Love Is a Kansas Dairy Farm

Kristina Haverkamp wants you to love dairy. This wife, mother and grandmother helps run Kelly Hills Dairy, a 600-cow operation in Seneca. She’s passionate about sharing her work and life with others.

“My job is never boring. It’s exciting,” she said. “I used to have a desk job. Now, I never know what I’m going to run into. I like to be outside. I like to be moving.”

With 600 Holstein cows that need to be milked three times a day, she’s always moving. And, as she goes from one chore to the next, she dotes on her cows — rubbing their ears, scratching their necks, talking to them. It’s no wonder she’s earned the nickname The Cow Whisperer.

“Our cows come first. Cow comfort is really important for us. The animals come first. I don’t care if it’s below zero or raining or 100 degrees, we take care of our animals,” she said. “We’re animal lovers. We wouldn’t be working with animals every day if we weren’t.”

Love of Cows

Kristina oversees everything from milking to giving pedicures (yes, cows need their hooves trimmed just like we do) to health and wellness checks. But her main focus is taking care of the calves, which means she’s with them right from birth. She often gets asked why she has to take the babies away from their mothers. It’s in the best interest of the calves, she explained.

“That way we can make sure they get the nutrients they need,” she said. “The goal is to get two bottles of colostrum in a newborn baby within an hour after birth.”

Colostrum is the first milk the mother produces. It’s packed with nutrients and very thick. Kristina compared its consistency to that of pancake mix. If a calf feeds directly from the mother, Kristina wouldn’t know the quality of the colostrum or how much the calf drinks.

The dairy has a pasteurizer and testing equipment on-site, so Kristina can milk the mother, test the colostrum and then pasteurize it to make sure it’s “top notch” before feeding it to the baby.

“While I’m feeding the calf, I’m bonding with it,” she said. “That way she knows who people are.”

That early interaction is vital to getting the calves used to humans. They must learn to trust people and behave tamely because dairy employees work with and around them every day. Making sure the cows get along with people is of utmost importance because grown Holstein cows are big — weighing between 1,300 and 1,500 pounds — and you don’t want that large an animal to be jittery when you’re standing next to it.

“It’s safety for the cow, my employees and myself. And it makes for a safe calf,” she said. “When I walk into my maternity pen, I can walk in to tag, vaccinate and feed the calf, and the mom is ok with me being there.”

Even though Kristina reinforces bonding with the calves, they still get time with their mothers.

“Dairy cows are working moms and I’m daycare,” she said.

Love of Teaching

Kristina’s love of dairy extends beyond the farm. She’s quick to notice what’s new in the dairy case at her local grocery store.

“Our dairy case is getting some strange stuff in it,” she said of the non-dairy “milk” that’s started to comingle with regular milk.

While Kristina understands lifestyle choices like veganism, she’s baffled that people think of that as wholesome eating. During a recent conversation with her son, he asked about the pros and cons of almond milk. Kristina grabbed an empty carton (she keeps one on-hand for educational purposes) and they looked at the ingredients together.

“It has fewer calories, but lots of additives — at least 10 — plus stabilizers, sugar, salt and added vitamins because they don’t occur naturally,” she said. “Then we looked at a carton of milk and it’s milk and vitamins A and D. Milk automatically comes with nine essential vitamins and nutrients.”

Kristina loves creating those a-ha moments and is passionate about teaching others about where their food comes from, and especially what dairy can do to keep them healthy. She loves working with kids and does outreach with local schools, leads workshops and participates in health fairs. In addition to teaching, giving back to the community is important to her. She led the 4-H club, served on the fair board and supports the local Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapter with a scholarship. And, she works all that into her schedule when she’s not busy at the dairy.

There are 15 full-time employees at the dairy, many of whom are husband-wife teams. Kristina oversees all of them, plus handles scheduling, accounts receivable and ordering vet supplies, on top of caring for the calves.

Love of Family

As much as Kristina loves what she does, she loves whom she does it with even more.

One of her favorite helpers at the dairy is her grandson Dawson. Her daughter and son-in-law, who live nearby, have two children. Kevin works at the dairy and, while the newborn stays at home with Ashley, Dawson likes to come along and help Kristina.

And, of course, there’s her husband Brian. The high school sweethearts have been married 31 years. When they were dating, she’d help milk cows on Sunday evenings.

“I knew I married a dairy farmer,” she said. “There are days that we have to be on other sides of the dairy, but we’re both innovators. This is why I think we both work so well — we’re not afraid to change.”

Innovation and advocacy are part of how they operate. In fact, the dairy was recognized as a Member of Distinction for its district by Dairy Farmers of America.

Even though they are in their 50s, the couple isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. In fact, they’re getting ready to upgrade the dairy with a new free-stall barn, a housing shed for the calves — complete with computer trackers to help monitor the babies’ intake — as well as a milking carousel.

“We will be able to milk twice the cows we’re milking now,” Kristina said.

It’s just one more way Kelly Hills is showing its commitment to dairy.