John Dickinson along with his wife Denise is presently the owner of Ideal Dairy, a consolidation of the original Ideal Dairy Farm and Quiet Brook Holsteins which they had started in 1981. He is the son of Lorraine and Nathan Dickinson Jr. and is the sixth generation to operate the farm. He also has a daughter Crystal, who will be off to graduate school soon.
An outstanding wrestler throughout high school, John graduated from Hudson Falls High School in 1974 and continued on to Cobleskill Ag and Tech, where he majored in Animal Husbandry – Dairy and graduated with honors.
As a youngster, John grew up on a 450-cow producer–handler dairy (Ideal Dairy Farms) where he assisted in all aspects of the business: production, processing and distribution. The primary focus at that time was the production of both milk and forage. Upon his return from college, he became herd manager and successfully developed a Genetics program utilizing Al and raising replacement. In 1981 John and Denise started their own 80 cow dairy business, Quiet Brook Holsteins. By 1991 they had grown to 250 head from within the herd and in 1992 they expanded to 350 cows, remodeled the Ideal Dairy facility consolidating the two businesses, which presently operates as Ideal Dairy, milking 800 cows.
Heavily involved in industry organizations, his primary focus revolves around Financing and environmental issues impacted by agriculture, particularly water quality and meeting agricultural labor needs. A member of the Washington County Farm Bureau since 1981, John also serves the agricultural community through membership in a number of other organizations. In 1998 he was elected to the First Pioneer Farm Credit Board of Directors (a two billion dollar lender serving Northeast Agriculture) and in 2003 he was elected to the position of Vice–chair of the WCFB. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Washington County Soil and Water Conservation District and since 2000 has been a delegate to the Dairy Farmers of America. In 2004, the Governor appointed him to the New York State Soil and Water Conservation Committee and he has been a member of the NYSERDA Technological Transfer Advisory Committee since 2002. Additionally, John finds the time to serve as a Trustee of the Kingsbury Baptist Church.
John is proud of the fact that both facilities have received Dairy of Distinction Awards and he also finds time for special interests both related to his work and also a bit of recreation. He cares deeply about Agriculture and the Environment – water particular and he enjoys sailing, scuba diving and skiing.