Reign is life changing for Princess Kay

As I enjoyed a strawberry malt at this past weekend’s Dairy Days in Owatonna, I also got a lesson about the dairy industry from Princess Kay of the Milky Way, Minnesota’s top ambassador for dairy farmers.
Brenna Connelly of Byron is Princess Kay as she took over the reign last August during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. While her year has been far different than any of the other 66 Princess Kays before her dating back to 1954, things are getting somewhat back to normal for her this summer.
Over the past year while COVID restrictions were in place, Connelly had her share of virtual classroom visits and book readings. She said what’s unique about the COVID crisis is how many people they reached. With virtual visits, she was able to do up to 25 classrooms at once.
Since the restrictions loosened in the past month or so, many of Connelly’s days are packed with two or more trips as she zig zags across the state promoting the dairy industry. And she is loving every minute of it by interacting with people at Dairy Days, Breakfast on the Farm events, parades, nursing homes and daycares just to name a few. She is even doing it while holding down a summer internship with Olmsted County 4-H.
“It’s good to be back out and interacting with people,” Connelly confessed.
Her favorite part of being Princess Kay is communicating with people of all ages. “I like to share the story of dairy farmers. I want to show them the heart of what dairy is,” she said.
Connelly, 20, says it’s truly an honor for her to be Princess Kay. “It has been life changing for me,” she said. “I’m here to put a face to the farmers.”
A surprising fact about Connelly is that she did not grow up on a dairy farm. She developed her passion for dairy by working on her cousin’s dairy farm located just two miles down the road. She has helped out since she was 6 years old.
Connelly said being Princess Kay has been a dream of hers since her middle school years. She watched in awe of her cousin who went through the Princess Kay competition.
“I like the perspective I have,” said Connelly, who is a sophomore at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities studying agricultural communication and marketing. “I was not born on a dairy farm, but I am still able to share my passion for dairy,” she added.
Connelly said 97% of Minnesota’s 2,700 dairy farmers are family operations. She admires how dairy farmers really care about the product they are producing. “No matter what product you choose, it’s done with care,” she said, adding dairy producers are hard working.
Princess Kay pushes nutrition by letting people know they should have at least three servings of dairy each day. Some of the easiest ways to fulfill that are by having a cup of milk and servings of cheese or yogurt.
As for Princess Kay’s favorite dairy product, it happens to be cheese, specifically Cheddar and Colby Jack.
It’s comforting to see someone like Connelly who displays a strong passion and high energy level going in hot pursuit of representing Minnesota’s dairy industry.