From our side of the fence

Rosie and Art
Kerfeld

St. Rosa, Minnesota

Stearns County

300 cows

What dairy promotion board or group are you a part of and what is your role? We are on the Stearns County American Dairy Association board. We have been on the board for 30 years.

Why was it important for you to join this board/group? Art: To help promote all dairy products: milk, cheese, yogurt, etc. Rosie: We wanted to inform people about the health value of dairy products.

What types of promotions do you have throughout the year and which one has been the most successful? There are a lot of different promotions that our county does. Our dairy princesses/ambassadors go to schools to help young kids understand the nutritious value of dairy products. We also sell 10-ounce shakes for $5 at the Stearns County Fair, which usually starts in late July for ice cream month. We also subsidize milk vending machines that are installed in schools within our county. There are at least five schools that have vending machines. We do a lot of radio ads where we give away dairy products. We give away butter and cheese through a promotion with KASM out of Albany, Minnesota, in November and December. We give out free samples of dairy products at events in other towns as well. Our family also hosted the Stearns County Breakfast on the Farm and a couple of other dairy events to help promote dairy and show how we, as farmers, are good stewards of the crops and the cows.

What do you think is the most important dairy message consumers need to hear right now? The health benefits of consuming all dairy products.

If you were tasked to put together a June Dairy Month promotion, what would you do? We would try to have our dairy princesses/ambassadors be at parades, town festivals, etc., to promote our dairy products.

Tell us about your farm. We farm with our son, Tim, and his wife, Carrie, and two of their sons: Nickolas, and his wife, Kristen, and Nathan. We help as needed. We also have other family members who help quite often on the farm. We milk 300 cows with nine robots that run 24 hours a day. We finish out our bull calves. We also do custom planting and harvesting for a lot of neighboring farms.

Mark Skroch

Rice, Minnesota

Benton County

120 cows

What dairy promotion board or group are you a part of, and what is your role? The Benton County American Dairy Association. I have been on the board for about five years and served 3.5 years as president.

Why was it important for you to join this board/group? I wanted to join to see how the checkoff dollars are spent. By serving on the board, I get to not only see where our dollars are going but also have a say in what we all do.

What types of promotions do you have throughout the year, and which one has been the most successful? We do classroom visits to involve about 500 students per year; do parades to the tune of about 10 per year; give away about 300 pounds of butter every year; hand out about 2,000 cups of ice cream at the local farm show; and scoop out dozens of pails of ice cream at various locations throughout the year. We also operate the malt wagon at the Benton County Fair and make other miscellaneous appearances throughout the year.

What do you think is the most important dairy message consumers need to hear right now? The facts about the goodness of dairy products. Milk is one of the healthiest food sources out here; it has many vitamins and minerals.

If you were tasked to put together a June Dairy Month promotion, what would you do? Breakfast on the farm. With fewer dairy farms in the county, it is getting harder to find someone to host an event this large.

Tell us about your farm. I operate the farm with my wife, Pam, and our son, Eric. We milk 120 cows and farm about 500 acres of corn, alfalfa and soybeans. Pam and I are the second generation at this place, which was her home farm. We milk the cows in a double-8 parlor. We raise our own replacements and finish our own steers. We also buy 10 bull calves each month to finish out. We all share the responsibilities of the farm. Eric currently has a part-time job off the farm but is working with us and plans to take over the farm in the future.

Scott Mohr

New Ulm, Minnesota

Brown County

100 cows

What dairy promotion board or group are you a part of and what is your role? I am on the Brown County American Dairy Association board. I am currently serving as chair and have been involved with this group for the past 20 years.

Why was it important for you to join this board/group? You should take an active role in your business, more than just on the farm. It is a way to promote our products.

What types of promotions do you have throughout the year and which one has been the most successful? We utilize our county dairy princesses. They make appearances year-round with school visits, radio ads and parades. Our county hosts a family night on the farm every summer as well. That one isn’t always on a dairy farm, but we are always there to promote dairy. This year it is in July. School visits and the night on the farm are important ones for us because we are reaching the next generation of consumers. We need to encourage kids to drink milk and be lifelong consumers.

