Daley Farms in Minnesota: History, What It Raises, How It Makes Money and How to Contact It
Profile updated November 2026
Daley Farms of Lewiston, Minnesota, is a sixth-generation family dairy in Winona County that the Star Tribune described in 2020 as milking about 1,500 Holstein cows. The family farms about 3,700 acres of corn and hay for feed and has worked for years on a permitted expansion. Its history goes back about 160 years, to the Irish immigrant John Daley.
| Location | Lewiston, Winona County, Minnesota, about 30 miles east of Rochester |
|---|---|
| Founded | About 1860s, by John Daley, an Irish immigrant |
| Sectors | Dairy; corn and hay for feed |
| Scale | About 1,500 Holstein cows and 3,700 acres in 2020 (Star Tribune); 26 employees plus family members |
| Why it is elite | Described as the largest farm in Winona County; sixth-generation family dairy of about 160 years |
| Ownership | Family-owned by Daley descendants, sixth generation |
| Official website | Star Tribune news profile of the farm (no operation website found) |
History of Daley Farms
The Star Tribune reports that the farm started about 160 years before 2020, when John Daley, an Irish immigrant, settled in Winona County in the 1860s. Gabe Daley and his cousins are the sixth generation, and the family has owned most of its cropland across generations.
The family applied in 2018 for permits to expand from about 1,728 cows and calves to 4,628, as Farm Progress reported. The proposal went through environmental review, county zoning disputes and court challenges, and the Minnesota Supreme Court declined to hear the family's appeal, per Post Bulletin coverage.
What Daley Farms Grows and Raises
The operation owns three dairy sites in Utica Township. The Star Tribune reports about 1,500 Holstein cows milked daily, 3,700 acres of corn and hay grown for feed, and 26 employees plus family members.
Farm Progress reported that the expansion plan included a confinement barn, a rotary milking parlor, a larger manure basin and runoff controls, with more than 4,100 acres of cropland available for manure application. The county had grandfathered the farm at 2,275 animal units when it set a 1,500-unit limit.
How Daley Farms Makes Money
Milk sales
Milk from the Holstein herd is the main product reported in coverage. Herd size and milking efficiency determine how well fixed costs are spread.
Home-grown feed
Raising corn and hay on about 3,700 acres lets the family supply much of the herd's feed and use manure as fertilizer.
Expansion and efficiency
The family sought to add cow numbers on its existing sites with newer barns and parlors. Coverage shows that permits and local rules are major parts of the business case.
Farm Insight: What Other Operators Can Learn from Daley Farms
Large dairies depend on land. Matching herd size to a manure application base and cropland for feed is a core constraint, as the permit process shows.
Generations of local relationships do not replace permitting work. Operators planning expansion should engage county zoning, water and neighbors early, and build for manure storage and well water needs.
Six generations and about 160 years of milking mean the Daley barns have heard every cow opinion in Winona County. If you want a break from parlor schedules and zoning hearings, visit farm.FM for farm satire, farm humor, ranch humor and farm jokes, including affectionate teasing about Holsteins with strong feelings and the cousins' group chat at planting time.
The outlet behind those laughs, farm.FM, is the nation's first satirical farm site, complete with Tractor Tunes country music for farmers. A farm.FM humorist's archive shows what a week of it looks like.
How to Contact Daley Farms
No official website, address or phone was found for the operation, so this links to a Star Tribune profile, November 2026. Herd and acreage figures are from 2018 to 2020 coverage and may have changed.
Daley Farms Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Star Tribune profile - History, herd and acreage
- Farm Progress on the expansion - Herd, manure and permit details
- Minnesota Reformer coverage - 2023 court ruling on the expansion
- USDA Census of Agriculture - Dairy and farm data from NASS
- USDA NASS Quick Stats - Search milk cow inventory by county
Daley Farms FAQ
Where is Daley Farms?
It is in Lewiston, Winona County, Minnesota, about 30 miles east of Rochester.
How big is the herd?
The Star Tribune reported about 1,500 Holstein cows in 2020, and Farm Progress reported 1,728 cows and calves in 2018.
How old is the farm?
It began about 160 years before 2020 with John Daley, and the sixth generation now farms.
What happened with the expansion?
The plan faced court challenges, and the Minnesota Supreme Court declined to hear the family's appeal, per Post Bulletin.
Daley Farms shows what six generations of dairy farming look like in Winona County and the permitting work large livestock operations face. To compare it with other leading operations, read the Minnesota farms guide.