Two young ladies will share the duties this year representing the dairy industry in the county. Minnesota is the sixth largest state in dairy cattle numbers (460,000 head) and eighth largest in the US in milk production with 9.5 billion pounds of milk annually. There are fewer than 3,400 dairy farms operating in the state, but they account for the second largest livestock sector and produce $3.8 billion annually, a quarter of the states livestock cash receipts. Dairy farms employ 9,500 people and the dairy processing industry employs an additional 5,500 workers. Minnesota is also sixth in the nation in cheese production, falling far behind Wisconsin, which maintains the title.
Gabriela Espinoza grew up a dairy farm but moved into Kasson with her family. Her dad works on a dairy farm and she has some dairy cattle there as well. She grew up showing dairy cattle in 4-H and participated in dairy judging and dairy bowl teams through her FFA chapter. Gabi enjoyed interacting with so many different people in the community last year through the dairy princess program and looks forward to being involved again this year. Gabi is pursuing a career in nursing at the University of South Dakota.
Amanda Sauder is a sixth generation family member of Pine Shelter Farms, a family dairy farm near Pine Island. She began showing dairy calves at the county fair from a young age and has been involved in 4-H, FFA and other youth agricultural activities. Amanda will represent the dairy industry in Dodge County again this year and is enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls where she is majoring in Agricultural Communications and Marketing and a minor in Animal Science.