What do you think is the most important dairy message consumers need to hear right now? Dairy is still the safest and one of the most nutritious products on the shelf to consume. With the current economy, or any economy, it is a good buy. As a country, we have the most reasonably priced food in the world.

If you were tasked to put together a June Dairy Month promotion, what would you do? I would do an event to bring kids to a farm. We should get the kids around animals and learn where their food comes from. It would be an interactive learning experience for everyone, but especially the kids. It’s important to push this next generation to become dairy consumers.

Tell us about your farm. My parents, Roger and Anita, and I farm near New Ulm, where we milk 100 cows in a double-11 parabone parlor. We also have three or four employees to help us. We farm 350 acres. I am the second generation on our farm.

Brittany Moorse

Minneota, Minnesota

Lyon County

90 Cows

What dairy promotion board or group are you a part of and what is your role? Lyon County is a small dairy county, so we really don't have an active American Dairy Association board like most counties. Since I was involved in the dairy princess and Princess Kay programs, I've done things locally. Every spring, our farm hosts different school tours. In the summer, we'll host different day camps or summer recreation programs. I usually read at the Minneota Public Library during June for story time as well and share our farm's story. Our family was asked to lead the dairy portion for Ag in the Classroom in March. It hosts nearly 400 local fourth graders in Granite Falls. My family also likes to sponsor the kids' pet show in memory of my grandparents every year during the Yellow Medicine County Fair. I like to try to use as many promotional materials from Midwest Dairy as possible during these events. I was a member of Midwest Dairy's Dairy Experience and Agricultural Leadership Class III. That was a great experience, and I learned a lot about how check-off dollars are used. I also run our farm's Facebook page and do a lot of radio and print media interviews locally throughout the year. Just last week, I was asked by the Pipestone radio station to talk all things dairy for an hour during one of the morning shows.

Why was it important for you to join this board/group? I really enjoy connecting with consumers and sharing my family's dairy story. Through my off-the-farm role with Minnesota Dairy Initiative, I get to see more of the industry as well. It's important to me that I use my skill set to promote the dairy industry and share dairy's unique story. We as dairy producers all produce the same product, but we all have a story to tell, and every farm is unique.

What types of promotions do you have throughout the year and which one has been the most successful? Just being someone in the local community that people can associate with being a positive face of dairy is the most impactful way I can promote dairy. People know who they can contact for questions, and they know who dairies in their community. I do have a good outreach anytime I do a media interview as well.

What do you think is the most important dairy message consumers need to hear right now? I always try to relay how important cow care is to us and how we take care of our livestock and our land. I take care of the calves on our farm, so I really enjoy relaying the messages regarding calf care. I think another really fascinating part of the industry right now is the discussions around protein. Letting consumers know that milk and dairy products are packed full of protein to help them achieve their health and fitness goals is a great message to share.

If you were tasked to put together a June Dairy Month promotion, what would you do? Last year as a part of the DEAL class, we were given a goodie box of promotional items. We were given the challenge of doing something fun to promote dairy with that box. I teamed up with Angie Houselog from the Pipestone radio station. I went on her weekly Friday morning show and talked about dairy. Then, we made a video for the radio station's social media page talking about dairy and showing all the dairy swag. People commented on their favorite dairy product and then were entered into a drawing for the swag box. Angie drew a name live on the air and that person was able to pick it up at the station. That contest was very well received. I would like to expand on that and do more boxes and include more stations here in southwest Minnesota, like Marshall, Luverne, Madison, Windom and Slayton, for example.

Tell us about your farm. Moorse Dairy is a 90-cow operation located near Minneota in Lyon County. We milk Holsteins, Jerseys, Brown Swiss and a few crossbreds twice a day. Part of our herd is registered. We raise all our own calves. The heifers stay in our dairy system. The bulls and beef-on-dairy cross calves go into our feedlot. We also buy beef-dairy cross calves from other local dairies to put in our feedlot system. We farm 750 acres of corn, soybeans, alfalfa, oats and rye. Our farm consists of my parents, Greg and Becky; my brother, Garrett, his wife, Laura, and their daughter, Penelope; and my brother, Grady, his wife, Kim, and their daughter, Sage. My brother, Gared, and his wife, Kira, have their own cow-calf operation, but they will help us when they can, too.

