Rosenhammer Family recognized as a 2020 ‘U of M Farm Family’
The Rosenhammer family of Sleepy Eye has been named Brown County’s “2020 Farm Family of the Year” by the University of Minnesota.
The Rosenhammer family farm had its origin on May 9, 1959 when Dennis and Mildred married. They started with a few cows and were given a few more as a wedding present from Mildred’s father, Leonard. The dairy operation also included a small farrow-to-finish hog operation along with chickens for the sale of eggs. Their son, John, joined the operation in 1982 after attending South Dakota State University studying dairy production. John’s brother, Greg, joined after high school in 1993 and in 1998 a partnership was formed between John and Greg. The farm’s hogs and chickens were phased out and the emphasis on the dairy herd grew steadily to the current herd of around 225 Holstein milking cows.
Dennis and Mildred still live on the farm and remain active mowing the lawn, running errands, and offering support. Greg manages all crops and keeps an eye on marketing, mixes feed, and does some custom work. John manages the dairy, fixes most anything and oversees construction projects. John’s wife, Patty, works off the farm as a nurse at Divine Providence Nursing Home in Sleepy Eye as well as helping with milking and errands.
John and Patty have five children; all are still active in different ways helping the farm succeed. Joe does a lot of custom work including hauling manure, baling hay, and chopping silage. Laura is an ag loan officer for Citizens Bank and helps the farm by managing all herd records, vaccinations, and keeping protocols up to date, as well as maintaining the financial records. Laura is married to Chris Scholtz and they have a daughter, Morgan. Mary works for Christensen Family Farms and on weekday mornings helps her dad with milking. She is married to Kyle Fischer and they have a daughter, Ava. Rebecca is working toward her RN degree and works part time at the hospital in New Ulm. She helps a few times every week on the farm. Johnny graduated from Lake Area Diesel school in Watertown, SD. He presently works for Schroepfer Trucking in Sleepy Eye and helps on the farm at haymaking time.
See complete story in this week's issue of the Springfield Advance-Press.