Growing for Kane: The Milky Way to Lenkaitis' Dairy Farm in St. Charles

Kane County Connects is spotlighting local farms that received grants through Kane County's 2024 Food and Farm Resiliency Program. Funded by the federal American Rescue Plan, the program supports farmers as they continue to recover from pandemic-related challenges and work to strengthen the region's food system.        

Innovations on the Farm

This past summer, representatives from the renowned Aspen Institute, Midwest Dairy, the Environmental Defense Fund, and global philanthropic organizations gathered at Lenkaitis Holsteins in St. Charles. This immersive tour demonstrated the realities of dairying, innovative productions, and how farms can mitigate environmental impacts of methane emissions. As one of the few remaining family-owned dairy farms in Kane County, this neighborhood farm is expertly operated by husband-and-wife team Sarah and Andy Lenkaitis. The family has been raising and milking Registered Holsteins on their Kane County land for decades, combining tradition with innovation to ensure their herd thrives. A Registered Holstein is a Holstein dairy cow whose pedigree is officially recorded with a recognized breed association, in this case Holstein Association USA.

Throughout the two-hour field trip, farmers Sarah and Andy emphasized three guiding principles: decisions should be good for the cows, suitable for the people caring for them, and beneficial to the community. Tour attendees observed advanced feeding programs, manure management systems, and technologies such as robotic milking that improve efficiency and animal well-being.

Meet the Farmers

In 1983, Andy's parents bought and launched the dairy farm, and at the time, St. Charles was a rural landscape about an hour west outside of Chicago. Andy and Sarah were both raised on first generation dairy farms; and after going to university and majoring in agricultural sciences, felt called back to dairy farming. In 2014, they purchased their first animal together, Dream-Prairie Rebate-Red-ET. Today Rebate has numerous daughters and granddaughters in Lenkaitis' herd of Registered Holsteins.

“Holsteins originated from the Netherlands and are the most common dairy breed in the United States," explained Sarah. “Holsteins hair color can either be black and white or red and white - we have both at our farm. Holsteins are the most productive breed for producing milk."

In 2026, the Lenkaitis Dairy looks much different as subdivisions were built up around the farm. However, Andy and Sarah are committed to upgrades and ensuring a future for the farm for the next 40 years. For instance, the couple invested in two robotic milking units. They are available to the cows 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A cow chooses when she wants to be milked by entering the robotic milking stall. On average, each of the 80 milking cows will visit the robotic milking stall three times a day. Each cow wears a radio frequency identification collar that allows Andy and Sarah to track the activity of the cow throughout the day.

“The collar acts like a FitBit or AppleWatch on a human," explained Andy. “It monitors each cow's activities and also serves as an identification tag that the robotic milking stall reads when the cow enters. This way, the robot knows the cow has entered, and if she is eligible to milk. If eligible, the robot will prepare the cow for milking, just like a human would! The cow's teat is cleaned and rinsed before and after milking. While the cow is in the robotic milking unit, she is dispensed pellet feed to eat during the 5-7 minutes she will be in the robotic milking stall."

This harmonious combination of agricultural heritage, educational innovation, and bucolic preservation is another example of what makes the rural edge of Kane County unique. 

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Growing for Kane 

Lenkaitis Holsteins are farmer-owners of Dairy Farmers of America, and their milk is shipped to a creamery in Rockford where it is made into sour cream and cottage cheese. After it leaves the processor, it is distributed around northern Illinois, including Kane County, through familiar brands such as Kemps and Dean's.

Although customers cannot buy directly from the farm today, the milk produced at Lenkaitis Holsteins nourishes households across Kane County and beyond, serving as a quiet but essential link in the local food system.

The Farm and Food Resiliency Grant

The Food & Farm Resiliency Grant has provided crucial support in this environment, reimbursing expenses for herd health, feed supplements, and maintenance tools that keep the farm stable while long-term adjustments continue.

Like many dairy farms across the country, Lenkaitis Holsteins faced significant disruptions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Milk prices, which had been expected to rebound in 2020, plummeted by nearly 30% as schools, restaurants, and events shut down.

“Some dairy farms had to dump their milk, and while that wasn't the case for us since our milk goes into retail instead of food service, the ripple effects were huge," Sarah recalls. “Our buyer put farmers on a temporary production quota, and we had to cull a small group of cows and dry others early to stay under the 80% limit of our historic production."

Although the quota lifted after processors retooled plants for retail demand, the long-term impacts lingered. Volatile milk prices continued through 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. Rising feed costs, supply chain challenges, and new hauling fees that tripled expenses have continued to squeeze margins.

With help from the Kane County Food and Farm Resiliency Grant, Andy shared that they are in better shape.

“The grant helped us make better decisions that we wouldn't otherwise have been able to make, and earlier in the season," explained Andy. “We could also pay for our inputs earlier than we thought, so it helped us buy things smarter, and we're hoping to be a little more profitable by the end of the year."

When asked about the investments to prepare for 2026, the Lenkaitis bought new equipment that keeps the cows happy and productive.

“Our power increases in the summer because we use fans to keep the cows cool," Andy stated. “The grant made a big difference in upgrading the lights and fans. We also installed new belts and blades for our machinery as we make our own feed for the cows, and need to optimize the quality of what we grow and harvest. Both of these investments pay us back in better milk production and cow health."

Why Kane County

Operating in the heart of suburban Kane County, the Lenkaitis family provides a living example of how agriculture and community can coexist. Their leadership extends beyond milk production into education, advocacy, and food security efforts.

“We are choosing to dairy farm in a challenging area with a higher than average cost of production. While this area has a rich dairy history, there are only three dairy farms remaining in Kane County and much of the infrastructure for agriculture is gone. However, this farm has been in our family since 1983, and we are committed to keeping our dairy farm operational despite the challenges. We are also committed to being active in leadership roles within agriculture and being advocates for dairy in our local community."

That commitment is clear in the way the farm opens its gates. The Lenkaitis family offers fully-guided, scheduled tours from spring through fall. Visitors include school groups from preschool through college, senior groups, homeschoolers, 4-H and FFA clubs, Scouts, and even other dairy farmers from across the U.S. and abroad. They also mentor the next generation of agricultural leaders through internships, welcoming high school and college students.

For visitors this past summer with the Aspen Institute, this was more than a farm tour, but a chance to reimagine how food production can look in the future. The Lenkaitis family's blend of tradition and technology shows how local farms play a vital role in tackling climate challenges while caring for animals and strengthening community ties.

The Growing for Kane series was created by Sustainable Agriculture Consultant Ellen Kamps.