Andrew Gathje

Pleasant Grove, Minnesota

Olmsted County

135 cows

What dairy promotion board or group are you a part of, and what is your role? I am the president of the Olmsted County American Dairy Association. This is my fifth year total as a board member and second as president.

Why was it important for to you to join this board/group? As a kid, I was an avid member of 4-H and FFA. The desire to be a part of a structured organization that desires to make local communities a better place for everyone has been a drive of mine since my elementary school years. After graduating from college with a dairy science degree and returning to the family farm, I was in search of an organization that was agriculture based and somewhat similar to 4-H and FFA that would allow me to carry on the drive I attained to serve local communities and beyond in agriculture. Becoming a member of the Olmsted County ADA has done exactly that for me.

What types of promotions do you have throughout the year, and which one has been the most successful? The ADA kicks off every year by serving ice cream at the Eagle’s Cancer Telethon in Rochester, where all profit from doing so is donated back to the telethon at the end. Spring and fall both tend to be relatively quiet, since a large portion of existing board members have farm responsibilities during this time. The summer months are by far the busiest, with dairy princesses attending numerous parades at town celebration days, our Dairy Night baseball game with the Rochester Honkers and milk donations to a Rochester Running Club youth event, as well as the Healthy Human Race. In past years, we have also donated dairy products to police officers on National Night Out and provided dairy products for various farm visits for school groups.

       The most successful event we put on annually tends to be our Dairy Night Baseball game in collaboration with the Rochester Honkers. For this event, we buy tickets ahead of time, and board members give them away to families with children who are not exposed to agriculture on a regular basis. Live cows are brought in for viewing before the game, and the cow milking contest between the head coaches of both teams has been a staple of the game for a multitude of years. Fans at the games also receive free dairy products at various points in the game; for example, small bags of cheese curds are handed out for “Curds in the third.” Another notable event between innings is known as “Scream for ice cream,” in which most kids at the game take great joy in participating. Dairy Night has consistently been a top three attendance night for the Rochester Honkers, as well with some years having double or triple ticket sales above average. This game also draws in dairy princesses from surrounding counties as well as Princess Kay of the Milky Way. Two groups in Rochester that have brought larger groups to the game are the Boys and Girls Club of Rochester and Opportunity Services.

What do you think is the most important dairy message consumers need to hear right now? The most important dairy-related message consumers need to hear right now is that they can trust farmers to do what they do best, which is produe safe and wholesome milk for consumers. If we do not take care of our cows and our soil, not only will they not be profitable, but the chance for the next generation to have a chance in production agriculture is also diminished. There are a lot of misconceptions spread on social media by people who, in many cases, have never seen a cow in person, let alone taken care of one before. There is a large quantity of farmers on social media in the dairy industry and beyond who do a fantastic job promoting the truth about agriculture and would be happy to engage with and answer the questions consumers have.

If you were tasked to put together a June Dairy Month promotion, what would you do? Seeing that religion is my highest value in life next to farming, I would enjoy the opportunity to put together an on-farm event that allows consumers to tie events from the Holy Bible to the farm and their daily life. These ideas can range from Creation, dressing and keeping the Earth, mental health, treating animals with respect and beyond. I have been asked numerous times to host Olmsted County’s Breakfast on the Farm, and if this ever becomes reality, I would enjoy the opportunity to help this idea of mine blend in with this event if possible.

Tell us about your farm. My brother, Ben, and I are the fourth generation of the Gathje family on our farm. We milk 135 cows with two Lely A5 robots and raise all our replacements. For diversification, we have 80 pairs of beef cattle (mostly Black Angus and Simmental) and feed out about 100 head of steers per year. Crop acres consist of corn, soybeans, oats and alfalfa, with total crop acres being around 1100 and grazing acres making the farm between 1,300 and 1,400 acres total. I tend to take care of more responsibilities with the cattle, while Ben is in charge of more crop-related tasks. Our dad, Andy, is still on the farm and helps out where he is needed. Ben and his wife, Megan, welcomed their first kid last fall, and my wife, Emily, and I aspire to have kids of our own one day as well. Aside from chopping, we do not have any hired help on the farm. A long-term goal we have for the farm is becoming a Century Farm, which is slated to happen in 2041 if the Lord grants us that opportunity.

