The milking barn where Makenna Skiff discovered her passion went up in flames in May.
After scraping the alleys with the skidsteer, her grandpa parked it in the shop and jump in his truck to feed cows. Looking over his shoulder, he backed down the long driveway, which took a couple of minutes. When he turned back around, he saw about 80 feet of smoke filling the air.
The barn, on their family farm near Ethan, S.D., was the lifeblood of Farm Life Creamery, their store 20 min. down the road in Mitchell.
The 25 cows they once milked with a robotic milker twice a day are now living at a neighbors’ farm.
A Legacy Spanning Generations
Amy and Gary Blase started their farm in 1972. Their passion for the dairy industry spans more than 50 years and has now rubbed off on the third generation, Makenna. After studying animal science and dairy production at South Dakota State University, she graduated in 2025 and went back to the family operation.
While Makenna grew up about two hours away from the dairy in Norfolk, Neb., she’d spent time with her grandparents every summer. “It’s something I had grown to love, and it became a really big passion of mine. I saw how much my grandparents cared for the industry and it made me want to continue that passion for them and be the next generation,” she says.
Makenna’s summers on the farm were often spent with her nine cousins. Several of them learned how to show cattle and kept their awards in the milking barn. Those awards are now ash. “It’s been really hard to see all those gone,” she says.
Finding a Sign of Hope
In the rubble of the fire, the family found a surprise: “An employee made us a sign for the farm a while back and we were able to pull it out,” she says. “It was hanging on the front of the barn — the sign he cut out of metal.”
Makenna believes it’s a sign of what’s to come. “We’re not ready to be done yet,” she says. “It’s kind of pushed me harder to want to take over.”
The family is raising money to help build a new barn. They are very close to their goal.
