Raising dairy cows, horses, ducks and chickens are just a few of the reasons the Rosenhammer family of rural Sleepy Eye is busy 24/7. Greg Rosenhammer, his brother John and his wife Patty operate Roseview Dairy, milking 350 dairy cows that produce almost four million pounds of milk per year. The Rosenhammers recently added a new milking parlor and equipment that will help them better monitor the quality of the milk; two important upgrades they believe will help the family’s next generation of farmers. All the hard work has added up to this multigenerational farm family being named the February winner of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s (MDA) monthly Good Farm Neighbor Award.
“Roseview Dairy was started by my parents, Dennis and Mildred Rosenhammer, and they helped establish the family’s ideals,” says John Rosenhammer. “Dad always said if you take care of your animals, they will take care of you and we try to live by that standard in everything we do.”
The Rosehammers also understand the need for tough regulations to protect future generations. They implemented a system to recycle waste water rather than let it run off into the fields and they developed a nutrient management plan that focuses on their goal to decrease the amount of non-organic fertilizer they use.
The Rosenhammers focus on what’s good for the farm and their family, but also what’s good for their community. “We have an image to protect and farming is our livelihood,” John Rosenhammer says. “We’ve got to keep it positive.”
Winners of the MDA’s Good Farm Neighbor Award are selected by a committee representing the University of Minnesota, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council, the Minnesota Corn Growers Association and the MDA.
Sleepy Eye, Minn. —
