OKEANA, Ohio – Emily Mullen recently held the grand opening of her Mullen Dairy and Creamery. She grew up on a dairy farm and knew at a young age that she had a passion for livestock and wanted to make it her life’s work. Part of that work is educating everyone about American agriculture.

The grand opening featured tours of the new facility, hay rides, a visit to the pumpkin patch, a corn box, a trike track, and lots of local vendors.

It took about four years to finish the building. Besides an up-to-date space for the cows, there’s a robotic milking space, an office, an education facility, and the creamery that produces flavored milks, soaps, lotions and lip balm. 

“I have been planning it since I was a little kid,” Mullen said.

“This farm had been in our family for about 125 years,” she explained. “I always knew that I wanted something different than my father had. Somebody once told me my great-grandfather milked by hand, my grampa milked the cows in a stanchion. My dad moved them into a parlor, and I have moved them into a milking robot.”

Every dairy has the responsibility of taking the best care of the animals, Mullen said. She wanted the cows in a facility where they can thrive for a long time. Her dream was to build a barn around their needs.

Mullen took over running the farm after college, as her dad’s health had declined. But she was still in college when the idea for a creamery presented itself.

“She had to do an internship and she didn’t want to go to just any dairy farm because she grew up on one,” said her mom, Amy. “She found a creamery that produced flavored milk. She got the information on how to do it and she called me.

“I was at a friend’s house learning how to make goat milk soap, and I thought, why can’t we make soaps?” Amy said. “It was like a God-thing; we both felt at the same time and we both were tearing up and getting excited about what God was going to do in our lives.”

Emily knew she had to diversify to stay in business. She opened the creamery in a small building on the farm in 2020. Amy Mullen and Emily’s sister, Mandy McQueen, help with the soaps and lotions.

Tim Mullen, Emily’s dad, was on hand for the open house. He took over the farm when he was 14 after his dad died. He went to school and farmed at night. He’d go work the farthest fields at midnight so his mom and sisters couldn’t find him and make him come in, he said.

“Emily’s done a good job,” he said. “She had a lot of obstacles to overcome mainly because she was young and a woman and they wouldn’t listen to her. This was her dream and she did it.”

Throughout the day, Emily led visitors on tours of the facility. Todd Laney, a neighboring farmer, learned more than he expected.

“I am impressed with how much Emily knows,” he said. “She is not just running a business, but she is trying to educate people on the entire dairy process. She is enabling us as consumers to understand the process, to feel good about what she is doing here, and receive a good product at the same time.”

Emily plans on doing school tours throughout the year and having seasonal activities. Calf Yoga is starting soon.

“We want to make this not only a seasonal stop but to find a way to exhibit the struggles that a farmer faces every season,” she said. “We don’t only farm in the fall and summer. It is 365 days a year. By opening these doors we want to show people, not in a condescending way but in a respectful way, that we work hard and that’s what it takes to keep this country running.”