Dittbenner’s Spring Creek Dairy is Brown County Farm Family of the YearJoleen
The operation includes 500 acres of corn, soybeans, alfalfa and 120 Holstein cows.
Joleen and Craig Dittbenner stand in their Holstein cow barn north of Sleepy Eye. They operate Spring Creek Dairy and were named 2026 Brown County Farm Family of the Year
An aerial photo of the Spring Creek Dairy farm North of Sleepy Eye, is managedby Craig and Joleen Dittbenner, who were named 2026 Brown County Farm Family of the Year by the University of Minnesota Extension Service.
comThe Dittbenners stand by the milking robots that really improved their dairy operation.
The Dittbenner Family, front row L-R: Joleen, Destiney, Craig, back row L-R: Brittney, and CourtneyStory
Joleen and Craig Dittbenner stand in their Holstein cow barn north of Sleepy Eye. They operate Spring Creek Dairy and were named 2026 Brown County Farm Family of the Year
An aerial photo of the Spring Creek Dairy farm North of Sleepy Eye, is managedby Craig and Joleen Dittbenner, who were named 2026 Brown County Farm Family of the Year by the University of Minnesota Extension Service.
comThe Dittbenners stand by the milking robots that really improved their dairy operation.
The Dittbenner Family, front row L-R: Joleen, Destiney, Craig, back row L-R: Brittney, and CourtneyStory
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Mn2026SLEEPY EYE -- Craig and Joleen Dittbenner's Spring Creek Dairy was named 2026 Brown County Farm Family of the Year by the University of Minnesota Extension Service.The farm began north of Sleepy Eye in the late 1960s in a stanchion barn with 160 acres. It gradually expanded to 40 cows and 500 acres over the next 25 years.In 1995, the operation grew to 120 mostly Holstein cows with the construction of a milking parlor.In 2016, two milking robots were added.Now, the Dittbenners farm around 500 acres, raising corn, soybeans and alfalfa, and milk 120 cows."I grew up here on the dairy farm. She (Joleen) grew up on a dairy farm five miles south of here," said Craig. The milking robots have really improved their dairy operation."Cows come and go as they please," said Joleen. "If there is something wrong, the ro-bot calls Craig. If he doesn't answer, they call me until we take care of it. It has helped us find enough labor to milk cows. The cows are much more relaxed with robot milking."Craig's folks Reynold and Vivian, are still actively involved in the farm opera-tion.""You have a robot and a cow. They don't always see eye to eye, but it definitely helps cows produce more milk," said Craig. "You have to have a passion for it to stay in the dairy business now because you aren't making a killing at it profit-wise. You have to love it."The Dittbenners sell their milk to the Litchfield-based First District Dairy Associ-ation.Craig and Joleen contribute to their community on and off the farm. Craig is an ac-tive member of a local robot milking peer group, collab-orating with other producers to share knowledge and best practices year around. They meet during the winter months and group text with questions other times.He supports local farmers by helping with baling, chop-ping corn silage for livestock feed including custom chop-ping, combining, welding mostly farm equipment and other tasks they may need help with."Its a Heinz 57 of implement colors here. We don't favor one brand. We have whatev-er works fits us," said Craig. Joleen has been on the Sleepy Eye Public School Board the past 14 years. She has also served as the Sleepy Eye Public Basketball Boosters chairwoman and in many leadership roles at Trinity Lutheran Church in Sleepy Eye.Their youngest daughter Destiney will go to South-west State University this fall to study forensic pathol-ogy and become a special-ized medical doctor who studies unexplained deaths.Daughter Courtney is a physical therapist at Re-gion's Hospital in St. Paul. Daughter Brittney is a PCA (personal care assistant) at St. Mary's Hospital in Roch-ester studying to become a physician's assistant."They all went into the medical field. Our kids grew up up caring for animals and decided they want to care for people," said Joleen.