Dairy farmers across the country implement technology differently on their operations, but they all share a focus on creating efficiencies, improving herd health and increasing milk quality. Technology helps them do this easier, faster and more sustainably than ever before.
Read MoreMoving Dairy Farmers of America’s (DFA) family farm-owners’ milk from farm to plant is no exception. When milk haulers pick up a load of milk, they test it for safety and quality, ensuring all milk is antibiotic free. To track this, haulers complete a paper manifest, entering all relevant information by hand — like where the milk came from, on-farm test results, where it’s going and who it’s being sold to — essential to dairy farmers getting paid and consumers receiving safe, high-quality milk.
With paper manifests being handwritten, there’s an increased possibility for misplaced notes, as well as extended processing times. For dairy farmers, the waiting game can cause unforeseen quality issues. For haulers, it creates stress of keeping track of paperwork on the road, extra work and inefficiencies.
How much paperwork are we talking about exactly? In 2018, DFA collected 1.3 million paper manifests.
So, to reduce paper usage and increase efficiencies, DFA’s Mountain Area region recently implemented a new process for moving milk from farms to plants. This new innovation — a mobile manifest system — is helping cut down on potential errors and the amount of time it takes to process a load of milk. It makes the hauler’s job easier and brings value to farmers, customers and consumers by creating a reliable information trail.
Before going mobile, on average, the time between a load of milk being delivered until the data was captured off the paper manifest verified was three days. With a digital manifest, verification takes less than a day. And the advancements don’t stop there.
Data is captured in the mobile manifest when a user scans a QR code, which automatically completes the manifest without anyone having to verify the information. Ship to, sold to and more is captured immediately and readily available for users to help bill customers and pay DFA’s family farm-owners. Even better, the digital manifest collects more data than ever before.
Want to know who the name of the driver hauling the milk? Easy.
Need an exact time stamp to help judge timing when testing? It’s there.
When dealing with a perishable product like milk that communities around the country and world rely on for unbeatable nutrition, every hour counts.
The launch of this innovative idea started in Colorado and has since moved to Utah and Idaho with plans to continue to expand to DFA’s other regional Areas across the country.
Future plans for the system include farmers receiving an email when the milk truck leaves their property, so they’re aware of every step in the process.
Innovations like this is what’s incredible about the dairy industry — telling the story beyond the gallon through quality and traceability.
From kefir, kimchi and kombucha to pale ale and pinot noir, some of our favorite foods and beverages are fermented. Fermentation enhances flavors, makes wine and sourdough bread possible and has also been linked to gut health and mental wellness. The process has been around for thousands of years and is still experiencing innovations today. And when you combine the process of fermentation with real dairy straight from the family farm, the benefits multiply.
Fermentation is an enzymatically controlled anaerobic breakdown of an energy-rich compound (such as a carbohydrate to carbon dioxide and alcohol or to an organic acid). Jessica Niblick, an innovation food scientist for Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), explains how it works:
“Dairy is an excellent base to start with because it’s full of fats, sugars and proteins that cultures need to thrive.”
“It all begins with a base, to which you’ll add the culture that starts the anaerobic breakdown. Dairy is an excellent base to start with because it’s full of fats, sugars and proteins that cultures need to thrive. The culture can be a bacteria, mold or yeast,” she says. “These are your work horses, driving the development of the product and its final flavor or functionality.”
“The cultures take the raw materials in the base and either break them down or reconstruct them into the desired product. From there, it’s a matter of balance,” Jessica says. “Keep an eye on the temperature and acidity, and make sure the culture has plenty to eat.”
Most of the cultures found in fermented dairy products, like yogurt, are beneficial to helping keep a healthy balance of good bacteria in the digestive system. The probiotics present help support the gut’s microbiome. “Additionally,” Jessica says, “the fermentation process breaks down components of dairy and other foods into more easily digestible products that make the nutrients stored in those foods more readily absorbed by our bodies.”
The process also results in natural preservation, which accounts for a lot of its historical importance. It has been used around the world for thousands of years to prevent foods and beverages from spoiling without refrigeration. However, gut health and preservation aren’t the only reasons fermentation is so popular.
“Consumers are looking for clean labels with recognizable ingredients,” says Bill Hayes, director of innovation on the ingredient solutions team at DFA. “Savory umami flavors are currently quite popular, and people want to get those flavors through recognizable ingredients. Fermentation allows us to create strong, distinctive flavors with healthy dairy products that still have that clean label.”
While yogurt, kefir and sour cream are probably top of mind when you think about fermented — or cultured — dairy products, recent innovations have widened the breadth of choices. Restaurants are transforming dishes by adding exciting new flavors through fermented dairy powders, and new cultures are being discovered every day.
“It’s a fascinating process, and there are so many cultures out in the world that can make anything from bioplastics to pharmaceuticals to delicious food,” Jessica says. “Who knows what we could be making in 10 years? There are really no limits.”
Opening a restaurant takes courage and dedication. Mother-daughter duo Renee and Rebekah Alford had both when they bought Rainbow Shores, an upscale eatery along the eastern shore of Lake Ontario.
As part of a family dairy farm, the two know about hard work. Rebekah grew up helping on the family’s dairy, Locust Hill Dairy in Mannsville, N.Y., and Renee worked on dairies all her married life. Like a true entrepreneur family, the dairy is managed and operated today by Renee’s husband, Timothy, and two of their daughters Jessica and Amanda, and their husbands, Bruce and Brian.