Sandy Madland

Lyndon Station, Wisconsin

Juneau County

525 cows

What dairy promotion board or group are you a part of, and what is your role? I belong to both the Juneau County Dairy Promotion Council and the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin board. At the county level, I am currently serving as chair. On the DFW board, I am the board secretary. Before I was in any official group, I had been involved in dairy promotion for many years. When my kids were younger, we hosted many farm tours for school-age kids and put on educational events for our junior Holstein members. I coordinated the effort for our county dairy kids to take their animals and educational displays to the state fair. About 15 years ago, I joined our county group and have been a board member on DFW representing Juneau, Adams and Monroe counties for the last four years.

Why was it important for you to join this board/group? Sharing our dairy story through promotion has come naturally for me. I have a background in elementary education, so I have always jumped at the chance to teach others about all the wonders in the world of dairy. In our county, I realized there was a need for more promotion to a wider audience in schools and community events, so I was happy to help out. When the opportunity to run for the DFW board came up, I was excited to be able to network with farmers around the state and really see and support how our farmer dollars are spent on programs that promote cheese across the country and the world.

What types of promotions do you have throughout the year, and which ones have been the most successful? In Juneau County, summer doesn’t officially begin until the Cowtastic Cowmoonity cows go up at Lions Park in Mauston. Area businesses, clubs and groups sponsor a plywood cow, and they decorate them with their logos and the year’s dairy theme. They are displayed for the month of June. We’ve been doing this for over 10 years, and it is hugely popular with a waiting list to get a cow. Our group also helps put on the Juneau County Breakfast at the Fair during our county fair in August. We can combine a hearty dairy-rich breakfast with tours through the barns, highlighting our 4-H and FFA dairy exhibitors, their animals and the educational displays the kids put together. These two promotions have been the best long-term activities. At the state level, DFW hosts or supports many fantastic events and activities all year long. This year’s Born to Dairy campaign has shown a spotlight on all the different dairy farmer personas and was launched during World Dairy Expo. We all know farmers work hard, overcome many challenges, and are determined to see their legacies continue — all serious stuff. Born to Dairy is based on the serious side of dairying but does so with a sense of humor. We all need to laugh at ourselves once in a while.

What do you think is the most important dairy message consumers need to hear right now? As Wisconsin dairy farmers today, we have been built by generations of dairy heritage and tradition, and we are proud of that. We are also proud of the high-quality milk that makes award-winning cheese, but we are also always looking ahead. How can we care for our animals and our land so that the next generations of dairy farmers will be able to meet the health and nutritional needs of the families who serve our dairy products on their tables?

If you were tasked to put together a June Dairy Month promotion, what would you do? I live in a unique area of the state, right outside of Wisconsin Dells. On any June weekend, there can be up to 50,000 people visiting our town. With an unlimited budget and enough volunteers, I would love to bring those tourists from the cities out to the farm to get that firsthand experience of what our family farm life is like.

Tell us about your farm. At Lyndell Dairy, we milk a little over 500 registered Holsteins and farm around 2,000 acres of corn, beans and alfalfa. My husband, Troy, and I operate our farm with two of our children, Garrett and Theresa, and their families. We are pretty self-sufficient, raising our youngstock on the farm and doing all our own crop work. We have some excellent long-term employees who help us get everything done.

Katie Baroun

Reedsville, Wisconsin

Manitowoc County

150 cows

What dairy promotion board or group are you a part of, and what is your role? I am a proud member of the Manitowoc County Dairy Promotion Committee as the acting treasurer. I have been a member for approximately 14 years and the treasurer for the past two years.

