123123123A
James S. Baird enhanced the appearance of Hoard's Dairyman for multiple generations of readers. His contributions included dynamic cover photos, creative graphics, captivating Christmas covers and, of course, the "Foster Mothers of the Human Race" paintings. Sadly, Jim passed away this January at age 86. We honor his memory on the front cover of this issue . . . the first front cover available after the close of our annual Hoard's Dairyman Cow Judging Contest. Jim would have wanted us to wait as he worked with those cows, too. "Behind the scenes" sums up Jim Baird's career-long contributions to our magazine and the industry. In the 44 years spanning from 1948 to 1992, Baird was the art director and main photographer at Hoard's Dairyman. His photos of herds and dairy operations, taken in 37 different states, appeared on some 700 of the magazine's covers. In addition, Baird created 43 consecutive Christmas-themed December covers that were rendered in the challenging "scratchboard" technique.
