- Hello and welcome to Farm connections.

I'm your host Dan Hoffman.

On today's program, we get to know the current reigning, Princess Kay of the Milky Way, Amy Kyllo, and learn how Midwest dairy has planned for the future of this beloved tradition, from Agriculture Affairs Manager, Theresa Reps. JoAnn Lower shares another wonderful story with us, and the University of Minnesota Extension brings us a new Best Practices segment, all today on Farm connections.

(calm upbeat music) - [Announcer] Welcome to Farm connections, with your host Dan Hoffman.

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- Welcome to Farm connections.

We're honored to have Amy Kyllo, Princess Kay of the Milky Way with us today.

Good morning, Amy.

- Good morning, it's so exciting to be here, and to get to talk to you today.

- Well, thanks for being here.

And also with her, is Theresa Reps, the agricultural affairs manager for Midwest dairy.

Good morning, Theresa.

- Good morning, Dan, thanks for having us.

- Well, it's an honor to have you here, and of course Princess Kay of the Milky Way is a long standing tradition.

Tell us a little more about how you got picked to be Princess Kay of the Milky Way.

- [Amy] Well, it all began I was a county princess for my local county, and then in last year in May, I went to an event where I got to go through some judging process, and I was selected as one of the 10 finalists.

And then last August, the night before the state fair, I was crowned as Princess Kay.

And it's been an amazing journey.

- Well, it's truly an honor.

What makes it amazing?

- I think probably all the opportunities, the chances to see many different people from many different backgrounds and to really get to share about something that I really care a lot about as a dairy farmer.

And so that's probably what makes it all so special, the opportunities and the chance, to really be talking about something I truly care about.

- Thank you, Amy.

Theresa, you've been with Midwest dairy for a while now.

So, you've been working with Princess Kay of the Milky Way.

Tell us about that program and why you feel it's important.

- Yeah, so I think the program has such a rich history and I'm really excited to be a part of it.

I've gotten to see it from multiple different levels.

I was a County Dairy Princess myself, and then reigning for Princess Kay of the Milky Way.

Then the following year, I was an intern, so I got to work with the program, and then was lucky enough to be employed by Midwest dairy and told that I get to work with the Princess Kay Program every day.

So, it's been a fun journey to just watch the development of the program and to be a part of that.

And it's important because we have all of these talented, passionate young women who want to tell their story and share why they love dairy.

And this is an opportunity for them to do that, and then to also grow as leaders, and as future leaders in dairy.

- Well, I had the luxury and opportunity of seeing, carving of the butter at the Minnesota State Fair, then at the Marconi dairy program or their banquet, and watch the crowning at the local level and just amazing to watch those young ladies grow, over their year of reign.

Any thoughts on your programming and what your objectives are?

- Many, our objectives are always defined, youth that are passionate about dairy and provide them an opportunity to share their story.

Minnesota's dairy farmers love this program, because it gives voice to them when they don't always have the time or opportunity to voice their love for dairy, so these young women provide an outlet for that.

And then it's also an opportunity just to provide leadership skills for these women to be able to learn how to communicate effectively.

And you can certainly see that in the growth from even County Dairy Princesses.

But even Amy over the last year has seen tremendous growth and I'm sure she would tell you the same.

So, it's always so fun to watch, the watch the growth and development that happens throughout the (indistinct).

- Well, certainly June, being dairy month, and the beautiful weather, and beginning to see the changes that are happening in agriculture in our environment in the countryside, was always a favorite time of mine and many, but one of the highlights was, when the dairy princesses would be in the summer parades, certainly well dressed, well groomed, congenial young ladies waving at the crowd, but then the highlight was when they would serve an ice cream cone.

So, that must be a little bit challenging this year not to be able to do that.

Theresa, can you elaborate on how you went through the process of making decisions on how to do things in this difficult Coronavirus time period?

- Yeah, Dan, and I can tell you, I certainly miss the regular ice cream treats as well.

(laughing) It's much easier when someone provides them, versus having to purchase them for myself.

But the the changes to this program, and we have not been taken lightly this year, it's a lot of behind the scenes work.

And we have a great group of farmers that help us, guide us when it comes to how to handle these challenges that have arisen.

So, we have a princess committee that meets regularly and has meant more often now, thanks to COVID-19.

And we started, discussing what this year could look like way back in March, when the pandemic first hit, 'cause we had our main leadership and promotion events that we had to consider how that might look differently, given everything that has happened.

So, that committee works and it's made up of Minnesota division board members and County Representatives, past princess representatives, that provide a recommendation to our Minnesota division board.

