Schmidts named Farm Family of the Year
The Schmidt family of rural Owatonna has been named one of the Minnesota Farm Families of the Year. Pictured at the recent Breakfast on the Farm are Kim Schmidt, Madi Murphy and Jon Schmidt of Schmitty Holsteins. Staff photo by Rick Bussler
The Schmidt family of rural Owatonna will be honored as one of 86 families as the 2026 Farm Family of the Year by the University of Minnesota.
They will be recognized at a ceremony during Minnesota Farmfest near Redwood Falls on Aug. 6.
The Schmidt family farm began in 1884 in Meriden Township and has been recognized as a Century Farm. For five generations, the Schmidt family has been dedicated to dairy farming.
Today, Schmity Holsteins is owned by Jon Schmidt. The operation includes 250 milk cows and 250 head of young stock, primarily registered Holsteins with a few registered Jerseys. The farm includes 250 acres that support the herd’s feed needs. Schmity Holsteins has received the Holstein Association’s prestigious Progressive Genetic Herd Award for the past 20 years and has bred and developed more than 50 females classified as excellent.
The farm is managed almost entirely by the Schmidt family. Jon serves as owner and overall manager. His wife Kim works at Federated Insurance. Their daughter Madi Murphy is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and owns several Jersey cows and heifers she exhibited in 4-H.
Jon’s parents, Myron and Sandy Schmidt, continue to live on the farm, with Myron caring for the baby calves. Jon’s sister Andrea Slater and her husband Chris Slater are also actively involved. Chris oversees feeding, fieldwork and farm maintenance.
Their children, Steven and Jacob, work on the farm full-time assisting with milking and fieldwork, representing the sixth generation of Schmidts involved in the operation.
Jon is a member of both the National and Minnesota Holstein Associations, and he chairs the I-35 Holstein Club and the Steele County American Dairy Association. He also serves on the AMPI corporate board of directors and was recently selected to serve on the board of directors for World Dairy Expo. Chris serves as a Meriden Township supervisor.