A young couple farming in the Fort Ripley area was named this year’s 2020 Crow Wing County Farm Family of the Year.
Although the cancellation of the Crow Wing County Fair this year meant there wasn’t a ceremony recognizing Mac and Stacey Caughey, the Crow Wing County Extension Committee honored the family last month at their farm and presented them with a plaque.
Mac Caughey grew up on his family’s dairy farm B&C Dairy, run by his father Bruce and great-uncle Milo. The farm has transitioned over the years and is now operated by Bruce and his wife Rosanne; Mac Caughey and his family; and Mac’s brother Dan Caughey and his family, according to a news release from University of Minnesota Extension. B&C Dairy consists of milking cows and a beef operation.
The Caugheys milk about 90 Holsteins in a tie-stall barn and raise all their own young stock. The farm is home to about 200 head of Red Angus cross beef cows. The Caugheys finish out for slaughter their beef calves and Holstein steers. In addition, the families raise all their own feed. They grow corn, alfalfa, rye and oats on about 1,000 acres.
Mac Caughey manages the crop operation and takes care of the beef cows. He’s the farm’s mechanic and works in the shops at BNSF Railroad in Brainerd. His wife Stacey Caughey works full-time on the farm after working as a ruminant nutritionist for Purina Animal Nutrition. The couple has two boys, Rhett and Cash. The Caugheys have been farming together since 2016, the year Mac and Stacey Caughey were married.
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Stacey Caughey is the secretary for the Mississippi Valley Cattlemen’s Association and serves on the board of directors of BN Credit Union. The Caugheys are members of the Minnesota State Cattlemen’s Association and the Minnesota Farm Bureau. They’re also members of the Brainerd FFA Alumni Association and Stacey Caughey is a volunteer with Crow Wing County 4-H.
In the release, the Caugheys credited all the partners of B&C Dairy, Stacey’s family and others for helping to make B&C Dairy a success.
Each year, the U of M honors farm families across the state who are active in agriculture production and active in their community. Each Minnesota county has a county extension committee that receives nominations and decides on a farm family to honor each year.
