Daniel H. Mickelson
Grace
Daniel Mickelson of Grace was inducted into the 2012 Eastern Idaho Agriculture Hall of Fame for his efforts in improving the Holstein breed and dairy industry in Idaho.
Born in 1928 in Lago, Idaho, Mickelson started taking part in the family farm at an early age. By ten years of age, he was driving the horse teams that powered their family farm equipment. He often drove a team of four horses abreast to pull harrows and discs for field work. He also drove the four horses to help his father build farm roads and ditches.
Through his years of farming, Mickelson has experienced big changes in the dairy industry. His father’s family sold their milk in ten gallon cans. Then he saw the industry change to use small bulk tanks; and finally to large bulk tans as dairies got bigger and the Holstein breed became high milk producers. Mickelson had a bulk tank that would hold 1600 gallons of milk. Mickelson’s dairy herd grew from a single cow, which he raised as a 4-H project on his father’s farm, to 250 head of his own animals. He sold only Grade A quality milk in all his years as a dairy farmer.
Mickelson developed his dairy herd into a purebred operation of all registered Holsteins. He had great success in selling young bulls for breeding stock. He also sold Holstein bulls in Wyoming, Utah and Idaho. He showed his dairy cattle at shows all over the intermountain west including the Caribou County Fair for over 42 years and the Eastern Idaho State Fair for over 40 years. He has had great success in the show ring. His cows produced well and were also sold for excellent breeding stock. Mickelson has had cows sold to places as far away as New York state and Japan.
Mickelson has provided extensive service to the different dairy associations in Idaho and was elected as a delegate to the National Holstein Association six times. This opportunity allowed him to better help the Holstein breed in Idaho by bringing valuable information to the state’s dairy farmers.