Port-Haven Farm fosters responsible stewardship of our land and livestock.
Under the guidance of God, we utilize honest business practices that create a positive quality of life for our livestock, ourselves and the next generation.
Our farm and family
Harold Portner founded Port-Haven Dairy, a small Brown Swiss dairy cattle herd, in 1945 northwest of Sleepy Eye, MN. In 1990, a fire destroyed the milking barn, and part of the herd was lost. At that time, Tom, Harold’s son took over the herd. Port-Haven dairy then expanded with Brown Swiss and Holstein cows. Tom along with his wife Mary and his brother Mark grew the dairy herd to 280 milking cows. This herd sustained the two families until 2024. Due to labor and market constraints the majority of the milking herd was sold.
A farm transformed
Since the selling of the dairy herd, the farm walks the path of transformation. With an increased focus on stewarding the land in our care, soil health principles including adaptive grazing have come to the forefront. Now the farm raises grass-fed Red Angus beef cattle and a few A2A2 Brown Swiss dairy cattle. The next generation has added diversity to the farm. Isabella, Sabrina (Tom’s daughters) and Sabrina’s husband Cainan raise grass-fed lamb as well as a pastured laying hens. Mark’s sons are heavily involved in the day to day of the farm. Jared helps raise chickens and Dustin raises hogs for direct market.