“Dairy farming teaches you really good work ethic,” Renee says. “I’m sure that’s why Rebekah was able to apply herself to the restaurant business. She already knew it was seven days a week, nighttime, weekends and holidays.”
Ready to prepare food the way she wanted after years working in restaurants and catering in the Adirondack area, Rebekah didn’t expect to return home to take on restaurant ownership. But after an evening eating together at Rainbow Shores and taking note of the for-sale sign, her mom convinced her to go for it.
When the two took over ownership in 2010, they continued the legacy of this favorite local spot. Built in the 1920s, several different purveyors have owned the white clapboard building and the restaurant has served delicious food long enough for Renee to remember bringing her children, including now head chef Rebekah, to eat there. “It’s been open a long time and has a great history of being a good place to eat,” she says.
Hidden down a dirt road that opens onto stunning waterfront views, the charming fine dining space begs you to linger. “We don’t want you to just eat and leave. Make going out to dinner an event,” Renee says. “Order appetizers. Take your time. Wait for the next course. Have dessert. Enjoy the experience.” She recommends the bacon-wrapped scallops in a maple mustard sauce. “You may have tried bacon-wrapped scallops in a lot of places, but if you have ours, there’s a big difference.” And she knows. She orders them whenever she sees them on a menu. The restaurant also serves up mouthwatering filets and seafood favorites paired with fresh, artful salads and homemade bread.
“Dairy farming teaches you really good work ethic. I’m sure that’s why Rebekah was able to apply herself to the restaurant business. She already knew it was seven days a week, nighttime, weekends and holidays.”
Like her chef-daughter, Renee appreciates food. Even as a restauranteur, she enjoys going out to eat. “I hate to be rushed when I go to a restaurant. I want lots of time between my courses,” she says.
Open May through October to take advantage of the mild summer days in upper New York, Rainbow Shores features once-a-week crab nights and live music every Thursday through Sunday. On most evenings, you’ll find locals and summer residents with cottages and second homes along the lake dining at the Shores or enjoying a glass of wine on the deck and watching the sunset. “There’s also the tourists that find us by accident,” Renee says. “They’re just traveling through and fall in love with it like we did.”
There’s a lot to love. Planters overflowing with flowers frame the deck. String lights twinkle overhead and curl around trees. A crisp breeze rolls in off the lake.
As a true family affair, the restaurant and dairy complement each other. Renee’s son-in-law, who works on the dairy, hung the string lights at the restaurant and built the stage for the band. Whenever a piece of equipment is needed from the farm, they’re only too happy to share with the restaurant. “Even though the other children are not involved in the restaurant, they love to come here,” Renee says. “It all works together.”
Meet the Kemps giving cow. This happy bovine is more than a smiling face on a carton. She represents kids in need getting a nutritious snack they might not otherwise have.
Since June, The Giving Cow Project, a hunger awareness campaign launched by Kemps, has committed to provide a carton of shelf-stable milk to kids in need for every gallon of Kemps Select and Kemps Milk purchased, up to 500,000 cartons. Partnering with Feeding America® Eastern Wisconsin, Second Harvest Heartland, Food Bank of Iowa and Greater Chicago Food Depository, the donations will go to food shelves and backpack programs in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois.
Kemps is a household name in the Midwest, providing wholesome dairy products like milk, ice cream and cultured products to communities since 1914, and actively works to give back to the local community.
“Families served by food shelves often receive less than one gallon of milk per person per year,” says Rebecca Heagney, director of marketing for Kemps. “For that to happen right where we are — in the heart of America’s dairy country — we wanted to fix that. We wanted to do something about getting nutritious milk to those families and kids who don’t have access to it.”
“Families served by food shelves often receive less than one gallon of milk per person per year.”
Food banks list milk as one of their most requested but least donated items. Because milk requires refrigeration, food banks struggle to store and distribute this grocery staple. Access to nutritious milk is vital for families in need because they often turn to less healthy foods that cost less, have a longer shelf life and can stretch over multiple meals.
Enter the Giving Cow carton. These eight-ounce airtight cartons of 2 percent milk don’t require refrigeration and will stay fresh for up to a year — much longer than the typical shelf life of milk, which is 14 days after processing. Made by pasteurizing milk at a higher temperature and packaging it in an airtight container to prevent bacteria from growing, shelf-stable milk still offers the same nutrients, vitamins and goodness of regular milk.
Giving Cow cartons help bridge the nutrition gap for kids who depend on reduced breakfast and lunch programs at school. Besides stocking food bank shelves, the Giving Cow cartons will also get stuffed into kids’ backpacks through local backpack programs. Backpack programs fill kids’ bags with nutritious meals and snacks to help them get enough to eat over the weekend.
“We are so grateful for this generous donation,” says Julie Vanhove, Feeding Minnesota sourcing manager with Second Harvest Heartland. “Kemps is a valuable partner in our fight to feed the one in eight children in our service area and Minnesota who experience hunger.”
The cute carton was designed with kids in mind. “Often, food banks will receive food or donations in blank packaging,” Heagney says. “Our Giving Cow adds a little more fun and personality to delight the little ones.” But you won’t find these cartons on store shelves, they’re only available for local kids in need.
