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DAIRY ST R
July 9, 2022
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 24, No. 10
Smoky Hills buys, updates Hastings Creamery
Farmers process organic, conventional milk at site By Kate Rechtzigel kate.r@dairystar.com
HASTINGS, Minn. − More than a year ago, Smoky Hills Farmers Cooperative purchased Hastings Creamery from Plainview Milk Products. In the time since, the new farmer owners have built a new store and added organic processing. The creamery’s store opened June 17 in Hastings of Dakota County. “The focus of our group was to go from the farm to the customer’s table,” Justin Malone said. “In order to do that, we needed to be able to process our own milk and put it in a bottle.” Malone is the general manager of the creamery and a member of the Smoky Hills Farmers Cooperative. He and his family milk 220 cows near Ottertail, about 3.5 hours northwest of the creamery. Malone is a part of the group of 11 organic dairy farmers from northern Minnesota who
purchased the creamery May 1, 2021. “We wanted to start our own line of organic milk from the Smoky Hills Farmers Cooperative and the closest and highest quality plant we could nd was in Hastings,” Malone said. “It also had (high temperature short time) pasteurization, which is what we wanted because we wanted the milk to taste fresh.” The creamery bottles skim, 1%, 2% and whole white and chocolate milk in both organic and conventional lines under Hastings Creamery and Valley View Farms, respectively, as well as half and half, buttermilk and heavy whipping cream. “We really wanted to have a place to bring our milk where we would have the say of when we could bring milk in,” Malone said. “Hastings was also already an existing business and in grocery stores, so we didn’t have to start from scratch.” After purchasing the plant, the group brought in an organic
KATE RECHTZIGEL/DAIRY STAR
Dairy farmers JusƟn Malone (leŌ) and Peter Mursu of Smoky Hills Farmers CooperaƟve stand in their new store June 24 in HasƟngs, Minnesota. The coop processes both organic and convenƟonal milk. consultant to certify the plant that same spring. The consultant inspected the plant, helped with paperwork and new labels, and made sure they were using the
correct chemicals and cleaners. They also helped with the renewal of the certication this year. “They have been very helpful, even though as a food
grade processor we were meeting most of the standards already,” Malone said.
Turn to SMOKY HILLS | Page 8
Johnsons see viability in dairy’s future Family grows herd tenfold for sons’ returns By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
KERKHOVEN, Minn. – Brothers Stuart and Simon Johnson grew up on a modest 50-cow dairy in western Minnesota, but they knew if dairying was in their future, the farm’s structure was going to have to look vastly different. In 2020, the Johnsons and their parents, Warren and Stacy, and their uncle, Lane, entered into a partnership and built new facilities where they now milk 600 cows at the family’s farm site in Swift County near Kerkhoven. “There are more efciencies with milking 600 cows and we’re trying to
MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR
The Johnson family – (front, from leŌ) Stella and Kenton; (back, from leŌ) Simon, KaƟe holding Anna, Stacy, Collin, Warren holding Evelyn, Samantha holding ColleƩe and Stuart – milk 600 cows near Kerkhoven, Minnesota. The Johnsons underwent a major expansion to bring home Stuart and Simon and their families. optimize our footprint, so we knew that’s where we had to be with room to grow in order
to stay competitive with the modern-day dairy industry,” Simon said. “And, we knew
we wanted to raise our kids here and have them involved on the farm.”
Simon’s wife, Katie, and daughter, Anna, and Stuart’s wife, Samantha, and four children – Stella, Kenton, Evelyn and Collette – as well as the brothers’ youngest sibling, Collin, are also involved in the operation. The families milk the herd at Building Block Holsteins in a double-10 parallel parlor three times a day. Opportunity to expand the parlor to a double-20 is possible. The herd is housed in an 8-row, cross-ventilated freestall barn that stands 210-feet by 360-feet. Cows are grouped by stage of reproduction and lactation. Stalls are bedded with sand that is recycled through the farm’s reclamation system. “When designing the barn, we built an oversized holding pen and parlor,” Turn to JOHNSONS | Page 6