Iowa State Dairy Association president Robert Horst talks industry and personal growth and why he chose Iowa 26 years ago to put down roots.

Why Iowa?

Robert Horst paused for a moment before cracking a smile and offering his thoughts.

“It’s farmer-friendly …, an ag-based state, and I knew a lot of smart people who came from Iowa,” Horst said. “There’s open ground, right, so plenty of places to make a home …, and the education system … Iowa had the second highest graduation rate in the nation at that time.

“So yeah, we knew they were getting it done in the public schools, and we thought our daughters needed that experience.”

Of course, the challenge of trying to break into farming on his own out East played a role in the decision to move, despite a family legacy steeped in agriculture in West Virginia and Maryland. 

For generations, his relatives raised cattle, milked cows, raised hogs, sold vegetables door-to-door or drove a milk truck. 

Horst himself managed beef herds and built a...