This little girl’s dream is coming true

Hello, I am Emma Kuball, the newly crowned Princess Kay of the Milky Way.

I am from Morristown, Minnesota, in Rice County, and I am so excited to represent Minnesota dairy farmers this year. It has always been my dream to be Princess Kay.

When I was little, I learned what the butter sculptures and Princess Kay were, and I always wanted to be her. I thought that it was so exciting that there was a real princess who loved the dairy community just as much as I did. I used to tell my friends in elementary school that I was going to be Princess Kay, so I am so honored that this dream has come to fruition.

I grew up on my family’s dairy farm with my parents, Nate and Shannon, my sister, Kelsey, and my brother, Keegan. Some of my earliest memories in the dairy community are riding in the tractor with my dad, learning how to bottle feed calves and riding with my grandpa to check the heifers. As I got older, I gained more responsibilities on the farm. 

Today, I regularly milk cows and am responsible for cow and calf care. Nothing can describe the pride that I feel when I know that I just helped a cow or a calf be more comfortable. This summer I had the opportunity to work on the farm every day, and it helped me reconnect with the farm after a busy year with my FFA state office. It also gave me a reminder of the aspects of the dairy co

mmunity I would love to share with consumers this year.
As dairy farmers, we take pride in the work that we do on our farms. At the beginning of the summer, my family had several tours of elementary students visiting our farm. My job on those days was to get up extra early to make sure that the calf barn was as neat as possible for our visitors. 

Even though it required me to get up earlier and be extra particular with chores, it was all worth it when I saw the joy that the calves brought the students. I realized what a gift it was to work with these little calves every day.

One of the most important things on a dairy farm is trust. I have always loved the cows and have been extremely comfortable around them. This only became more apparent when I started milking cows in our step-up parlor. There were some moments in the parlor that required me to get up close and personal with the back end of a cow, and I was never afraid because I trusted my cows. This was much different from my experience with chickens. After chicken-sitting for a neighbor, I realized I would not put my hand under a chicken; however, I was not afraid to put my head right by the leg of a cow. This trust goes both ways. We trust our cows, but our cows not only trust us to take care of them but also their calves. As dairy farmers, it is our honor to do everything we can to keep that trust by caring for our cows and their calves. Our goal is for consumers to understand this and to trust us as well.

As your newly crowned Princess Kay, my goal this year is to communicate the pride that we take in the work that we do on our farms and the trust that we have in our cows and the trust that they have in us. I am beyond honored to serve you this year and to tell your stories to those who may have never experienced the love, kindness and integrity of the dairy community.

Princess Kay of the Milky Way, Emma Kuball, serves as the Minnesota dairy community’s goodwill ambassador. Kuball grew up in Waterville, Minnesota, working on her family’s sixth-generation dairy farm assisting with milking, cow care and calf feeding. She attends University of Wisconsin-River Falls, studying agriculture education, and looks forward to also becoming an FFA advisor. In her free time, she enjoys reading, crocheting and baking. Her parents are Nate and Shannon Kuball.
Princess Kay is very active doing school visits, representing dairy farmers, and sharing the importance of dairy farming and dairy foods at appearances across Minnesota.