Good-Bye Old Friend

Earlier this week the Minnesota State Fair closed its gates for another year, but my family hopped on the bus several times during its 12 day run to experience the fun and excitement. Come along as I share a few of our adventures.

 

Some days at the Fair begin with a little work, and I use the term "work" very loosely. For several years I have been asked to judge 4-H demonstrations. I love evaluating the 4-Her's presentations, and each year I am amazed at what I learn about their projects!
 After lunch and some chocolate milk refueling, it was off to watch the parade.

  We waved hello to this years Princess Kay of the Milky Way, Jeni Haler.

And yes, dairy farmers occasionally drink something other than milk. We made soda cans with our names on. No fighting over whose can is whose.

Then it was time to play detective. Since my dad passed away one year ago, and he was a huge Fair fan and supporter, our family felt it was appropriate to donate something to the Minnesota State Fair. Ta-da! The Glen Brown memorial bench!

What's a Fair without food? Time to support the hog farmers with some unbelievable maple flavored "bacon on a stick."

Son Michael and I rubbed elbows (almost) with celebrity Garrison Keillor of Praire Home Companion.

When Farmer John and I go to the Fair, part of our time is spent talking dairy. Each year we volunteer in the Moo Booth. With most people two to three generations removed from farming, this is our chance to answer questions that may have been answered by their farming relatives in the past. 

Farmer John and I were also presented with a special Champion for Dairy ribbon in acknowledgment of our 15+ years of volunteering to answer questions and share our love for the farming life we love.

Before heading home to milk our cows, we always check out the...

Our neighbor, and Princess Kay finalist, Gabriella Sorg was having her likeness carved in butter. You can learn about the Butterhead process here.

My family and I are always sad to see the Fair come to a close. Thank goodness we take lots of pictures to help us relive the memories. Until next year...good-bye old friend!

Follow-Up Friday 2

This week on Bremer Farms...

 

This week our kitchen turned into a television studio as Sara and Mike filmed the first three episodes of daughter Sara's new show for Hastings Community TV, Aprons Optional. We have been enjoying many yummy samples! Apron's Optional premieres in early October.

The hollyhocks are in full bloom near our calf barn. 

Grandpa Roy says they are his favorite flower and they remind him of the farm he grew up on.

Sara is gearing up for her biggest Holiday Outdoor display in the history of Bremer Farms. I'm thinking UPS and Fed-Ex is looking to the amount of packages Sara is receiving as their job security.
Santa's reindeer stable arrived this week.

We pride ourselves on keeping our farm neat and organized. This week our  metal recycler paid us a visit. We have been working on many projects; replacing our feeding system (blogging about that next week) re-purposing a shed (blogging about that when it's complete) and replacing gates and water tanks. We are all about recycling, not only because we like our farm neat, but we care about the environment. Reduce, reuse, recycle... priorities every day here.

It's sweet corn season on the farm, and although we do not grow sweet corn, we get a lot from a very generous neighbor. 15 quarts are already in the freezer with more to come. I shared my recipe on my blog post 

Santa Lives In Our Neighborhood

We made our first visit to the Minnesota State Fair on Wednesday night.

We were greeted by Fairchild, our state fair mascot, as John, Sara, and I attended the coronation of the 61st Princess Kay of the Milky Way. Our neighbor Gabriella Sorg was one of the 12 finalists. You can learn more about her, and the princess program by clicking on her name.

Gabriella (in the pink) was selected as Miss Congeniality. That was no surprise to us, as she is one of the friendliest and sweetest girls you will ever meet! One of these 12 "milkmaids" will be crowned Princess Kay and will represent Minnesota Farmers and the dairy industry for the next year. 

And the winner is...

Jeni Haler

Congratulations Jen!

The Princess Kay program is sponsored by Midwest Dairy

More About July

As promised, I have a few more July highlights I want to share...

I was recently asked by 

 

to participate in a question and answer series for Food Nutrition & Science from the Lempert Report. Each month the Lempert Report features a different farmer and asks a set of questions. They then feature the farmers responses in their monthly newsletter. My answers appeared in the July 30th newsletter. You can read my entire questions and answers here.

You can learn more about the Supermarket Guru here. 

You may also watch the Bremer Farms video.  

I created this video for Phil Lempert, Supermarket Guru, 

as part of the From The Farm series on the Lempert website.

 I appreciate that Phil Lempert and The Lempert Report has given me, and other farmers, the opportunity to connect with consumers!

Also in July...

Look who I found selling root beer floats at one of our local banks? 

It's Dakota County Dairy Princess and Princess Kay of the Milky Way candidate, Gabriella Sorg. You first met her at P Is For Princess.

Gabriella was selling root beer floats to raise money and awareness for

 The Great American Milk Drive.

Click the above link to learn more and donate. 

 Your donation will deliver milk to needy families in your community.

 Gabriella also took this opportunity to share dairy recipes and information. You can find these yummy dairy recipes at Dairy Makes Sense.

 

Princess Kay of the Milky Way will be crowned on August 20th, the night before the start of the Minnesota State Fair. 

Good luck Gabriella!

 

P Is For Princess

It's June Dairy Month! The barn doors are open, 

so join me on my daily A to Z journey 

to learn more about dairy. 

  P Is For Princess

Hello readers, I am Gabriella Sorg the daughter of a dairy farmer, a dairy princess, and I just so happen to be neighbors with the Bremer family! I am excited to have this opportunity to share with you my experiences as dairy princess. 

 In order to become a dairy princess you have to have a connection to dairy farming. In my case I have loved growing up on my family’s dairy and diversified crop farm in Hastings, Minnesota. We farm on the same land my great-great grandfather began farming on in 1896 located right above the Mississippi River Valley. Currently, we milk 300 Holstein cows three times a day. We also raise our heifer calves and feed out our Holstein steers. In addition to raising livestock, we grow corn, soybeans and alfalfa. All of this makes Sorg Farms a busy place 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This gives me plenty of opportunities to help with chores! My favorites include calf chores of course, and to many people’s surprise gopher trapping! I still find the calves just as fun after 17 years, and love spending some high quality thinking time out in the fields.

I was crowned a Dakota County Dairy Princess near the end of April. A couple of weeks into May as my high school classmates were anticipating graduation I was excited about a different event. The Dairy Princess Leadership and Promotion Event in St. Cloud, Minnesota which doubles as the selection of the 12 finalists for Princess Kay of Milky Way. It was my first time attending “May Event” so along with my excitement came a little bit of nerves. The selection process includes a written application, a professional interview, a speech, and a mock media interview. I thoroughly enjoyed my time participating in workshops and to my surprise even some of the judging! I was reminded over and over again the dairy community is truly an extraordinary one as I received support and encouragement from other princesses, chaperones, and judges throughout the whole weekend. To top off my already educational and thrilling weekend I was named as one of the 12 Princess Kay finalists! This means you will be able to look for my face carved in 90 pounds of butter at the Minnesota State Fair this summer.

Aside from the State Fair I have many other events to look forward to this summer. As a county dairy princess I get to spend time promoting dairy and sharing the dairy farm story throughout Dakota County. I have made visits to elementary classrooms to share with students the importance of getting their three servings of dairy each day and to answer questions they had about dairy farming. My two fellow Dakota County Dairy Princesses and I will continue to make appearances throughout the summer at parades and other community events.

I am grateful for the opportunities I have as a dairy princess. Not only do I get to share my passion with members of the community, but I get to serve the dairy community that has had a tremendous impact on my life. Dairy farming will continue to be part of my life as I pursue an agricultural career at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Happy June Dairy Month!