the Korean war period, he was on loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to the food and restaurant division of the Office of Price Stabilization.

He retired as Market Administrator July 1, 1975 after 41 years of service. Until the time of his retirement he was the first and only Market Administrator in the St. Louis-Ozarks Federal Order area. Those of us who had the pleasure of knowing and working with Fred found him to be well versed in the problems of producers and distributors. He was fair and understanding—but firm. He handled “government red-tape” with a minimum of aggravation for those with whom he dealt.

Mr. Shipley took over the administrator’s job in St. Louis, the oldest in the nation still in operation, during the depression years. Marketing of milk in the St. Louis area was marked by friction, violence and dumping of milk. In his quiet, patient manner, Fred worked with all segments of the industry—dairymen, farmer-owned dairy cooperatives and bottlers. He became a respected friend of all.

Last, but not the least, Fred is married to a lovely lady, Virginia, and they have four sons.

It is with pleasure and gratitude the Association of Missouri Dairy Organizations presents this years Dairy Leadership Award to Fred L. Shipley. With it goes our sincere wishes for much happiness in his retirement.