Racing, Crowns and Cows: Driving Success On and Off the Farm

An Indianapolis 500 experience filled with dairy promotion, a Minnesota farm family's story of resilience, a former Miss America with dairy roots and an Iowa farm family investing in the next generation all come together in today's episode. Fast cars, bottles of milk and spreading information about the dairy checkoff were all on the schedule for dairy farmer and United Dairy Industry Association chair, Charles, Krause, during the recent 110th Indianapolis 500. He joins us to share what he learned from the event and how dairy was showcased during the iconic race weekend. Next, we travel to Minnesota to meet Sandy Erickson, a dairy farmer whose perseverance has carried her through countless challenges. yet nothing was as difficult as running a farm alone after losing her husband, parents and 25% of her milking herd within a span of a year. Today, Sandy still owns and operates the farm of her late husband, Roger Erickson, near Becker, where she manages a 70-cow herd and farms 240 acres of corn and alfalfa. Then, we hear from the 2009 Miss America Katie Stam Irk. She grew up on her family's dairy and grain farm near the southern Indiana town of Seymour, where her family milked as many as 90 cows alongside her grandparents. Becoming Miss America surpassed her wildest dreams, and she recognized it as an opportunity to place agriculture and the dairy industry in a national spotlight. Today's final conversation is with Iowa's 2025 Delaware County Farm Family of the Year Tom and Sara Kruse, along with their three sons, Kaleb, Cole and Carter. With the kids involved in the dairy industry since birth, Tom and Sara wanted to provided as many opportunities as possible for a future in dairy. They brought the boys to sales, conventions and shows. This gave the younger generation a broader view of what a future in dairy looked like. New episodes are released every Monday after the newspaper is published, sharing the many conversations from the dairy community! Send story ideas and your comments to [email protected]. Subscribe to the podcast for reminders of episodes — next episode will be released June 29 — about the dairy community and leave a review! This episode is sponsored by DRMS. Visit their website below to learn more about what they can do for your dairy. www.DRMS.org/HerdHQ/What-is-HerdHQ We look forward to bringing you this brand new way to consume Dairy Star. This is Dairy Delivery. All dairy, all the time.