Our Blogs

hansen's dairy trolly with guests at sunset

Cow to cup: Agritourism a backstage pass at Hansen’s Dairy

Meta Hemenway-Forbes, Hansen’s Dairy Marketing Manager Twenty years ago, Hansen’s Dairy Farm gave impromptu tours to a few hundred visitors each summer. A quick phone call could generate a same-day tour, provided a Hansen family member who wasn’t tending...

John Rapp celebrates ‘legen-dairy’ 97th birthday

By Meta Hemenway-Forbes, Hansen’s Dairy Marketing Manager John Rapp pulled into the parking lot of the Hansen’s Dairy Cedar Falls store a little before 9 a.m. Thursday, July 13, just as he does every Tuesday and Thursday.  “JR,” as...

Dairy farmers leverage social media to reach ‘lost generation’ of milk drinkers

By Meta Hemenway-Forbes, Hansen’s Dairy Marketing Manager Early this month, the team at Hansen’s Dairy knew they needed to make a big splash in announcing the addition of 2% milk to their lineup. It was the first time they’d...

‘Lotts’ of purpose in the Hansen’s Dairy creamery

By Meta Hemenway-Forbes, Hansen’s Dairy Marketing Manager Four mornings a week, Jered Lotts works as a jack-of-all-trades in the Hansen’s Dairy Creamery. He loads milk and ice cream into crates as they come off our production line. He labels...

Farm-to-table events offer behind-the-scenes view of working dairy farm

By Meta Hemenway-Forbes, Hansen’s Dairy Marketing Manager On a recent Saturday, a little boy stood captivated by Macey, a nearly one-ton Holstein poking her head from the barn to greet visitors. As Macey munched on silage, the boy’s family...

Fence failure causes udder chaos!

By Meta Hemenway-Forbes, Hansen’s Dairy Marketing Manager We can plan until the cows come home, but eventually they’ll breach the fence. We learned this again last week when a large section of our electric fence failed and we were...
Cows looking at camera

Sensory experience: How a Hansen’s Dairy tour can ignite all five senses

By Jordan Hansen, Hansen Dairy co-owner How often do you get to see exactly how your food is produced? At Hansen’s Dairy, we aim to make that process as transparent as possible by offering educational farm tours. When you...

Before and after: Celebrating our Cedar Falls store renovation

By Meta Hemenway-Forbes, Hansen Dairy Marketing Manager This year marks the 15th anniversary of our Hansen’s Dairy Cedar Falls store. It also marks the completion of an extensive renovation, and we’re excited to celebrate both with our customers at...

Raising the Steaks: Hansen’s Wagyu-Holstein beef gets Prime grade

By Meta Hemenway-Forbes, Hansen’s Dairy Marketing Manager   At Hansen’s Dairy we’re renowned for our delicious milk, cheese curds, ice cream, butter and heavy cream.  But alongside our Holstein dairy herd is a Wagyu-Holstein beef herd making its own...

From the News Desk to the ‘Moos Desk’

By Meta Hemenway-Forbes, Hansen’s Dairy Marketing Manager Meta learns how to interact with the cows while also respecting the electric fence. Just moment earlier she learned the power of the fence the hard way. “The most difficult thing is...