Want to help? If your grocery store stocks Kemps, grab a gallon of milk or pick out a Kemps Simply Crafted ice cream. Unlike other give back programs, The Giving Cow Project doesn’t require any extra work, like sending in UPC codes or receipts. Simply buy a gallon and Kemps will donate the giving cow cartons to the kids who need them most.
When thinking about how to give back to its community, Kemps considered a monetary donation. “We liked the giving cow cartons because we’re giving back something that there’s a need for, we’re filling a gap for kids in need and it’s something we believe in,” Heagney says. “We believe this is a nutritious product that offers all the vitamins and nutrition of regular milk, and we liked the idea of connecting this to our purpose of nourishing families.”
Milk powder might not be as glamorous as chunks of gorgeous Gouda on a charcuterie board, but it represents a lot of good. The good nutrition packed into a storable product. The good of paying farmers for their labor. The good of reducing waste as sustainability becomes more important every day. Milk powder is packed full of good, and it’s impactful.
Dairy powder plants are one stop milk might make on its way to your table. And while making cheese might seem more interesting than evaporating water, dairy powder plants allow milk to have a long, productive life. These processing facilities create powder from milk produced by local farmers — offering the world affordable, shelf-stable nutrition while providing a consistent home for milk, even when local milk markets are saturated. They impact not only the world’s hungry, but also the farmers who feed them.
Michael Lichte might be dairy powder’s biggest fan. He’s the vice president of sales and operations planning for the Ingredient Solutions division at Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) — the sixth-largest milk marketing cooperative in the world — so he knows a little something about dairy powder and the plants that process it each and every day.
“Powder plants are a story of ‘and,’” Michael says. “They create manufacturing capacity for dairy nutrition that processes large volumes of our members’ milk and they can aid in bringing balance to local milk markets.
So what does it mean to create manufacturing capacity for DFA’s family farm-owners? Why not just make more fresh dairy products with the milk they produce?
“Powder plants provide an efficient way to deliver value to our members by processing the milk they produce, even if the demand for fresh dairy products isn’t there.”
“Inherently, milk marketing is trying to match supply and demand,” Michael explains.
If people aren’t buying fresh dairy products like yogurt or cheese fast enough, it can spoil. But to keep their cows happy and comfortable, farmers need to milk them several times per day. And they have to send that milk somewhere, whether consumers are buying cheese or not. Supply and demand are never perfectly balanced because they depend on consumers’ buying habits and farmers’ milk production.
“But powder plants provide an efficient way to deliver value to our members by processing the milk they produce, even if demand for fresh dairy products isn’t there,” Michael says.
These facilities remove water from the milk, creating powder that stays fresh for up to two years without refrigeration. It’s lightweight and contains milk fat, protein, amino acids and other nutrients like you find in liquid milk, but stays fresh longer, is easier to store and is more affordable to transport relative to liquid dairy products.
In this way, dairy powder plants provide a way for people around the world to feed their families — 60% of the milk powder DFA produces is exported. That means families without access to refrigeration — due to poverty or lack of a reliable electrical grid (and likely both) — can still get the dairy nutrition they need by purchasing high quality U.S. milk powder in economical packets. It’s more cost effective than liquid milk and still contains the nutrition they need. It allows us to move dairy into parts of the world that most need it.
You might be wondering what else you can do with powdered dairy products.
“It has a lot of diversity,” Michael says. “It will go into secondary manufacturing for consumer-packaged dairy products like infant formula, yogurt, ice cream or cottage cheese.” Also some of those decadent chocolatey desserts you love.
Dairy powder plants create ingredients that can be used in different forms with varying levels of protein, milk fat and water, which determine its best use. Here are a few you might recognize:
Nonfat dry milk — chocolate dairy drinks (no, they don’t come from brown cows)
Whole milk powder — whipped topping for your favorite pie
Buttermilk powder — dips and dressings to dunk those veggies
Cheese powder — macaroni’s best friend
Yogurt powder — turns raisins into something your kid will snack on
Dairy is known for reusing things you might think are at the end of their lifecycles. For instance, the citrus pulps, cottonseeds and stale taco shells farmers incorporate into their cows’ nutrition plans are used to make milk. The byproduct of those byproducts — manure — is used to make fertilizer and energy.
So it should come as no surprise that the dairy industry is making the most of waste in processing facilities as well.
“Liquid whey is a byproduct of cheesemaking,” Michael says.
But instead of throwing it out, it’s transformed into something else. “It can be dried as whey powder and used in ice cream, beverages or cheese powders,” he says. “You can also really concentrate the protein to make protein bars or the recovery drinks athletes use after a workout.”
The good created at dairy powder plants seems endless. And we’re all benefiting, from the cooks looking to liven up a dish, to children with no access to refrigeration and all of us sharing the planet.
We all have our own journey: a path we follow, hoping to find and achieve our complete potential. Along the way, we meet people who turn into friends. And, if we’re lucky, a select few of those friends can turn into family. For Edodio (Able) Martinez and Dalton Adams in Sulphur Springs, Texas, this is exactly what happened.
Born and raised in Mexico, Able immigrated to Texas, and in 1986, found himself working as a repairman for a mobile home company. It wasn’t his dream job, but it kept him busy. However, Able wanted more. More for his family, more for himself and more for his community.