And then that board that's made up of 20 plus dairy farmers from across the state of Minnesota, make the ultimate decision.

So, it's been a lot of discussions with the obvious goal in mind of making sure that our program still, is able to connect with consumers and still provide a really wonderful experience, and growth opportunity for these young ladies.

So, lots of great discussions and I think we're on a great path to continue to meet the objectives.

- Amy, when you speak with your colleagues that have gone before you as Princess Kay of the Milky Way, what conversations do you have about how uniquely different this year, your year has been?

- I think I know I talked to Rebecca, a little bit, who is past Princess Kay.

She's kind of I time talked about, it's sometimes in this moment, it's like, I can either look at the lemons, or I can make lemonade out of it.

And she just encouraged me like, yeah, that's that's the attitude you need to take forward and to see this as new opportunities.

Because indeed, I never expected to be doing zoom visits.

I never expected that.

But in the same time, it's been an amazing opportunity.

I've gotten to do things through that, that I never would have done before.

So, I think it's been something special this year.

Because like, via zoom, I could show pictures and videos from my farm and things that would have been much more difficult, and if I was visiting a typical classroom, I might not be able to do some of those things.

And you just, it was special this year that it's like, hey, we'll do some pretty special things.

We're getting the learn new avenues and I'm kinda getting to sail uncharted territory.

And that's kinda fun too, to be like I'm the first to have gotten to do some of those things that's special for me.

- Tell us about your farm and where it's located.

- So, my family has had a 90 cow dairy farm and I work on my family's dairy farm, and we have about 400 acres.

And it's due by the Minnesota Rolling Hills are absolutely beautiful, really happy to have gotten to grown up, grow up here, it's so many memories together on the farm.

- Awesome, as you think about the closure of your reigning here, what kinds of advice will you give to the new queen when she's or princess when she's crowned?

- I think the biggest thing that I would really advise her, a couple things, first of all, is to realize that she was chosen for the person that she is.

I'm not Rebecca, and she's not going to be me, you know?

So, embrace the person you are and share your gifts.

That's the first thing.

And then secondly is to really, we always talk about showing what you love, but really stopping and thinking about it.

Why do you wanna be Princess Kay?

Why do you go out every morning and work on your farm or whatever you participation in agriculture is, why'd you do it and why do you love it, because I feel like, as you share those things, are specifically to why you do all these things.

Those things really connect with people, 'cause people recognize your genuineness, people recognize how excited you are, how much you care, and they're really excited and willing to listen in a way that you would never have if you weren't sharing those things.

- Thank you, thank you, Amy.

Very genuine answer.

Appreciate that a lot.

As you think about your career, has Princess Kay of the Milky Way helped you?

- Definitely, I am looking into going to public relations in the future, and so, I basically got a free internship through this program.

And it's been so special.

I've gotten to meet many amazing daily professionals.

I've gotten to go many places and have new experiences, whether that's handling social media, or writing speeches, writing articles, going to events, there's been so many things that I think have helped me grow, and I'm really blessed to have gotten this opportunity because this is some, this isn't something that I could choose for myself.

This is something that was given to me as a gift, and I'm really thankful for it.

- Theresa, in addition to being starved for good nutrition, our audiences star for connecting to traditional things, and connecting with the public and connecting with people.

How can they follow the dairy princess through the coronation events, through the butter carving and other things?

- Yeah, so princess Kay's Facebook page is the place to go for all your answers.

So, Amy will be doing a lot leading up to the coronation, but then we'll also be live broadcasting the crowning of the 67th Princess Kay the Milky Way.

And then for the 10 days following, we're gonna have multiple live videos that'll be happening every day, showcasing each person getting their likeness sculpted in butter.

So, people can watch their favorite time honored State Fair tradition, happening throughout the day they'll get to see, see and ask questions of the princess that's there, as well as watch the sculpture come to life before their eyes.

- Awesome, Amy, can you build on that just a little bit?

- Well, I just want as she said, follow Princess Kay on Facebook and Instagram.

I'm always looking to share things that are interesting to people, whether it's pictures about my farm, with updates about what's coming up.

Interesting nutrition, pictures, recipes, there's just so much there, so many rich things, and follow Princess Kay, you'll learn, 'cause then you'll find out when she's going through an event, perhaps that's near you.

Or something, maybe that's happening virtually or whatever.

There's so many opportunities to keep connected all year long.

And so I really encourage you to go ahead and follow Princess Kay on your Facebook and Instagram.

- Thank you, Amy.

