P is for Princess Kay of the Milky Way

This year the Princess Kay of the Milky Way title marks its 71st anniversary. Dozens of dairy princesses from across Minnesota all gather in May to participate in workshops and judging. Dairy princesses are young women who are from dairy farm families or are involved in the dairy industry through their employment or that of their parents, or the animal lease program. At the weekend’s conclusion, the 10 Princess Kay of the Milky Way finalists are announced. 

70th Princess Kay of the Milky Way Emma Kuball

Princess Kay finalists are then judged again in August. Judging involves a written application, a short speech, a professional interview and a simulated media interview. Princess Kay is then crowned the night before the Minnesota State Fair opens and serves as the dairy industry’s goodwill ambassador for a year, helping people understand the dedication of dairy farmers to wholesome and nutritious food, and the way milk is produced. Dairy farmers sponsor the dairy princess program through Midwest Dairy.

Princess Kay of the Milky Way makes appearances in classrooms, at parades and community events, Breakfast on the Farm events, and county fairs.

I am contracted by Midwest Dairy as the Minnesota Dairy Princess Coordinator. So what does this mean? I organize the May Leadership Event, and plan an orientation in July for the finalists.  Starting bright and early the morning after coronation, Princess Kay and her court of princesses begin their appearances at the state fair. It is my responsibility to schedule, chaperone and keep everyone smiling for the 12 days of the fair. Following the fair, I work with Princess Kay on her appearances, speeches and media presentations for the remainder of her year.

I am beyond thrilled to be associated with the Minnesota princess program. I am a past County Dairy Princess, and a proud mom of a past Princess Kay state finalist. I have seen this program build confidence and poise in hundreds of young ladies in the dairy community, and I am so proud to be a part of it in this capacity!

August 21, 2024 we will crown the 71st Princess Kay of the Milky Way. 

Two Pallets of Milk Donated!

 
If you don't ask the question, you won't get the answer. That's my philosophy about wanting more information, and I'm sure glad I asked the question! My question was, "Tell me about The Giving Cow program."

Let me explain. Last month I was invited to speak at the corporate offices of Cub Foods at a meeting for their Dairy Department managers. Why me? Well, who better to talk about where dairy begins than a dairy farmer? I shared information about my family farm, what we do, and also our community involvement. The milk from our farm is sold to DFA (Dairy Farmers of America) who own Kemps so I ended with this quote from the Kemps website which perfectly sums up our goal here at Bremer Farms.

"... we've always been there for each other. It's in our DNA - work hard, love your family and take care of your neighbors. It's a commitment to do the right thing. It's a way of life we live by every day supporting local programs that nourish families, build communities, and work to leave our world in better shape than we found it."

So this led me to my question, "What can we do for the community and what is The Giving Cow program all about?" And here is Kemps answer- "Milk is one of the most requested items from food shelves, but unfortunately, it's rarely donated. So we've created Kemps Giving Cow Milk. Every time you buy Kemps milk, we donate Giving Cow milk to kids-in-need."

A week later I received a phone call from Christina of Kemps announcing that Kemps and Cub Foods would like to donate TWO PALLETS of milk to our local food shelf, Hastings Family Service. That's over 6,000 cartons of milk! I'll admit it, I was so excited that I cried while on the phone.

One of two pallets of Giving Cow milk!

So last week representatives from Kemps, Cub Foods, and myself, presented the milk to Hastings Family Service.

Amy (HFS), Christina (Kemps), Jayme (Kemps), Tara (Cub Foods), Janet (Bremer Farms), Amy and Deana (HFS)

As  a DFA/Kemps dairy farmer I am proud to say that our farm is a part of making this donation happen. Bremer Farms appreciates the support that Kemps and Cub Foods gives to communities like ours.

The Giving Cow milk is ultra pasteurized which means it is shelf stable and requires no refrigeration. This is important to food pantries which typically do not have adequate refrigeration space.

Fluffy Flapjacks

 I am a recipe collector. 

Whether I find one on a website, on social media, or go "old-school" and clip one from a magazine, each one is collected with the good intentions of giving it a try. 

This week I tried Fluffy Flapjacks. They were tasty and simple and made a perfect "breakfast for dinner" meal. Give them a try and let me know what you think.

FLUFFY FLAPJACKS

1 1/2 cups plain non-fat yogurt

1 egg

1 cup pancake mix (Bisquick)

3/4 cup fat-free milk

In a bowl, combine the yogurt and egg. Mix well. Add pancake mix and milk. Stir to combine. Spray a non-stick pan or griddle with vegetable oil spray. Ladle out 2 tablespoons batter per pancake. When edges are firm, turn pancake and cook 1 minute longer. Serve immediately. Makes 4 servings (6 small pancakes per serving).

Thanks Progressive Dairy Magazine

 I'm at it again! 

Progressive Dairy Magazine has again asked me to be a guest writer for their website and their national magazine. I gladly accepted the invitation to write for the June issue for National Dairy Month. It's a letter to my fellow dairy farmers, but even if you are not a farmer, I think you will enjoy it.

We Are Not Just Farmers

When I was a child, other kids would ask, “What does your dad do?” I would rather humbly reply: “He’s just a farmer.” I don’t know why I added the “just” in that reply. Actually, yes I do.

I was just being a silly kid with silly kid thoughts. He was just a farmer because he didn’t wear a suit and tie to work. He was just a farmer because I didn’t think he had an important job like the other kids’ dads. As a kid, I didn’t get it.

