HOT PURSUIT

Chocolate, strawberry or vanilla milk shakes.

They’re a refreshing treat that fairgoers at the Minnesota State Fair have enjoyed at the University of Minnesota Gopher Dairy Bar located outside the Dairy Building for decades.

The man responsible for bringing those malts to the State Fair 40 years ago has connections to Steele County. Dr. Les Hansen grew up on a dairy farm outside Blooming Prairie and has been involved with the dairy industry in one way or another for his entire life.

As he winds down on his long and distinguished career as a professor at the University of Minnesota St. Paul campus later this fall, Hansen reflected on how the Gopher Dairy Bar came to be and has since grown into one of the top 20 food vendors at the State Fair.

In 1981, Hansen joined the faculty at Iowa State University. He got involved with the Iowa State Fair and quickly noticed how it offered a milking parlor. “It doesn’t take me long to get involved,” he said with a smile.

When Hansen jumped ship to the U of M, he noticed how there was great dissatisfaction because there was no milking parlor at the Minnesota State Fair. He noted how exhibitors were off milking their cows in different parts of the Dairy Building, creating some sanitary concerns with the milk.

“People would walk by and there would be straw floating on top of the milk,” Hansen recalled.

Hansen reached out to the general manager of the State Fair about emulating what Iowa offered for its dairy exhibitors. He also told the GM how he wanted a sales area next to the milking parlor to sell dairy products.

The idea didn’t initially gain much traction. But, suddenly one day, Hansen got the call that would change everything for the Gopher Dairy Club he advised. “They decided to let us put in a sales area next to the parlor,” he said.

Of course, Hansen’s extensive background in agriculture didn’t hurt any in getting what he had been advocating for to help his dairy club.

The dairy bar began its humble start in 1984 with the club selling milk, cheese sandwiches and hard ice cream cones. Why no shakes? “The shake machines cost a fortune,” said Hansen, who was recently inducted into the Steele County Livestock Hall of Fame.

He said the dairy bar got off to a “very slow start” as it operated three years before they finally had enough money to purchase shake machines.

Hansen chuckles about the profits back in the early days when they cleared only $10,000. Today, the bar usually makes around $150,000 in profit from 12 days of the State Fair, according to Hansen.

During the fair, the dairy bar is staffed by 85 students that belong to Hansen’s Gopher Dairy Club. Each year Hansen offers an all-expenses paid senior trip to California for 11 days. There are as many as 26 students that go on the trip. “That’s the carrot to get them in there to work,” he said, noting each student is required to work at least 14 hours during the fair and work a minimum of two years to qualify for the trip.

Profits are also used for a scholarship program and subsidies for a yearbook, Hansen said.

Hansen formed the dairy club a year before the dairy bar in 1983. “I understood the value of a dairy science club,” he said, adding it was odd because all other universities had a dairy club while the U of M did not.

He is proud that one of his former students will be taking over as advisor of the dairy club when he retires at the end of the year.

As he enjoyed a vanilla malt, Hansen shared how he has immense pride in what he has accomplished with both the dairy club and the fair’s dairy bar. “It’s an ongoing operation to get these young people trained to be dairy leaders,” he said. “It has worked out well all the way around.”

There is no doubt Hansen is the real deal when it comes to dairy—whether it’s going in hot pursuit of a malt at the fair or college students aiming for dairy careers.