Annual Dairy Days Celebration And Cow Milking Contest Held Wednesday In Baxter

Culver’s in Baxter hosted a special guest today to celebrate National Dairy Month.

Culver’s partnered with B & C Dairy Farms, located around 12 miles south of Brainerd, to bring in a dairy cow and put on the 9th annual Dairy Days event.

“We’re dairy farmers in Crow Wing County and we brought in one of our dairy cows, one of our milk cows today,” said Daniel Caughey of B & C Farms.

The restaurant has hosted the Dairy Days event for the last nine years in order to shine a light on where food comes from and what our area farmers do.

“These dairy farmers out here today, and volunteers, are all great representatives of the dairy community and it’s fun to have these conversations about where our food comes from and why it’s important to support our local farmers,” added Rebekka Paskewitz, the 65th Princess Kay of the Milky Way.

“It’s very important because a lot of people are removed from the farms and they need to know that farmers take care of their animals and enjoy what they do,” explained Dairy Days event organizer Rosanne Caughey.

Organizers invite local celebrities to participate in the cow milking contest and every year it is a huge hit.

“There are some of them who are kind of shocked and just like, ‘Really, this is what I got to do to get milk out of a cow?’ It’s neat to see it on their faces,” said Daniel Caughey.

“We have some people, it’s their first time, and some people are return[ing], and even if people like [Sen.] Carrie Ruud – she’s been here for 5 or 6 years, she still enjoys it a lot and always tries to do better than she did last year,” added Rosanne Caughey. “I tell them it’s just for the fun of it anyway.”

Though the contest and activities are fun, for the organizers it’s all about sharing the importance of the dairy industry with the community.

“It’s important for us as ambassadors, as Princess Kay, to get out and share that story and have those conversations,” added Paskewitz. “I think food’s a place where we can all connect and it’s important that we do that.”