And thank you, Theresa.

Great comments on how you're helping our dairy farmers and our dairy industry, which is huge in our upper Midwest region, thanks again.

Stay tuned for more on farm connections.

(calm upbeat music) - [Announcer] Farm connections best practices.

Brought to you by, (calm upbeat music) - Hi, I'm Dave Nicolai, with the University of Minnesota Extension, and crops educator.

And this is today's Best Practices segment, we wanna talk a little bit about some hail damage, that occurred in the Sibley, in the Renville County area.

Recently, actually, there was a 40 mile stretch from the Wilmer area down to the Winthrop area.

And we have to talk about some of the things that growers should be mindful of, from the standpoint of evaluating corn.

One of the first steps here in evaluating hail damage in corn, is to take a look at what kind of damage and plant health that we have on the field, but to wait a number of days for possible corn recovery.

Typical hail adjusting methods usually require seven to 10 days after the hail event.

Today, we're not quite at seven days, we're probably about five days, but we have a little bit of recovery, but depends upon the crop stage.

This year unfortunately, we're in a situation where the corn is in the tasseling stage from silking to tasseling, which is the most devastating in terms of hail, stone loss.

And two, three things that we should be looking for, and that is plant stand, as well as percent defoliation.

And also take into account the type of damage that we would get in terms of bruising and lodging.

On this particular field, situation where we have a fairly good plant stand.

There's a rule of thumb typically we if we have a V 10 stage and larger the percent of plants stand, is a one to one situation in terms of loss.

In other words, if say for example, we had an 80% loss in terms of effect in the field, then we would be at an 80% yield disadvantage.

On the other hand, if we had just a 20%, we'd only looking at 20% loss in terms of plant stand.

But by far and wide, the bigger concern here is defoliation.

And when we get to V 10 and beyond, we got the V 18 silking, and tasseling, then were quite severe, it can range anywhere depending upon damage from 60 to 100%.

In this particular field, we're probably at least in the area of a 70 to 80% defoliation, would equate to quite high in terms of damage, perhaps at least 80%.

If we lost all of the leaves at tasseling, we'd basically be at 100% yield loss.

So, the evaluation will have to be determine how much percent lost and loss, what's the percent defoliation and the effect on bruising.

We have lodging that's occurred in this field here behind us.

So, those are some situations and things to be mindful of.

But it's it takes a good eye in terms of defoliation, is probably the most needful in terms of making that choice.

This has been Dave Nicolai, with the University of Minnesota Extension, and this has been today's Best Management segment.

(calm upbeat music) - Everyone likes a good story, especially when it's true.

This one happened when I was just a teenager.

And it's the time that I discovered just how smart my dad was.

It's a story called rhubarb.

I have rhubarb in my yard, and I would imagine you have rhubarb in your yard too, almost everyone does.

The red sweet, juicy strawberry rhubarb, makes into great pies.

Well, I decided one day that I wanted to make a rhubarb pie.

So, I went out by the side of my house, I picked a bunch of rhubarb stocks, brought them into the kitchen, and as I was washing them, I remembered my first date.

Do you remember your first date?

I was a high school freshman.

And Dexter Dewberry asked me to the dance.

Oh my goodness.

You know when you're a high school freshman girl, and a guy asks you out on your very first date, you have to tell somebody, just as quick as you can.

So, I ran down the hall, past the gym, past the school lunch room, and around the corner almost literally.

I ran into my best friend Ruby Retland.

"Ruby, guess what?

"You're never gonna believe it.

"Dexter Dewberry asked me to the dance."

Ruby just looked at me and said, "Well, JoAnn, Dexter asked me to the dance too.

"But I am going with the football captain."

(chuckling) I guess she didn't wanna go with Dexter.

But he had asked me and that was going to make me look popular.

Oh, I rode the school bus home that night and I kind of floated down those three school bus steps.

Ran all the way up the driveway up the sidewalk into the house.

"Mom and Dad, guess what?

"You're never going to believe this.

"Dexter Dewberry asked me to the dance!"

Oh, my mom was excited.

She was almost as excited as I was.

But you see, she thought I was never ever gonna have a date.

So, she told me that the very next day we would go to Forest City, and buy me a brand new dress, for the dance.

My dad, on the other hand, wasn't nearly as excited as the two of us.

He said, "JoAnn are you sure you wanna go "with Dexter Dewberry to the dance?

"I mean, his dad isn't even a farmer.

"If you if you could go with anybody you wanted, "who would it be?"

"Oh, gee, dad, I'd wanna go with David Adams.

