Erin Rodgers: What's inside a glass of milk?

reprinted with permission from Missouri Farmers Care

 

 

She grew up ‘in town’, but Erin Rodgers took a leap of faith and became a dairywoman when she married her husband, Kaleb, a lifelong farmer. “Our first date was checking cows, and I was hooked,” Erin remembers. The couple own and operate Twin Knobs Dairy near Vanzant in #Agri-Ready Designated Douglas County. After 15 years of experience, Erin shares her enthusiasm for dairy, and what it takes to provide a glass of milk to St. Louis Cardinals Fans as a member of the 2025 Race to the Plate Farm Team. What are the ingredients in a glass of milk? Resilience, hustle, passion, pride and personality.

A Legacy of Resilience

 

Before 2024, Erin and Kaleb milked their cows four at a time. The family was struggling, but giving up wasn’t an option. “It (the dairy) is who we are,” Erin described. “It becomes your identity.” The Rodgers tapped into cost-share and grant funding to update and expand their milking facilities. Today they milk 12 cows at a time, and since they aren’t spending 12-14 hours a day in the milking parlor, Erin is excited to advocate for the dairy industry as a member of the 2025 Farm Team and share dairy’s center field message with Cardinals fans.

 

“I want Cardinals fans to know how incredibly hard we work to ensure that our cows are happy, healthy, cared for and produce healthy, wholesome milk,” Erin says. “We are incredibly proud of what we work hard to produce. Milk is the only food that naturally offers 13 essential nutrients.”

 

Hours of Hustle

 

Two hundred cows make up the Twin Knobs herd. Many are jerseys, a breed that Kaleb and Erin adore. Jersey milk is high in butterfat, adding to its value even before it leaves the farm gate. The Rodgers are integrating valuable genetics into their herd by utilizing A2A2 Jersey bulls and meeting the demands of the beef market by raising high quality steers using the ‘beef on dairy’ method.

 

Dairy farming is more than just milking cows. The Rodgers raise heifer calves to be replacement females for their milking herd, grow their own forages, and mix feed rations to keep their herd healthy and productive. Diversification is a vital sustainability strategy for this family farm. They also have a beef cattle herd, and Erin operates a cattery/kennel as Action Farms.

Investment of Passion

 

“Until I became a dairy farmer, I didn’t realize how big the misconceptions about dairy farms and milk products are. People don’t see the blood, sweat, and tears we invest. We miss out on a lot of things. People can’t imagine how hard we work to make sure our animals are taken care of before we are,” Erin shares. “If we want our dairy and the dairy industry to survive in Missouri for our son, it is important to be a voice for dairy. We will step up and be a voice to influence positive change.” Erin and Kaleb’s son, Everett, will be a 5th generation farmer. Everett loves baseball and being at home on the farm more than he likes school.

 

Pride and Personality

 

“I am excited to be involved in agriculture and blessed to be part of a dairy family. I know my voice is just as important as my husband’s voice or my father-in-law’s voice. There is no discrimination,” Erin affirms. “Becoming a farmer has empowered me. I can handle anything.”

 

Erin holds a master’s degree in nursing education. Kaleb’s dad, Mike, helps with daily operations at Twin Knobs. The dairy will host the 2025 Missouri Dairy summer social and celebrate its Century Farm distinction in 2026. The Rodgers are contributors to Midwest Dairy and member-owners of Dairy Farmers of America (DFA). Kaleb serves on the Missouri Dairy Board. These organizations are partners of Missouri Farmers Care.