In 1990, Dalton Adams had a fire at his house in Ridgeway, Texas. He called a mobile home company to help with the repairs. The company dispatched an employee to help Dalton. That employee was Able.
Dalton immediately recognized Able’s commitment to quality work and dedication to the task at hand. Through the repair process, Able and Dalton became friends. The two chatted about life, family and aspirations. It became more than just a business relationship. Able told Dalton about his experience working on a dairy farm in Mexico and about his dream of owning his own dairy in Texas. Dalton was retired but harbored a similar dream — to have his own dairy. Both men had stumbled upon a new friendship that might be the beginning of something bigger. The connection was instant between the two hard-working men who wanted more out of life.
With limited capital, they decided to buy calves together to help raise collateral. When they lost the majority of calves they had purchased to disease, Able and Dalton, without hesitation, purchased a second batch of calves who fared much better and encouraged the pair to think bigger. They knew they could do this; they just needed a more permanent location to get things started.
In April 1993, the two provided labor for a local landlord in exchange for six months of rent on a run-down dairy in town. They hauled away 36 loads of trash and spent more than 1,000 hours repairing the dairy barn. Once up to snuff, they named the newly refurbished facility “Martinez Dairy.” Able’s dreams were turning into a reality, and Dalton was along for the ride accomplishing similar goals, not only as a business partner and mentor, but as a friend.
Able and Dalton started shipping milk on September 1, 1993. Shortly after, they began acquiring better genetics, grew their herd and started to establish their dairy. As the pair’s equity continued to grow, they started to achieve a level of financial stability. Able finally felt like he was in a position to invite his family to join him and his business. He wanted to share this experience. This wasn’t just his dream. It belonged to the entire Martinez family.
Able was overjoyed when his wife Olivia and their daughters, Maria, Adrian, Veronica, Olga and Jessica, joined him in Sulphur Springs. They could now run the dairy together, but more importantly, they could once again be a family.
Once Able had his family by his side, something special happened. His wife and daughters began to notice the relationship he had built with Dalton and the extraordinary bond began to grow to the rest of the Martinez family. Dalton helped the family get settled, helped them enroll in school and gave them a path to begin their lives in the local community. They saw the work Able and Dalton had put into the dairy and couldn’t help but build a similar connection with their father’s friend and mentor.
But it wasn’t just Dalton helping the Martinez family. Without any of Dalton’s close family nearby, Able, his wife and daughters welcomed him into their family. From holidays to everyday living, the relationship with Able and his family now went beyond the farm, beyond their friendship. Dalton was becoming a part of the Martinez family — he was the grandfather they never knew they needed.
In 2012, the Martinez family built a new dairy. Now at a new location, Martinez Dairy has been re-established and re-built, growing from 40 milking cows in 1993 to roughly 160 milking cows today. All the while, growing in their relationship, too, from a friendship to a partnership to a family bond. That family bond has made Martinez Dairy flourish. But that’s not all.
The long-lasting friendship between Able and Dalton continues to impact so much more than the farm. Four of Able’s daughters have graduated from Texas A&M-Commerce with careers in education, social work and pharmaceuticals. The fifth daughter, Jessica, is currently enrolled at Texas A&M-Commerce studying to be a nurse. Once graduated, all of Able’s daughters who came to America in 1997 will have college degrees and prosperous careers. They credit Dalton with helping them along the way.
Now, Dalton tries to stay “retired” and Able runs the dairy. Their working relationship, friendship and family bond is stronger than ever. Dalton now lives on the operation with the family who credits him with helping them achieve their dreams in America as a family.
What began with a hardworking man helping a retiree fix their home, turned into an American family success story. All because of friendship, family and dairy farming.
If you’ve read any Jane Austen novels, you’ll recognize the parlor as the location where ladies receive their gentleman callers. If the classics aren’t your thing, maybe you think of an old-fashioned beauty parlor, where grandmothers have their hair set. If you’re in the dairy industry, though, you know the parlor as the heart of the whole operation.
The parlor is the place where milk begins its journey from farm to fork. The ladies stop by multiple times per day, flashing their big brown eyes and batting their long lashes, while their farmers go about the meat and potatoes of the dairy business: the milking.
Farmers have several options when it comes to parlor size and style. Depending on the farm’s location, herd size, labor needs and milking frequency, they may choose to milk in herringbone, parallel or rotary parlors. As long as the cows are comfortable and the farmers have safe access to perform udder hygiene and attach the milk machine to the udder, the basic needs are met.
Regardless of parlor style, at a very basic level, the milking system works the same way in all of them. The farmers give their cows a quick glance to make sure they’re feeling well and looking good, and they perform standard hygiene procedures by cleaning each udder and applying iodine before attaching the milking machine. Generally, this is where technology takes over, performing the actual milking and moving the milk from cow to bulk tank, via a vacuum system, where it’s stored until it can be quality tested and transported by the hauler.
For Eldon and Hilary Marrs of Marrs Milky Way Dairy in Ault, Colo., technology takes over a bit earlier in the process. The partners — both in business and in life — recently installed a 60-stall, robotic rotary parlor, only the fifth of its kind in the United States. It was a large undertaking, and after months of construction, the whole family was able to take part in the first day of milking in the new parlor, helping teach the cows to enter and exit the rotary parlor.
