Rachel Visser took a stroll down memory lane as she looked down at the admiring eyes of little girls, remembering when she was in their spot.

“I remember being a little girl and coming here and watching the finalists and Princess Kay getting their likeness carved in butter, and seeing the dairy princesses around the state doing what they love,” Visser says during a break from sitting in a cooler at the Minnesota State Fair a day after being crowned the 71st Princess Kay of the Milky Way. “And now, being a dairy princess myself, it really encourages me to continue sharing my passion, seeing those little girls in the same place that I was.”

The 19-year-old University of Minnesota sophomore from Hutchinson bested eight others for the title, which she feels is an honor to hold.

“[Coronation] was incredible, to stand next to those other finalists and get to know them throughout the summer and hear about their passion for dairy,” she says. “And to look out into the audience and seeing friends and family that have supported me as a county dairy princess and supporting my passion for dairy, and now being on that stage, is incredible.”

She is the daughter of Barry and Shannon Visser and represents McLeod County.

Passion born in a barn

Visser’s dairy passion originates on a Litchfield-area family farm that milks about 30 Jersey cows. “I really fell in love with working with the calves and feeding the cows and wanting to learn everything about living on the farm and working on the farm,” she says. “Since then, I’ve just fallen in love with the dairy community and the support system that comes with being involved in the dairy community. … That has encouraged and fueled my passion for the industry.”

She intends to share her passion during her one-year reign as Princess Kay. “Farming is definitely not an easy career path, but it’s seven days a week and 365 days a year,” she says, “so really, sharing with consumers the importance of the hard work that dairy farmers put into caring for their animals and working toward producing the most healthy dairy products. … I think once people can understand the care that’s really put into the animals, they will have a greater appreciation.”

As Princess Kay, she will make public appearances as the official goodwill ambassador for the almost 1,800 Minnesota dairy farm families. Through that responsibility, she hopes to connect consumers to Minnesota’s dairy farm families, as well as bring dairy to life through conversations, classroom visits and various speaking engagements about the nutritional benefits of dairy and dairy farmers’ continual commitment to environmental sustainability.

CROWNING MOMENT: Rachel Visser reacts as she is crowned the 71st Princess Kay of the Milky Way, as do the other eight finalists at the coronation the night before the Minnesota State Fair kicked off. (Matt Addington/Midwest Dairy)

Studying agricultural and food business management and agricultural communications and marketing, Visser hopes to combine her love of numbers with her passion for dairy into a career.

Katie Ketchum of Altura, representing Winona County, and Grace Woitalla of Avon, representing Stearns County, were selected as runners-up.

Visser, Ketchum and Woitalla also were named scholarship winners. Mackenzie Moline of St. Peter, representing Nicollet County, was named Miss Congeniality. Midwest Dairy sponsors the Princess Kay program, which is funded by dairy farmers through their promotion checkoff.

Butter up!

Each of the finalists spent time at the Minnesota State Fair sitting in a rotating cooler in the Dairy Building, having their likeness sculpted in a 90-pound block of butter by Gerry Kulzer. They get to take home the butter sculpture, as well as the scraps. Visser plans on taking some of the scrap butter to college with her, but the butter bust will be used for a baked potato feed sometime in the next year in McLeod County.

Butter is one of two “go-to” dairy products for Visser, with cheese being the other. “Butter because you can put it on anything, and cheese because it’s my go-to snack if I’m running out the door.”