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Clarissa’s Twin Eagle Dairy honored as Minnesota Dairy Producer of the Year at Senate hearing
Summary
Pat and Jody Luneman of Twin Eagle Dairy in Clarissa, Minnesota, were recognized by Minnesota Milk Producers during a Feb. 5 Senate committee hearing; lawmakers and presenters described the farm’s multigenerational operation and labor practices.
Pat and Jody Luneman, owners of Twin Eagle Dairy in Clarissa, Minnesota, received the Minnesota Milk Producers’ Dairy Producer of the Year recognition during a Feb. 5 hearing of the Minnesota Senate Committee on Agriculture, Veterans, Broadband and Rural Development.
Minnesota Milk Producers President Garrett Luthins introduced the Lunemans and said the association represents about 1,625 dairy farms in the state. “Minnesota milk works hard to represent Minnesota's 1,625 dairy farms,” Luthins said, adding that the association’s priorities include helping farms adapt to changing employment rules and permitting processes.
In remarks played for the committee and delivered in person, Pat Luneman described the farm’s evolution from a 50-stall tie-stall operation to a free-stall parlor and a roughly 820-cow herd. “We milk pretty much around the clock. So we have three eight-hour shifts,” Luneman said, describing how the operation schedules labor to give employees an eight-hour day and maintain continuous milking.
Jody Luneman described the family role in the operation and the physical demands that motivated the decision to modernize the farm in the 1990s. “We decided in the mid‑1990s that we needed to make a change. We had to make a change in order to stay in the business long term,” she said, explaining the move to a parlor and free-stall system to improve labor efficiency and family time.
Committee members praised the Lunemans’ farm and family contribution to local communities. Chair Putnam thanked the couple for their work and noted the video and family presence at an evening event the prior night. Garrett Luthins, who introduced the Lunemans, noted that the producers-of-the-year award recognizes community involvement and service to the industry.
The committee’s public recognition of the Lunemans was ceremonial; no formal action or vote followed the presentation. The committee then moved on to a briefing from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and a bill hearing.
Pat Luneman and Jody Luneman, their family and employees were cited during the hearing as examples of multigenerational dairy operations adapting to technological and market changes.