Eldon explains that family was the driving factor behind installing a robotic parlor all along. “This parlor gives us the ability to continue a family dairy tradition,” he says.
“This parlor gives us the ability to continue a family dairy tradition.”
Eldon’s father began milking in the 1930s, and Eldon himself has always been a dairy farmer. Since installing the new parlor, the dairy has doubled in size. He and Hilary now milk about 1,600 cows, and their labor needs have remained steady.
“We’ve been able to basically keep the same employee base we had prior to opening the new barn, while still expanding the herd,” Hilary says.
Automation and data collection have made this possible. At milking time, the ladies step on to the parlor one by one and ride around a large circle for one revolution. As each cow enters, the system scans a tag in her ear and tracks the information from each milking session. The milking machine attaches itself within about 15 seconds, performs udder hygiene, milking and quality testing. The system sends data on the milk from each quarter of her udder, monitors milk output from each quarter and detaches by quarter, as necessary. All this data can be monitored from a single screen, and each stall is color-coded so Eldon and Hilary know each cow’s status at a glance.
“We’ve been able to basically keep the same employee base we had prior to opening the new barn, while still expanding the herd.”
The whole process is quite orderly. The parlor is quiet — there’s no whistling or calling to the cows to cajole them into their spots. In fact, most of the cows are quite excited to board the rotary parlor, some even galloping up to the deck and giving a few playful bucks as they slide to a halt, awaiting their turn.
Two people can complete milking for the farm’s 1,600 cows from start to finish, and the data tracked by the robots alerts the family to any health issues nearly 24 hours earlier than without the robots, which was the Marrs’ second reason behind the installation: cow care. All that data gathered by the robots allows the Marrs family to give optimal care to their herd.
The parlor offers much more than just a location to milk cows. It’s a gathering place, for both humans and bovines. It provides an opportunity to check in and get the latest information, not unlike beauty parlors. And most importantly for the Marrs family, it’s the key to continuing a family tradition and giving their cows the best possible care.
It’s touted as the most important meal, and is widely accepted to eat any time, day or night. From coffee in a paper cup to a full-fledged meal around the table, breakfast is arguably the best part of a morning routine. Everyone has their own special morning method, but for most dairy farmers, it’s milk first, then breakfast. For Templeton Farms, Si-Ellen Dairy and Rollin’ Green Dairy Farm, the morning routine is much the same from day to day, and breakfast plays a key role.
The tranquil morning air is punctuated by cows calling for their breakfast. The calf barn and the milking parlor shine bright in the midst of a dark morning, while the busy figures of Emily, Don and Rich Templeton can be seen hard at work. There are cows to be milked, calves to be fed, rations to be mixed, alleys to be cleaned and all the other daily chores of life on the farm. The day starts long before sunrise and ends long after the sun leaves the sky.
“I’m grateful I have the opportunity to spend an hour here each morning.”
The family milks about 150 cows three times per day on their century farm in Evansville, Wis. They also farm 1,100 acres, which means during harvest and planting time, they are especially busy. There are three full-time farm employees — all Templeton family members. Rich Sr. and Shirley have nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild, and each plays a part on the farm from time to time.
For Don and Rich Jr., twin sons of Shirley and Rich Sr., the morning starts about 3:30 a.m. They meet at the farm, after a mile or less commute for each of them. With a staunch sense of fairness, the brothers adhere to an every-other-day rotation for completing outside chores: True for the lovely summer mornings as well as the bitter wintry ones.
Don’s daughter, Emily, rolls in at a luxurious 6 a.m. to feed calves before she heads out an hour later to begin her day as a field representative for Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) — the same cooperative her family farm’s part of. As the sun peeks over the trees in a sky full of muted shades of pinks and purples, calves in the pasture follow Emily as she pours their breakfast into a trough. While she works, she says, “I’m grateful I have the opportunity to spend an hour here each morning, but in the winter, I’m also happy I’m not the one spending 10-plus hours out in the cold! I really respect my dad and uncle for that.”
While Don and Rich Jr. eat the same breakfast every day at the farmhouse with their parents, Emily, an avid cook and baker, has been known to indulge in one of her leftover sweet creations for breakfast. If she doesn’t have any cake or pie around, though, she keeps breakfast exciting by varying the menu. There is one mainstay: a steamy mug of coffee.
“Depending on the weather, the plan can change 10 minutes after we make it.”
As Emily leaves to construct her own breakfast and start her other job, Don, Rich Jr., Shirley and Rich Sr. gather around the farmhouse dining table. While they pour milk fresh from the farm into their cereal and spread peach and strawberry jam on their toast, they talk of the day’s work.
Don says, “We come in for breakfast and discuss the plan for the day with the boss.” Rich Sr. and Shirley are still clearly a big part of the everyday routine.
Rich Sr. quickly explains that while they always have a plan, they often have to revise it. “Depending on the weather, the plan can change 10 minutes after we make it,” he says.
As the family discusses the day ahead, a red-headed woodpecker climbs the massive tree just outside the dining room picture window. It takes flight as Christopher, Rich Jr.’s son and the other full-time employee on the farm, takes a seat at the table. As plans are laid and breakfast finished, the crew heads
back outside.
Morning on a dairy farm tends to be a pretty regimented affair, especially when there are 7,700 cows to care for. The milking on Si-Ellen Dairy, which is owned by Mike Roth, his seven siblings and his mother, begins at 6 a.m. and continues all day with only about an hour break twice daily to wash the pipeline through which milk travels on its journey from cow to milk tank.