"Oh, David is so nice.

"He sits beside me in algebra class and he helps me with all "of those problems I can never get, "you know, the written ones.

"But David didn't ask me, dad, Dexter did.

"Aren't you proud of me?

"Your daughter JoAnn Ostrander is going to the dance."

Took a long time for that Friday night to come.

But finally, it did.

And I came down from my bedroom.

Those steps making me feel like I was just a bit of a Norwegian princess you know.

I twirled into the kitchen in my brand new black cotton spaghetti strap sundress.

Of course underneath, my mom made me wear, a long sleeve white shirt that came all the way up to my chin.

Nice little Norwegian-Lutheran girls are supposed to wear just spaghetti straps.

Mom and Dad said I looked really nice though.

I was just about to step out the door and wait for the car to drive up when dad said to me, "JoAnn I've been thinking, would you do me a favor?

"Would you go out and pick us some rhubarb before you go?

"And while you're gone, your mom can make us one of her rhubarb pies."

"Dad, I'm wearing my brand new dre... dress.

'Cause what could I say?

I couldn't say no to him because, he was the one who had given me permission to go to the dance in the first place.

You see, nice little Norwegian-Lutheran girls, weren't supposed to dance either.

So, well, we had two patches of rhubarb on our farm.

If you went out past the host, almost to the little house out back, we had some of that green rhubarb.

Do you know green rhubarb?

I mean, it almost makes you pucker, just saying in the word.

But if you went down past the barn, almost all the way to the pasture, tucked underneath the fence there, so the cows couldn't get it.

We had some of that red, sweet, juicy strawberry rhubarb, that my mom made into great pies.

Well, if you were 15 years old and in a really big hurry, which rhubarb would you pick?

You bet, I just stepped outside the house.

Almost to the little house out back.

I went and I picked some of that green rhubarb.

I pinched the leaves off the top, threw them over to the chickens just like mum had taught me and brought the stocks into the kitchen.

"Bye dad," I was out of the house, kind of smoothing the skirt of my brand new sun dress.

There was our black lab, German Shepherd Laddie, waiting for me.

My best friend, Laddie and I walked down the sidewalk, until we got to the gate.

And then the car drove up.

Oh my goodness.

I could not believe who I saw.

Who I saw behind the wheel.

There, driving that car was David Adams.

Oh my goodness.

On the seat right beside him sat Dexter Dewberry.

I guess Dexter had flunked his driver's test.

And so David was escorting us to the dance.

Oh, what's a nice little Norwegian-Lutheran girl to do?

I just slid into the seat there between the two of them.

And we drove four miles north to the Thompson gym, in that wonderful dance.

Oh, the gym was beautiful.

And I have never had so much fun in my whole life before.

(chuckling) I don't know what happened to Dexter.

I danced all night with David Adams.

(giggling) Till midnight, of course, time to go home.

And then as we went out to the car, and David got behind the wheel again, Dexter got into the backseat.

And he motioned for me, to get into the backseat with him.

(sighing) I didn't wanna sit there.

I didn't wanna sit there but I suppose, I supposed I owed him that.

I mean, he had asked me to the dance after all.

Oh dear, those four miles between the Thompson gym and our farm, the longest I ever rode.

And it was in that backseat on that Friday night that that I learned how Dexter got his nickname, Ambidextrous Dexter.

The car stopped finally, I threw open the door, up the sidewalk, into the house.

(giggling) It was midnight and there sat my dad at the kitchen table, still drinking coffee.

What was he doing?

He had to get up at four o'clock in the morning to milk the cows.

Here he was sitting, waiting for me.

He looked, he looked at me and said, "Well, JoAnn, looks like you could use "a piece of rhubarb pie.

"Why don't you pour yourself a tall cold glass of milk.

"I already have my coffee, let's try some of this."

Oh dear, it was so sour, it was so sour.

And finally I looked at dad and we both started laughing.

He said, "Oh, JoAnn, "I just need to tell you a little something about men.

"You see, men are just a little bit like rhubarb.

"Can you see now that it's not a very good idea "to pick that very first one.

"But maybe if you go a little bit further, "take your time, maybe then, "you'll find the real sweet one."

It's called rhubarb.

(calm upbeat music) - Every day is a new chance to learn and grow.

Making lemonade out of lemons, is as tried and true as an expression today, as it ever was.

When opportunity, in whatever form presents itself, be sure to give it a good look.

You might be surprised by what you find.

I'm Dan Hoffman, thanks for watching, Farm connections.

(calm upbeat music)