A Foreston family farm was recently recognized with the honor of a lifetime when it was inducted into the Minnesota Livestock Breeders’ Hall of Fame.
“It’s very humbling. We did everything we just loved, and somehow we got recognized for it,” Norb Jr. “Junior” Sonnek said. “I kept saying, if you’re old enough, you might get the chance. People recognized the stuff we’ve done, but for us it wasn’t really a chore.”
Junior and Judy Sonnek were the 200th inductees into the MN Livestock Breeders’ Hall of Fame during an induction ceremony on March 14 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Roseville.
Sonnek Farms farmed over 400 acres of land in Foreston for around 50 years before they retired and their son, Erik Sonnek, took over fully in 2014.
“Our boy (Erik) came back in 2011. He graduated from the U (the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities) and worked in the Minnesota Extension, then he came back full-time in 2011,” Judy Sonnek said. “We were pretty much retired in 2014. We’ve got about 450 acres of crop land.”
Alongside their crop land, Sonnek Farms also produces dairy with the currently housed 120 registered Holstein and Brown Swiss cows and a like number of bred heifers and young stock.
But Sonnek Farms didn’t start out that way.
“When they moved up here, they started out with three cows and some pigs that (Junior’s) uncles had given him,” Judy Sonnek said.
Junior Sonnek’s family first moved to the Foreston area from the Austin area and started the farm in 1962.
“In ‘62, when we moved up, my dad worked, and me and my mom did all the farm stuff. We milked cows and all the cans had to be loaded before 7 o’clock when my dad left (for work),” Junior Sonnek said. “I farmed with my dad, and after he retired in ‘76, my brother and I farmed together before he had a farming accident and I bought him out. That was in 2009. … After high school, I did four years in the Navy and then I came home, farming full-time. Then I went to tech school down in Anoka. In ‘72, we (he and Judy) got married.”
It was the Sonnek family’s work with their cows that earned them their place in the MN Livestock Breeders’ Hall of Fame.
According to the MN Livestock Breeders’ Association’s 127th Annual Meeting and induction day ceremony program, the Sonnek Farm’s breeding program has “focused on a supreme balance of high milk production and functional type.”
The Sonnek’s have bred more than 75 excellent quality cows, led by three cows scoring at 94. They have also been recognized with the Progressive Genetics Herd Award for 14 years.
One cow, Sonnek Damion Charlie “Charlie,” is considered one of the most impactful cows bred by the Sonneks, according to the MN Livestock Breeders’ Association.
Charlie scored an excellent 94 and was a prime example of a brood cow. She produced over 100 offspring as the result of a prolific 350 embryo producing career, and her female line is still the main nucleus of the Sonnek breeding program. The Sonneks have also sent 20 bulls, majority from Charlie’s line, into artificial insemination.
Despite their numerous accomplishments in the breeding world, Junior and Judy Sonnek believe that their main accomplishments reside in their work in local agriculture organizations, specifically 4-H.
“We’re very active in 4-H, very active in the Holstein Association,” Junior Sonnek said.
“We were both in 4-H growing up, our boys got into, and we’ve both been leaders for 45 years,” Judy Sonnek said. “With all the things we’ve done in 4-H and the Holstein, we’ve got a lot of bonus kids, our bonus sons and daughters. We’ve leased a lot of cattle to kids in 4-H. That’s been a really great program for kids that aren’t around the farm, and for their parents, too.”
Junior and Judy Sonnek spent many years as active participants in 4-H attending expos, local fairs, state fairs, and judging for those events.
“A lot of state events, and nationals. I think we judged some of the national contests for seven or eight years,” Judy Sonnek said. “Most of our vacations were involving trips for Holstein on the coattails of the kids.”
It was the time they spent working with the kids that the Sonneks hope they are remembered for.
“You hope that everybody remembers us for what we’ve done, and we don’t really expect anything back,” Junior Sonnek said. “That’s the biggest thing, the kids come back to see you and you talk for an hour or so.”
“The recognition is nice, but we’re really leaving a legacy of appreciation for the work we did and the friendships we’ve developed. Hopefully the integrity and honesty is the big thing,” Judy Sonnek said. “You try to make it a positive thing for the kids. It’s not so much the winning, it’s the work ethic and the friendships that they develop. That’s the important thing. … It’s fun when they remember us, and to see them develop an interest in ag. You feel it’s kind of worthwhile.”
This year, the Sonneks’ legacy has expanded in a unique way with second generation bonus kids.
“Now this year, we seem to have a couple of second generation bonus kids,” Judy Sonnek said. “A couple of the kids who leased from us when they were in 4-H have kids who are leasing from us, so that’s fun to see.”
When Junior and Judy Sonnek first learned they were nominated for the award, it was around Christmastime in 2023.
In a typical year, the couple would take a few weeks from the middle of February to the middle of March to go visit Junior Sonnek’s brother, and for Christmas, Erik and Kyle would gift their parents with the tickets to make the trip. But this year, the boys told their parents their travel plans might need to change so they could be home in time for the induction ceremony.
“They didn’t know yet (if we got it), but they knew we had been nominated. So, when we got back on the 5th of March, we got a letter in the mail saying we had been selected and when the banquet was going to be,” Judy Sonnek said.
After accepting their award, Junior and Judy Sonnek, alongside their two children Erik and Kyle Sonnek, visited Haecker Hall on the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities campus to see where their recognition will be housed.
“They have a picture of us and a biography down in Haecker Hall at the U campus. They have pictures of all the people (in the hall of fame),” Judy Sonnek said.
Junior and Judy Sonnek have been married for 52 years this June. They first met while roller skating.
“We met rollerskating in Rush City. I was teaching down in the cities in Roseville. A group of us would go on Tuesdays to adult skate, and then the ag teacher from Milaca talking (Junior) into going with skating when he got home from the Navy, so that’s how we met,” Judy Sonnek said.
Junior Sonnek still helps out on the family farm doing the daily chores that keep it running smoothly.
“Every other day I go over there, and help the cows through the parlor, and things like that. We’re waiting for it to dry up so I can start picking rocks,” Junior Sonnek said.
To learn more about the MN Livestock Breeders’ Hall of Fame, visit https://mnlivestockbreeders.org/hall-of-fame/.
Reach Chloe Smith at chloe.smith@apgecm.com
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