Florida Milk Blog

Florida Dairy Farmers is the longest running sponsor of the Florida Gators and this year’s season symbolically marks 30 great years of meaningful and beneficial partnership with the state's largest land-grant university.

In addition to commemorating our 30 years of sponsorship, FDF also joined UF in celebrating the Agriculture Industry, during the homecoming football game vs. Vanderbilt.

Each year our sponsorship provides a platform to communicate the benefits of dairy to hundreds of thousands of consumers who attend the games. 

What better way to start the football game as the Gators celebrated 91-year-old Florida dairy farming legend, Louis “Red” Larson, who joined the captains at midfield and was introduced as the Honorary Captain. Imagine the moment, Gator star athletes stopping out of respect to shake his hand, and fans yelling his name as if he just scored the game winning drive, all done in the spirit of recognizing what he has accomplished.

With Veterans Day being celebrated in the month of November, the founder and patriarch of Larson Dairy, Inc. was in his element - calm, direct and very appreciative. The former fighter pilot for the United States Air Force during World War II, was cool under the heat of Swamp and star-gazed at the attention he was receiving for his service, his contributions, and his foresight to begin his first dairy farm back in 1947.

Following the coin toss, Red was all smiles as the game was underway.

And then a surprise from the Gators. Halfway into the first quarter, the Gators invited our executive board members and great Florida dairy farmers onto the field for an on-field presentation and recognition. As our farmers lined up on the field, they were presented with a number 30 gator jersey in honor of our 30 years of sponsorship.

What a moment!

Personally, I have been working for Florida Dairy Farmers for nearly 3 year now. Prior to coming to work here, I was working in TV, where being on the sideline of a Gator game was a regular occurrence for me. I have to say that Saturday was something special. While I may not have been reporting on the game, I was filming for a group of individuals who work hard, and toil without recognition every day to feed the world and that made my job that much sweeter. 

Thank you to the University of Florida and IMG for your hospitality and support, and as their longest running sponsor...It’s Great to be a Florida Gator!

This blog post was written by FDF staff member, Brittny Krause.