“The mornings unfold differently depending on the weather, meetings, the cows or where you work on the dairy,” says Mike. “Employees in the calf department show up around 5 a.m., the herdsmen arrive around 6 a.m., and the office opens at 7 in the morning, which is when the coffee really gets brewing.”
As the sun rises, it illuminates a dairy abuzz with traffic through the feed lanes, cows moving in and out of the parlor and folks visiting the office for meetings, coffee or breakfast.
“The mornings unfold differently depending on the weather, meetings, the cows or where you work on the dairy.”
As for Mike himself, he’s been known to grab a coffee with cream and a muffin on his way to work. He also likes to stop for donuts or breakfast burritos to leave in the office for his employees. People are priority for Mike’s family, and an occasional breakfast at the office is one of the many perks employees at Si-Ellen
Dairy enjoy.
“Food is a really important way to show your appreciation,” Mike says. “As a family operation, we try to instill a workplace culture where the employees know they are part of our family and part of our team. The occasional breakfast is an easy way for me to help reinforce that culture.”
In 1921, Mike’s parents, Simon and Mary Ellen, moved from Switzerland and founded a 100-cow dairy in Washington. That’s where Mike and his seven siblings grew up and how they learned the dairy business. Today, the family farms in Idaho, and even with multiple dairies and thousands of acres to farm, Mike gets to spend time with the cows.
“My pickup is my office,” Mike says. His mornings always start in the truck. “I make my rounds of the three dairies and two feedlots. With family members and good employees, I’m able to be outside, which is where I need to be, sorting cows, checking feed and finding any cows that may need attention. Generally, just out making sure things are done how they should be.”
All eight of Simon and Mary Ellen’s children have worked on the dairies in some capacity. Even at 95 years old, Mary Ellen still enjoys being involved in the farms. Although Si-Ellen Dairy, as well as the Roths’ other operations, employs more than 200 people, they are still family farms. And a morning routine with free-flowing coffee and warm breakfast helps reinforce just that.
Each morning, members of the McNeely family are awake early enough to see the dew as it’s burned from short-cropped blades of grass and feel the sun as its rays fill the freestall barn where the milking cows eat their breakfast — although most days it’s safe to say they are too busy to take particular notice as these daily occurrences take shape.
Jeffrey manages the 190-cow dairy on his family’s operation, with help from one full-time and several part-time employees. His brother Jamison handles the feeding: mixing the ration twice per day and feeding all the girls. Jeffrey and Jamison’s father, Jim, manages the 1,700 acres of cropland and their mother, Jennifer, helps out anywhere needed and also babysits Jamison’s daughter, Adalyn. With milking and cropland, there’s plenty of work to go around.
“I’ve had former employees make special requests for these egg sandwiches — they’re that good.”
To ensure each cow is properly milked each morning, Jeffrey is up at 3:45 a.m., brewing fresh coffee to take with him on his short walk up the hill to work. This is Jeffrey’s favorite time of day. It’s peaceful, just him and the cows — no sales visits, no phones ringing. Then, around 9 o’ clock, after the coffee in his thermos runs dry, the cows have been cared for and the other morning chores completed, Jeffrey heads to his parents’ house for a quick breakfast — usually cereal with a splash of milk or a quick yogurt and granola bar. Then, it’s back to work.
Thursdays are a special treat, and popular with family and employees alike. Patricia, who along with her husband, Robert, founded the farm in 1973, makes mouth-watering egg sandwiches wrapped in tinfoil and delivers them to the milking parlor at 6 a.m.
Jennifer says, “I’ve had former employees make special requests for these egg sandwiches — they’re that good.”
And while Patricia wraps the sandwiches for munching on the go, collecting them offers those in the parlor a brief respite from work and allows a quick glance around. The parlor and freestall barn sit atop a big hill with acres of rolling green cropland below. As the sun comes up, shadows reach long and colors transform the sky. This hilltop aery not only offers magnificent views of the valley below, but of Patricia’s driveway, which is convenient for Jeffrey and Jamison.
“The view’s nice because you’ve got a five-minute warning before the boss shows up,” Jeffrey says of his grandmother. “Because let’s be honest, she’s still the boss around here.”
“The view’s nice because you’ve got a five-minute warning before the boss shows up, because let’s be honest, [Grandma is] still the boss around here.”
Patricia makes Thursday mornings a treat with her portable egg sandwiches, but Sundays for savoring. Cows still have to be milked, but afterward, the McNeely family can be found around the breakfast table. Sunday family breakfasts are used for planning the day and the week ahead and generally taking things a little slower than the other days of the week. Not to say this is a day of rest; after all, by the time breakfast is served around 9 a.m., the chores have already been done and the cows milked. Sunday breakfasts, however, are a little more leisurely.
Breakfast fare ranges from over-easy eggs to French toast or omelets. Jennifer tends to rotate the options from week to week as keeping her husband, two sons, daughters-in-law and grandchild satisfied can be tricky. So maybe Sundays for Jennifer aren’t quite as leisurely as for everyone else.
Whether it starts in a truck, the kitchen or a milking parlor, the morning routine is always better when you add milk.
