Dairy Legacy

Dallas Burton's career in the dairy industry spanned five decades, from humble beginnings on a small family milk farm in Chase County, Kansas, to hosting the National Holstein Convention Sale year after year. His knowledge, expertise, and love for all things dairy was unparalleled. 

Throughout his career, Dallas developed a number of close relationships with those in the industry - everyone from major breeders, classifiers and judges to small-town, independent dairy farmers.  Just about everyone who met Dallas quickly discovered his magnetic personality and enthusiasm about dairy cattle.  He loved to laugh and tell a good joke, but nobody was better when it came time to put together a sale, design a catalog cover or dissect a complicated pedigree. 

Dallas began his professional career in the dairy industry after graduating college in 1972. He initially worked for the Kansas Holstein Association and lived in Salina, Kansas, before moving to a small, four-acre farm just outside of the nearby town of Abilene in the mid-1970s. A few years later, he was asked to co-manage a sale with Ed Fellers at Higher View Dairy in Hays, Kansas. The one-time sale led to an eventual partnership and formation of Burton-Fellers Sales.

As one-half of Burton-Fellers Sales, Dallas helped revolutionize the dairy industry, ushering it into the modern era. Beginning in 1980, Burton-Fellers quickly became recognized as the nation's premier dairy sales management team. The company was one of the first to present embryo transfer sales in the dairy industry and hosted the popular E.T. Extravaganza every January for many years. The annual event took dairy sales to tropical locations like the Bahamas, Hawaii and the U.S. Virgin Islands, along with a number of fun Caribbean cruises and one unforgettable Alaskan cruise. 

Over the years, Burton-Fellers Sales established other signature events in the industry like the Agriprize High Profile, Branson Limited Edition, Top 10 Breeders Invitational and Legends of the Fall. Burton-Fellers Sales would also manage the National Convention Sale for many years. 

Following almost 30 years of success as Burton-Fellers Sales, Dallas and Ed split amicably in 2009 to pursue other endeavors. The last sale managed by Burton-Fellers Sales was the 22nd Annual Top 10 Breeders Invitational on Dec. 12, 2009, in West Union, Iowa. 

In 2009, Dallas launched DairyAgendaToday.com, one of the first dairy news websites on the internet while continuing to operate Burton Sales, LLC. Ed would go on to further success as one half of Butler-Fellers Sales. Dallas and Ed remained friends until Dallas passed away in 2015.