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July 13, 2024
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 26, No. 10
Dairy farmers become inuencers Kahl Dairy takes on social media By Sarah Middendorf sarah.m@star-pub.com
BUCKMAN, Minn. — Each day Travis Kahl walks out of the house with a GoPro in hand to video anything and everything he may be doing that day. Travis and his wife, Sarah, have been making YouTube and TikTok videos since February 2023 to show the public what a typical dairy farm looks like. “I think it’s cool to be able to show people what day to day really looks like around here,” Sarah said. “People don’t realize dairy farming isn’t just milking cows.” The Kahls milk 170 cows in a double-8 parlor near Buckman. The family does not watch any television.
“All we do watch is farming videos on YouTube,” Travis said. The Kahls thought they could maybe do something like that on their farm. Since the Kahls have started creating TikTok videos, they are quickly gaining popularity on the platform. “One of our TikTok’s had 740,000 views,” Sarah said. Sarah said her dad had a hobby of videography. After he passed, they were able to watch the videos he had made. Travis and Sarah decided they wanted to have something like that for their kids. “We take pictures with our phones all the time, but we miss those quirky little interactions between them and their little voices,” Sarah said. They currently post one to two videos a week. Some are longer and some are shorter. “I shoot for a TikTok a day” Sarah said. Turn to KAHLS | Page 2
SARAH MIDDENDORF/DAIRY STAR
The Kahl family — Tucker (front, from leŌ) and Palmer; (back, from leŌ) Travis, Sayler and Sarah — stand in the freestall barn July 1 on their farm near Buckman, Minnesota. The Kahls have been lming farm videos since February 2023.
Open the door and they will come Laveau hosts breakfast on the farm By Tiffany Klaphake tiffany.k@dairystar.com
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Doreen Laveau gives a milking demonstraƟon June 29 during the breakfast on the farm event at the Laveau farm near Wrenshall, Minnesota. The Laveaus milk 52 cows.
WRENSHALL, Minn. — Despite the wet weather June has brought, the sun shone brightly on the morning of June 29 for the Carlton County Breakfast on the Farm. Duane and Doreen Laveau hosted once again at their 52-cow dairy farm near Wrenshall. Duane and Doreen’s son, Paul, farms full time with them and Paul’s wife, Shelia, helps with evening milkings in addition
to an off-farm job. Together, they farm 280 acres of corn, soybeans, oats and alfalfa. “There were hundreds of little kids here that aren’t going to see the inside a barn unless we do this,” Duane said. “They are just amazed by it all. That is what makes the whole day worth it.” Doreen agreed. “I love seeing the little kids come in and be amazed by everything,” she said. According to Duane, 800 people were fed the pancake and sausage breakfast and about 1,000 people attended the event in all. Turn to LAVEAU | Page 6
125 years of processing Plainview Milk Products Cooperative looks to a future of growth By Amy Kyllo
amy.k@star-pub.com
P L A I N V I E W, Minn. — Plainview Milk Products Cooperative is celebrating 125 years as a creamery. Becky Pearson, the Plainview-based cooperative’s general manager/controller, said she is grateful for their patrons. “They are some of the most loyal patrons and I just am incredibly thankful for their dedication and the incredible quality milk that they produce,” Pearson
AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR
Becky Pearson holds a commemoraƟve buƩer crock June 25 at Plainview Milk Products CooperaƟve in Plainview, Minnesota. Pearson is the general manager/ controller at the cooperaƟve.
said. “We have very good milk. ... It takes a lot of work from the farm. .... I can’t thank them enough.” Turn to PLAINVIEW | Page 8