I cruised up to the Central Valley of California after three days on the road traveling from the Heartland to the West Coast. Interstate 70 ushered me through the Flint Hills and Rocky Mountains, and Interstate 15 took me through Fishlake National Forest and right by the future site of Dairy Farmers of America’s (DFA) newest cheese retail store in Beaver, Utah. A few more U.S. highways and mountain roads guided me through Death Valley National Park and Sequoia National Forest. The end of my journey brought the hot, white sand and cold, blue water of the Pacific Ocean.
Along the way, I witnessed a turkey with feathers fanned,strutting his stuff for some nearby hens. A pheasant flew so close to the truck, I had visions of cracked windshields. Lights from a wind farm shone like stars scattered across a field, and solar panels glinted in the desert sun as far as I could see.
A couple hours from my final destination, the verdant acres of Philip Verwey Farms greeted me with a much-needed respite from the road and provided hope that the beauties I encountered during my cross-country trek would be here for many years to come.
That’s because Philip Verwey and his son, Brent, are committed to green practices on their dairy farms and to being industry leaders in sustainability. Green operations make good business sense, as well as environmental sense, and the Verweys believe they’re good for the dairy industry, too. Brent explains that implementing sustainable practices is important to the Verweys because it allows them to demonstrate the viability of these practices to their fellow dairy farmers.
Philip Verwey and Frank Cardoza
“Being environmentally friendly is good for everyone,” he says. “It’s good for the public and it’s good for the industry. By paving the way and helping show these practices work for the business, more dairymen may be open to making some of these sustainable changes.”
Staying at the forefront of environmental innovations has enabled the Verweys to partner with their local and national regulatory agencies, and they’ve invited other dairy farmers to see their work in action through open-house events and allowing writers like myself to visit the dairies.
The nitty-gritty
Philip Verwey Farms consists of about 4,600 acres, 10,000 milking cows and 7,000 young cows not yet in the milking herd. And, with that many animals, there is bound to be some major manure. Instead of letting all this waste simply go to waste, the Verwey family turns it into electricity. And bedding for their cows. And fertilizer for the fields. Oh, and at full capacity, their anaerobic digester can create enough energy to power the farm and allow the Verweys to sell two-thirds of the total energy back to their local utility cooperative. For the family, being good stewards of the land also means emissions reduction and water conservation are top priorities for themselves and their employees.
“We take care of each of these individual areas and will ensure the longevity of animals and the dairy industry.”
Frank Cardoza, controller at Philip Verwey Farms, manages the day-to-day operations of the three farms. “When they hired me, Philip and Shelley said there were three things important to them,” Frank told me. “Number one is that we create a safe working environment that will attract hard-working people who want a career in the ag industry. Two is to ensure there’s no animal abuse and use the best animal handling practices. And number three is the environment. Always find ways to conserve water and reduce air pollutions. Those are the three things Philip and Shelley wanted me to focus on, and they all work together in harmony. We take care of each of these individual areas and will ensure the longevity of animals and the dairy industry.”
Harmony feels like the perfect word to describe the Verwey operation. Between recycling and conserving water, producing bedding and fertilizer, and creating energy that fuels the farms, the whole system works in sync.
A self-sustaining cycle
While many components comprise the sustainable systems on Philip Verwey Farms, they can be broken down into three main parts: recycled water, the anaerobic digestion system and the electric feed mixers. These three parts work together to create a green, self-sustaining cycle. The water flushes manure into the anaerobic digestion system, which creates electricity to run the feed mixers, which provides a total mixed ration to feed the cattle. The cattle then produce the wholesome milk with which we nourish our families, as well as the byproduct the water then flushes to the digester.
Recycled water
The water starts its journey through the dairy as it’s pumped from electric wells that provide fresh drinking water for the animals. Recycled water is then used to flush the lanes in all the freestall barns. It passes over screens in separators where large solids are sifted out and sent on to live another life as bedding and fertilizer. The water is then recycled and used to flush the heifer corrals. Lastly, the same water flows underground to the anaerobic digestion system, where it produces natural gas to power generators that deliver energy.
The goal for the dairies is to recycle all the water they use. Frank estimates they’re currently close to the 90-percent mark.
Anaerobic digestion system
Anaerobic digestion is the process where manure from the dairy herd is converted into energy by microorganisms in the absence of air. As Brent toured our group around Philip Verwey Farms, he summarized their system, which was commissioned in October 2016. The large, covered lagoon — double-lined to prevent groundwater seepage — where the conversion occurs is a half-mile long by 300-feet wide. It has a holding capacity close to 30 million gallons and energy potential of 20 million kilowatt hours’ worth of electricity — enough to power 5,000 homes or three large dairy facilities.
Brent walked our small group out on top of the black, rubber cover, which the biogas transforms into an enormous, curved balloon. As we reached the summit of the cover, we were treated to a bird’s-eye view of the surrounding fields, where the water table seeped through green fields and birds flapped and chirped.
As we descended, we walked straight toward the stack at the generator site, which gleams in the sunshine and gives off almost no emissions.
Electric feed mixers
One day while driving home, Philip had the idea to further reduce emissions by converting the farms’ traditional diesel-fueled mixing wagons to an electric-driven feeding system. He submitted a proposal to the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District through their Technology Advancement Program and was granted funding to help complete the project.
Philip subsequently eliminated the emission of more than 20 tons of nitrogen oxides each year through the use of two stationary mixers.
