Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Heather Strate, Edwards County dairy
At a glance: When Heather Strate became Edwards County Economic Development Director in 2022, a large dairy was under consideration, but the project ultimately fell through. Strate pursued other options, and now a $200 million state-of-the-art dairy is being constructed in the county.
More information: Ron Wilson, rwilson@ksu.edu, 785-532-7690
Photos: Ron Wilson | Heather Strate
Website: Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development
July 3, 2024
By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University
An old saying goes, “Don’t cry over spilled milk.” That reminds us not to have regrets over something that hasn’t worked out in the past.
One Kansas rural county experienced disappointment but went on to have success – and the topic involved milk. Today we will meet a young economic developer who has overcome challenges to attract a state-of-the-art dairy to her rural county.
Heather Strate is executive director of the Edwards County Economic Development Corporation. A Quinter native, she studied interior design and construction drafting at Fort Hays State. She worked in business until meeting her husband and moving to his family’s farm in Edwards County.
At right: Heather Strate | Download this photo
In 2022, she became economic development director in the county. She had to hit the ground running, because a major economic development project was under consideration: A large dairy.
A man wanted to build a sizeable dairy in the county. Strate worked hard to support the project. But as interest rates and inflation climbed, the man found he could not go forward with it. The project fell through.
Strate was disappointed, but as the old adage says, don’t cry over spilled milk. Instead of worrying about what might have been, she chose to look forward. She sent out the information they had compiled to other dairy prospects.
One of those was an operation in Texas named Blue Sky Farms. It turned out that they were looking to expand at the same time.
In spring 2023, Blue Sky Farms announced that they were going to build their new dairy operation in Edwards County. In spring 2024, a groundbreaking was held at the site near the rural community of Lewis, population 400 people. Now, that’s rural.
The new facility will be called Twin Circle Dairy. It’s projected to milk 19,300 cows in the first year and grow to 23,700 cows -- enough milk to fill 20 supertankers per day.
This will be a state-of-the-art facility, with the cows wearing electronic collars that will track their individual movement, eating and other important indicators of health. The collars wirelessly connect to sorting gates so if the cow needs breeding or a health check, she will automatically be sorted into a different pen.
Technology will also be used to control the barns, including fans, curtains and lighting, so as to create the best environment possible for the cows.
Water and waste management are also top priorities, according to Strate.
“They will reuse the water as many times as possible,” she said. For example, wash water can be recycled and then used for irrigation of the fields.
For waste treatment, long-term plans call for using a digester, which captures gas emissions – thus eliminating smells – and produces a product that can be spread on the fields for fertilizer.
This dairy is ultimately expected to be a $200 million investment, creating more than 100 jobs. The milk will go to the Hilmar cheese plant for processing in Dodge City.
“The best part of this project is the people,” Strate said. “These (owners of Blue Sky Dairy) are great down-to-earth guys who started on small farms and worked their way up. More than 100 people showed up at the public meeting about this, and they answered all the questions and addressed any concerns.”
As construction goes forward, road infrastructure is a huge issue. "It's very important to improve the roads leading to and from the new dairy location. We have applied for multiple grants and have high hopes of getting our road project fully funded," Strate said.
It’s great to see this success after missing out on the earlier opportunity to attract a dairy.
Don’t cry over spilled milk, says the old saying. In the case of Edwards County, Strate didn’t cry over one missed dairy, but went on to have success with a different one.
We commend Heather Strate and all those involved with Twin Circle Dairy for making a difference by investing in the growth of the dairy industry. As another old saying goes, Heather Strate will continue to work on these issues “until the cows come home.”
Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at http://www.kansasprofile.com. For more information about the Huck Boyd Institute, interested persons can visit http://www.huckboydinstitute.org.
***
K‑State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well‑being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county extension offices, experiment fields, area extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K‑State campus in Manhattan. For more information, visit www.ksre.ksu.edu. K-State Research and Extension is an equal opportunity provider and employer.