That was a long time ago, and my thoughts on the importance of being a farmer have changed dramatically. My dad got to just do the job he loved, every day. My dad got to just help feed people. My dad got to just be a great example of what a proud, hardworking, caring farmer looks like, and I have the honor of calling myself a farmer too.

Fortunately, that opinion of farmers is changing with the non-farming community too. My dad, my family and farmers like us are never just farmers.

I was recently asked to speak at a Science Museum Gala. When I began by saying my family and I are dairy farmers, the audience cheered and applauded. Why is this perception of farming changing? There are many reasons, but you and I can take much of the credit. I know you have heard this many times, “People want to know where their food comes from.” We are being transparent. We are telling our stories.

So how are you celebrating June Dairy Month? How are you opening that window to begin conversations? Here’s a few things my family does to share our story.

What could be a more perfect pairing than cookies and milk? In honor of June Dairy Month, Bremer Farms serves homemade cookies with milk to our church friends after the Sunday services on the first Sunday of June. This has become an annual tradition and a fun way to start conversations about dairy.

It’s the last day of school, and we show our appreciation to our teachers and staff by treating them to an ice cream treat on that final day of the school year. I contact the school principal to arrange a convenient time, and we roll in with coolers full of ice cream. Each June, my family chooses a different school within our hometown.

Soccer, anyone? Our church organizes a youth soccer camp each June, and what better way to quench the thirst of the athletes than providing chocolate milk and yogurt, too.

But sharing our dairy story doesn’t have to cost us any money either.

I love to read, and my family has spent hours and hours at our local library. After contacting our children’s librarian at our public library, I am now an annual guest at Storytime With a Farmer. I bring my bag of farm props along with a few of my favorite cow books – and as I read, I pause frequently to pull another “prop” from my bag to share about our farm. Thanks to our checkoff, everyone goes home with a cow hat and a coloring book, too.

Are you on social media? Me too! My family and I are always posting pictures of the day-to-day goings-on from our farm. Our YouTube channel has over a hundred farm-related children’s storytimes to watch, and many include photos and videos from around our farm too.

I sound like I’m bragging about what we do, and that is definitely not my intention. I hope you can see that it’s easy to open the window to share our dairy story because we love what we do, and there are so many opportunities to do so. After all, we are not just farmers. We are proud, hardworking, caring farmers who still have a few people to remind of that.  

Our Annual Date Day

 It's that time again. Time to prepare for planting, getting the equipement checked over, and our annual date... to pick up the seed!

Yes, John and I have been laughingly calling this our "date day" for years. It typically begins with a trip to our seed dealer to pick up the oats and barley seed.

On busy days like today, you pay, and then wait your turn.

Before we know it, the seed bags are piled in our truck. After a bit of conversation, of course.

The next stop is almost always Dairy Queen. A hot dog and malt never tasted so good! I didn't have to cook, and you can never go wrong with ice cream!

Next stop- our John Deere dealer to pick up a few filters for the tractors. We always keep a few on hand. I, of course peruse the toys. Did you know they make Lego sets so you can build a John Deere tractor? I begged, but didn't get one. :(

Our last stop is our local grain elevator to buy calf feed. With all the calves born lately, we are really going to go through it in a hurry. 

So there you have it, a typical, annual, farmer-style date, with my favorite farmer by my side!

Vet Tech Students Try Something New

and that's just what the Veterinary Technician program students from Dakota County Technical College did at Bremer Farms last week!

This is our fifth year of partnering with DCTC and their Vet Tech practical experience. Their goal is to practice some basic procedures on our calves.

We begin each visit with a tour of our milking barn. Some of the students have little or no experience with dairy animals.

After the instructors give directions, it's time to begin. The students practiced restraining the calf. (If you don't try, you will never suceed. ;) As well as physical exams, and heart and lung listening with a stethoscope.

The students then practiced blood draws in the jugular vein, under the skin- subcutaneous injections,

oral dosing using water as pretend medicine, 

and lastly radiograph x-rays.

We are happy to be a part of such important training for the Vet Tech students. Veterinarians and Vet Tech's are all part of the team that keep our animals healthy so that Bremer Farms can continue to produce healthy dairy foods for your family and mine. 

Here's one of the two classes that visited us last week. Shout out to the instructors too! They do a wonderful job of overseeing their students as well as the care and concern for the safety and comfort of our calves.

It's Almost Valentine's Day!

 Valentine's Day is fast approaching. Are you excited? If you are like me, you are probably not as excited as when you were a child. Don't get me wrong. I still feel loved every Valentine's Day (and every day for that matter) by Farmer John, but there was just something unexplainably exciting about school valentines parties.

Perhaps it was making the valentines "mailbox" to collect my classmates valentines. Mom would save an empty cereal box, or if I was lucky and recently got new shoes, I saved the shoebox for that special mailbox. It was covered with red paper (my favorite color) and sometimes mom would splurge and buy those paper doiles to adorn the box. 

Or perhaps the excitement came from writing out the valentines. Typically I cut out red or pink hearts and signed them with a message. Nothing too mushy, of course. As I grew older, we bought valentines! Wow, the decision was difficult for which fun design to choose.

Or did the excitement grow when the class was told by the teacher that the afternoon would be spent celebrating with treats, games, and opening those special valentine mailboxes to see what was inside?

How about you? Maybe the excitement came from seeing who you received valentines from. Did you get one from each person in the class? Even the cute boy or girl that everyone had a crush on? Did your valentine come with a box of those chalky conversation hearts that we didn't really like, but they were so fun to receive.

Regardless of how you celebrate this Valentine's Day, whether it be a special day with those you love, or reminiscing about Valentine's Days gone by, I wish you much happiness and love.