MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Every year on the night before the start of the Minnesota State Fair, a new dairy princess is crowned. This year's princess is Emily Annexstad, a 19-year-old college student from St. Peter. Annexstad came to the fairgrounds in August representing Nicollet County and left as the 64th Princess Kay of the Milky Way.

Close to 100 young women from across Minnesota are crowned county dairy princesses annually. Princess Kay finalists are then selected among the state's county princesses. Dairy princesses are choosen on the basis of their communication skills, personality, general knowledge of the dairy community, and their commitment to the promotion of the dairy industry. The Midwest Dairy Association sponsors the Princess Kay program, which is funded by dairy farmers through their promotion checkoff.

Minnesota's dairy princesses are daughters of dairy farmers, employees of dairy farms, or daughters of dairy farm employees. The program gives them the opportunity to represent the lifestyle and community in which they were raised. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Minnesota Patch, click here to find your local Minnesota Patch. Also, follow us on Facebook, and if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

As Princess Kay for a year, Annexstad will serve as the official goodwill ambassador for more than 3,000 Minnesota dairy farm families. On top of that, she currently attends the University of Minnesota, where she is pursuing degrees in animal science, agricultural communications, and marketing.

Photo credit: Matt Addington, used with permission Twelve county dairy princesses from throughout Minnesota competed for the Princess Kay of the Milky Way title. Jessaca Zuidema of Blomkest, representing Kandiyohi County, and Margaret Socha of Corcoran, representing Wright County, were selected as runners-up.



This week, Annexstad answered a few questions from Patch about her childhood, what she loves about dairy farming, and why she aspired to represent 3,000 dairy farm families in Minnesota:

I read that the Annexstad Family Farm was the 2014 Nicollet County Farm Family of the year. Did you grow up on that farm?

Yes, that is my farm. I am the third generation on my family's farm, and grew up working

alongside with my grandparents, parents, uncles, and younger brothers. How many acres is the Annexstad Family Farm?