REXFORD -- McCarty Family Farms, a family owned dairy, has been named the 2013 Innovative Dairy Farmer of the Year.

The award is co-sponsored by the International Dairy Foods Association and Dairy Today magazine.

The Kansas Department of Agriculture nominated the dairy for the award, which honors active dairy farms in the United States that are improving efficiency through forward-thinking management practices, production technologies or marketing programs, according to an agriculture department news release.

Tom and Judy McCarty moved their operation from Pennsylvania to northwest Kansas in 1999. In 2010, the McCartys began discussions with the Dannon Company, the top selling yogurt maker in the United States, and signed a multi-year agreement to be the sole supplier of fresh milk to Dannon's yogurt plant in Fort Worth, Texas.

The McCartys built a milk processing plant at the Rexford dairy in 2011 that will enable them to exclusively and directly supply Dannon with condensed skim milk and pasteurized cream.