Carver County dairy recognized

NORWOOD YOUNG AMERICA, Minn. — All Leonard “Lenny” Hoen Jr. wanted to do in life was to dairy farm and be the best farmer he could be.

At 84 years old, Lenny is still farming alongside his wife, Rose, and son, Steven. Together, they milk 80 cows in a step-up parlor and farm 600 acres of owned and rented ground. The Hoens were honored as the 2025 Carver County Farm Family of the Year.

“We were surprised to receive the award,” Rose said. “We are not ones for the spotlight.”

The Hoen dairy farm, Roslen Farm, is named after Lenny and Rose’s first names. Lenny and Rose have six children and 16 grandchildren. Each of the three generations grew up showing dairy cattle in 4-H and participating in FFA.

“I was the first American FFA Degree from Waconia High School,” Lenny said. “All four of our boys received their State FFA degree.”

Lenny also served on the FFA chapter and regional officer team in 1959 and was the Minnesota state vice-president in 1960. While in 4-H, Lenny received the Key Award in his county.

Having grown up on a dairy farm, Lenny knew he wanted to continue the lifestyle he grew up with, but with four brothers at home, he knew he needed to find his own farm. In 1960, just a year after high school graduation, Lenny purchased the farm the family still resides on today.

“It was a foreclosure auction that was held on the courthouse steps,” Lenny said. “I never questioned that I wanted to dairy farm; I always knew.”

That same year, he also enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve and reported to basic training.

“I started out with steers because I was in the Reserve for four years,” Lenny said. “When I got back, I got the barn ready and started milking cows.”

Lenny started milking 23 cows and would haul the cans of milk daily to Bongards Inc., which was just down the road from his farm. He would also clean the barn by hand each day until 1968.

“I got a wife and a barn cleaner in the same year,” Lenny said.

That same year, Lenny put an extension on the barn and started milking 36 cows in the original tiestall barn. He also started working for Minnesota Dairy Herd Improvement Association.

“Then, I got called back to the Reserves and put two more years in,” Lenny said. “My family all stepped up and ran the farm while I was away.”

Lenny worked for DHIA for 15 years, visiting area farms and serving on the county and state boards. To this day, Lenny continues to stay active with many community organizations including the county Farm Bureau, county and state Holstein associations, Carver County American Dairy Association, Mid-County Cooperative board and serves as a trustee at church.

“I stayed home and milked the cows so Lenny could participate in all these organizations,” Rose said.

Some of the more challenging times for the Hoens revolved around the weather.

“We had a severe blizzard in 1975 and spent two days without power,” Lenny said. “I fed the milk to the calves and would shovel in snow for the cows to drink.”

Rose remembers that winter as well.

“We spent the nights on the kitchen floor because the wood stove was the only source of heat,” she said.

The good times far outweigh the bad times, Lenny said. Seeing his children and grandchildren show at cattle shows and participating in FFA over the years have been among the highlights as well as seeing his herd of quality cattle grow.

“We classify every year and we always got a lot of very good cows,” Lenny said. “Finally, about five years ago we started getting some Excellent cows.”

When Steve joined the family operation they put in a step-up parlor and built a 47-cow freestall barn.

“Now we have more cows than that, so the rest are on a bedded pack,” Lenny said. “In the summer, all the milk cows are on pasture.”

While Steve is the only family member to be farming full-time, the rest of Rose and Lenny’s children and grandchildren live nearby and help as needed.

“It’s a family affair,” Lenny said.