Mike and Maile Plotner build Union-Champ Dairy one milking at a time

June is National Dairy Month, and we’re celebrating with a look at a small dairy farm in Union County.

Mike and Maile Plotner are first-generation dairy farmers who are building their Brown Swiss herd while balancing off-farm careers, raising a young family, and steadily improving their operation at Union-Champ Dairy. Mike works at the Nestlé plant in Marysville, while Maile is finishing her pharmacy residency, but mornings and evenings are spent in the barn caring for the cows they hope will help carry on a family tradition.

Ohio Ag Net’s Joel Penhorwood has more about how the couple make it happen, plus a bit about their love for Allis-Chalmers, in this feature.

Read the full feature story here: https://ocj.com/2026/06/the-easy-way-isnt-their-way-at-union-champ-dairy/… Continue reading