Meet Megan Schulte

As soon as I could walk, I found myself outside in the barns, working alongside my dad on our family’s dairy farm. Some of my favorite childhood memories involve the farm. From learning to drive a tractor in the bumpy fields behind the house to handing my dad towels in the parlor before I was tall enough to milk the cows myself, farming has and always will run deep in my heart. As I got older, my passion for this industry, and this state only grew stronger.

During the summer after I finished kindergarten, my parents took me to the St. Croix County Fair to watch a family friend show their dairy heifer. As I stood ringside watching my friend walk his little brown calf around the ring, I knew I had to do everything it took to be there next year, leading my own calf around that ring. Sure enough, the next summer my dad and I picked out the perfect little May heifer calf and I was ready to make my show ring debut. From then on, I was hooked, spending the next 12 summers exhibiting dairy, beef and hogs at the county and state fairs.

In school, I was always known as the “farm kid.” Living just 30 minutes away from the Twin Cities area, there weren’t many farm kids in my school. I was that weird kid that would talk more about cows and farming than gossip and boys. After school, instead of going to the movies or out with friends, I found myself heading out to the barn cleaning stalls, feeding pigs, and milking the cows with my dad. In high school, when other kids my age were getting jobs at fast-food joints, I was purchasing my first beef cow and starting my own business. Finally, during my senior year, when everyone was looking forward to graduating, I was choosing to leave the comforts of my hometown and attend a different high school 30 minutes north to take advantage of a better agricultural education program.

Currently, I am a graduating senior at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities where I am studying Agriculture Communication and Marketing with a minor in Animal Science. Over the past four years, I have been active in the Gopher Dairy Club and Beta of Clovia sorority, as well as staying involved on my home farm, continuing to grow my herd of beef cattle, and staying connected to Wisconsin Agriculture.

I am blessed to be selected as a Top Candidate for the 71st Alice in Dairyland and look forward to the possibility of promoting all aspects of Wisconsin agriculture over the next year.