HOT PURSUIT

For decades Minnesota’s dairy industry has been represented exclusively by dairy princesses—young women with a keen interest in dairy, many of whom grew up on dairy farms. But in recent years the dairy industry has been leaning on young men to also carry the torch of serving as goodwill ambassadors.

That’s where Anton Schroeder comes into the picture. The 18-year-old senior from Owatonna became a Steele County Dairy Ambassador this past weekend at the group’s annual banquet. He’s not the first, but it has been several years since Steele County has had a male ambassador. He joins two dairy princesses, Afton Nelson and Samantha Fredin, also from Owatonna.

Schroeder is a natural to take on this role. He currently serves as president of the Owatonna Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapter, and he has been around the dairy industry for most of his life.

He grew up under the guidance of a hard-working dairy farmer, Mary Schroeder, who also happens to be his mother. He has three older sisters, Sadie, Kendra and Chloe, who have represented Steele County as dairy princesses in the past. Along with their father, Wade, the family operated a dairy farm south of Owatonna on the farm of their grandparents, Fran and Bernard Jirele.

They had dairy cows until 2020 when they sold them after Mary developed frontotemporal dementia. The family still maintains 50 head of beef cattle and chickens will be showing up this summer.

Recalling when his sisters were dairy princesses, Anton said: “They kind of dragged me with them. It’s kind of came naturally, and I’m glad they forced me along.”

As dairy princesses, Anton’s sisters took part in day care visits, parades, Breakfast on the Farm, and other dairy-related functions. Anton remembers as a kid when he helped put together picture buttons at the breakfast events.

“They were a big inspiration for me to come along, and I couldn’t be more grateful,” Anton said.

Anton has served as a duke (kids in grades K-3) as well as junior dairy ambassador (kids in grades 4-11). He is thrilled to take on the new role as dairy ambassador right next to the princesses that his sisters once represented.

He is anxious to inform people on what “I know to be accurate” about the dairy industry, Anton said. In the process, he is confident he will gain some new leadership skills and get a better understanding of the public’s view about dairy.

“I want to be a leader in the dairy industry,” Anton says. “I want to teach more people about dairy.”

Asked about stepping into a role that has been predominantly represented by women, Anton said: “It’s important that we have more men in this industry, so it’s not dominated by females. It’s good we are branching out more.”

Anton said he feels honored to be one of only a few dairy ambassadors in Minnesota and the only in Steele County for this year.

After graduating next month, Anton plans to attend the University of Wisconsin-River Falls where he wants to focus on environmental engineering. He wants to make sure there is clean and safe water for everybody.

The Schroeder family legacy of the dairy industry just wouldn’t have been complete without Anton going in hot pursuit of being a dairy ambassador.