Paying his mentorship forward

ST. MARTIN, Minn. — When Alan Schroepfer started dairying, he had a mentor to lean on for advice and to help him make tough decisions.

Fast forward more than 20 years, and the roles have changed; he is now the mentor, helping Ryan Heinen squeeze his way into the industry.

“The person I bought the farm from was like a second dad to me,” Schroepfer said. “I know that his intention was to give someone a chance to dairy farm. Our paths happened to cross all those years ago, and now I feel the same way helping Ryan.”

Schroepfer and Heinen milk 65 organic cows in a stanchion barn and farm 350 acres of organic land near St. Martin. Schroepfer and his wife, Anne, have 12 children, and since Schroepfer is in his 60s, he would like to slow down. Heinen is working towards ownership of one of the two farm sites near St. Martin under Schroepfer’s name.

“I wouldn’t be able to have a chance to farm on my own without Alan,” Heinen said.

Heinen is originally from central Minnesota. Though he did not grow up on a dairy farm, he helped his cousins on their farm while in college. Since then, Heinen has dreamed of owning his own farm.

“We’ve been trying to farm on our own for more than 10 years now and this farm has everything I was looking for,” he said. “It is close to home, has good soil and is organic. Now it has finally happened. The kids are excited to be done moving.”

Heinen was connected with the Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship program and worked for a dairy farmer in western Minnesota. After hearing about an opportunity to manage a 100-cow organic dairy in eastern Wisconsin, Heinen moved to that farm.

“I wanted to have a farm of my own, but I thought if I can’t have my own farm, this would be the next best thing,” Heinen said. “After doing that for six years, the desire to have my own farm was still there and I wanted to be closer to my family.”

Heinen’s mother placed a want ad in several central Minnesota papers to help her son find a farm. Schroepfer saw one of those ads placed in Dairy Star and called Heinen to make him an offer.

“I was looking for someone who would not only like to be a hired hand, but work towards ownership of the farm,” Schroepfer said. “With that in mind, I wanted a good moral person who wants to farm. I didn’t know Ryan at all, but I knew the farmer Ryan worked for, and he spoke highly of Ryan. I decided Ryan seemed to fit those criteria.”

Over the next six months, the two dairymen created a plan to bring Heinen into farm ownership.

“We talked about our goals and discussed how we were going to make this work,” Heinen said. “I came to Minnesota to see his operation and he came out to Wisconsin to see what I had going on there.”

In September 2024, Heinen, his wife, Barbara, and their five kids made the move to central Minnesota.

“That fall he worked as a hired hand for three months, then at the end of the year it seemed like a good fit for both of us, so we agreed to work together to transition Ryan into the farm,” Schroepfer said.

Back in 2010, Schroepfer had purchased the farmstead that was a quarter mile down the road from his own farm.

“That place was owned by the brother of the person that I bought my farm from,” Schroepfer said.

Heinen is living at the other site, which is not a working dairy farm, but Schroepfer and Heinen are working together to fix it up and build a parlor to allow Heinen to milk cows at his own site.

Since Heinen built a parlor at the dairy in Wisconsin, he understands what it will take to accomplish.

“I am hoping to get the barn ready by next fall, but everything takes longer than you expect,” Heinen said.

In the meantime, the duo will work together at Schroepfer’s farm. In 2025, Heinen purchased some of Schroepfer’s livestock.

“There is no perfect way of (doing a farm transition) but this seemed like a good, practical, logical and financially feasible way to do it,” Schroepfer said.

Heinen is receiving a percentage of the milk check based on the percentagae of cattle that he owns. Heinen is in charge of milking the cows, but the pair share the remainder of the farm chores.

“I am trying to take a step back and let Ryan take care of things,” Schroepfer said. “Some of my kids that still live at home take turns (helping milk) so that someone always helps Ryan with the milkings.”

Schroepfer said once Heinen is set up and ready to farm at his own site, he intends on finding another young farmer to take over his farm site.

“It’s really important for me to keep these farms going,” Schroepfer said. “The more farms that remain in the countryside, the better it is for our small towns; it helps our overall economy. Farmers are the backbone of this country.”

Mark Klaphake contributed to this article.