Why was it important for you to join this board/group? It was important for me to continue being active in an agricultural group after graduating from college. I was a 4-H member, an FFA member and then a University of Wisconsin-River Falls Dairy Club member throughout school. I was looking for a local agriculture group after college, and this group felt like a fit. It was a way I could continue promoting agriculture on the local level. I enjoy volunteering, and sharing my passion; this group provided both for me.

What types of promotions do you have throughout the year, and which one has been the most successful? Our most successful promotion is the Manitowoc County Breakfast on the Farm, done in partnership with the Manitowoc County Farm Bureau. We generally serve 5,000 people on the second Sunday of June each year. We served over 5,700 people this year, and it was very successful. We draw in families from many directions, many of them not exposed to farms regularly. The smiles seen on the faces of those in attendance warm my heart. Another promotion we do is providing chocolate milk as a recovery drink for local sports. We do this particular promotion at several different sporting events and through a local school. We have provided milk at cross-country meets, wrestling meets and hockey tournaments. We also provide sponsorship for the weight room at a local school; this has been a very popular way to provide dairy to local schools. We also provide ice cream at the Manitowoc County Fair for the county 4-H. This works as both a 4-H fundraiser and a way to promote dairy in our community. The ice cream stand is open throughout the entire week of the fair. The stand is located next to the dairy barn/parlor and is a staple for those attending. Families frequent this stand throughout the week and look forward to our flavor of the day, which is different each day of the week.

What do you think is the most important dairy message consumers need to hear right now? Dairy products are safe and sustainable. Dairy products are truly the most wholesome and least processed products available at the grocery store. Food products are some of the most regulated products and are continually tested before reaching the consumer. Sustainability has been a term circulated within many realms, and farmers and processors continue to find ways to make dairy a sustainable product. Farmers tend to recycle everything they can to keep a dairy farm running smoothly and continually look for ways to make a farm more sustainable.

If you were tasked to put together a June Dairy Month promotion, what would you do? I would put together an ice cream social of sorts. I would envision teaming it with a local picnic or sports tournament. People love to get together for these events, but throwing some ice cream into the event would make it even more fun.

Tell us about your farm. Baroun Family Farms consists of my husband, Jason, and our two children: Russell, 15, and Kenzie, 10. Our son is a big help with the operation of our farm. We also have extended family members who help during busy times of the year. We are a robot dairy with 150 cows, both dry and milking. Our farm was started by my husband in 2003 on rented sites. We then purchased our current farm from an owner of one of the rented farms in 2011. Our freestall barn was built in 2015, and robots were added in 2024. We raise all youngstock and farm approximately 400 acres, both owned and rented. The cropland provides most of the feed for our operation. We ship our milk to Agropur, where it is turned into mozzarella cheese. My husband farms full time, and I work off the farm and help during the nights and weekends.

Kayla Coehoorn

Pulaski, Wisconsin

Shawano County

180 cows

What dairy promotion board or group are you a part of and what is your role? I am part of the Shawano County Dairy Promotions group. I am the newly elected secretary but have been a part of the group for seven years.

Why was it important for you to join this board/group? I think it is important to have a say in where we are spending the group’s funding and where we are spending our time to get the best interactions.

What types of promotions do you have throughout the year and which one has been the most successful? We help serve ice cream at the dairy breakfast, which would be the largest. The second largest is sponsoring and handing out a dairy food item after the futurity at the Shawano County Fair. We also give to various events for kids, so they can have healthy dairy, something they might not normally get on their own. My favorite is bringing a calf to trunk or treat and passing out string cheese and Go-GURT instead of candy.

What do you think is the most important dairy message consumers need to hear right now? Milk has always been an excellent and reasonably priced product to be part of your daily well-being. Dairy farmers enjoy milk products just like the rest.

If you were tasked to put together a June Dairy Month promotion, what would you do? Actually, June 20, our farm is sponsoring ice cream scoops at the local ice cream shop. I am going to bring a calf for the public to pet, and we will have a dairy tattoo station and dairy trivia, where we will pass out some of our promotional items from Shawano County Dairy Promotions and Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin.

Tell us about your farm. We milk 180 cows with three DeLaval V310s. We raise all our youngstock and currently have around 360 head. Our herd consists of Holsteins, Jerseys and crosses. We crop around 800 acres.