The total mixed ration Philip feeds his cows contains 12 different types of feed, including wheat and corn silage the family grows on the farms. The electric mixers prevent sorting of all these feeds and reduce diesel usage from running tractors. The farms’ diesel usage went from roughly 7,000 gallons of fuel every three to four weeks to 500 gallons of fuel for the same time frame.
Additionally, the blending of the mixed ration is more consistent and uniform, and the efficiencies provided by the mixers cut feeding time in half — from 20 hours per day to about nine hours per day.
Frank Cardoza, Brent Verwey and Paúl Alcarai
The future
As I left Philip Verwey Farms, with the date palm fronds swaying in the breeze, I couldn’t help but wonder what would be next for the Verweys. Would it be the natural gas filling stations they are planning? The fleet of natural-gas-powered tanker trucks? Or some other new technology to reduce their carbon footprint and increase efficiencies? Philip is always trying to do more. He’s an innovator and is constantly looking for ways to run his dairies more efficiently. With his penchant for installing environmentally friendly features on his farms, I’m sure the next green thing is right around the corner.
Marilyn Calvin | Thunder Ridge Dairy | Mount Vernon, Mo.
For Marilyn Calvin, a dairy farmer in Mount Vernon, Mo., one of the hardest things she’s had to face was coming home alone after her husband suddenly and unexpectedly passed away in 2010.
“I would always call him when I got to the airport,” Marilyn remembers of the many trips to Dairy Farmers of America’s (DFA) — her milk marketing cooperative — board and council meetings. “After he was gone, I would get to the airport and there was nobody to call. And then I got home and nobody’s here.”
“After he was gone, I would get to the airport and there was nobody to call. And then I got home and nobody’s here.”
Walking through the front door and knowing her husband wouldn’t be there to greet her is still painful, but it has never stopped Marilyn from walking right out through the back door and getting to work. A dairy farm requires the kind of work that can’t wait for sorrow to fade, or for your legal affairs to be in order. The cows must be cared for every day, regardless of life’s other challenges.
Challenges are old hat for Marilyn. She and her husband, Kenneth, embarked on their careers as dairy farmers in 1972 with nothing but two cows (Marilyn bought these), a bird dog named Beaver, a shotgun and a car payment (Kenneth contributed the last three). Today, the operation consists of about 500 acres, with 200 dairy cows and 170 replacement heifers — cows that aren’t currently producing milk. Marilyn is in partnership with her son, Kenlee, and they run the farm together with the help of a long-time employee.
As a first-generation dairy farmer and wife who inherited the farm, Marilyn offers a unique perspective on succession planning. The tragedy of her husband’s unforeseen passing resulted in valuable lessons learned and a willingness to share her story.
Equal is not always equitable
As a farm family with three children, two of whom have careers outside the farm, the Calvins knew it was important to find an attorney who understood farm family dynamics and was familiar with their circumstances. Marilyn has a saying that “equal is not always equitable,” and she put a lot of thought and planning into finding an attorney who truly understood her philosophy. Marilyn’s goal is to keep the farm intact for future generations, including her three grandchildren, and to provide for all her children fairly.
“When one of your children has put their life, their assets and their time into the farm, and then you have other children who have jobs outside the farm, it can’t all be equal,” Marilyn says.
Adapting
Although Kenneth and Marilyn had a trust in place well before they needed it, Marilyn discovered all her planning did not prepare her for losing her spouse and business partner. From long nights alone when a cow needs help calving in the middle of a snowstorm, to missing her partner when she wants input on a big decision, Marilyn adapted as best she could while keeping the farm running. Additionally, she learned the importance of establishing her own credit. Kenneth was very mechanical — instead of buying new equipment when something broke down, he could fix it. With Kenneth gone, however, Marilyn has to purchase new equipment more often. Having a little credit in her own name helps make that possible.
Kenlee and Marilyn Calvin
Talking it through
Facing one’s own demise is unpleasant, and dividing a business or assets can be messy. Marilyn found, though, that talking it through and having a plan saved heartache at a time when her family couldn’t take any more.
“Any young person who stays on a farm deserves to know where they stand,” Marilyn says. “You’d be surprised how many dairy farmers I’ve met who are farming with their families, and they don’t know if they’ll inherit the farm.”
A simple, yet meaningful piece of advice Marilyn offers is to prepare while you can. “A loved one suddenly passing away can happen to anybody. They’re here and then gone all of a sudden,” Marilyn says. “He wasn’t only my husband — he was my business partner and my best friend. And now he’s gone.”
Hugging and hand milking cows, bottle feeding calves and soaking up the sun in lush, green pastures are a few of the activities in which guests can partake at Spectacular Views & Moos, an Airbnb hosted by dairy farmers Daniel and Angela Schmid in Bloomville, N.Y.
The Schmids operate Mountain View Dairy, a 270-acre, 50-cow dairy atop a picturesque hill with breathtaking views. Daniel’s father, Walter, bought the farm in 1969 after he moved to the United States from Switzerland. Annemarie, Daniel’s mother, joined him about a year later, and they’ve been on the farm ever since. Currently, Daniel and Angela manage the dairy and are venturing into agritourism — combining their agricultural pursuits with tourism and the chance to connect people with their food.
While the dairy is the real bread and butter for the family, their agritourism business is burgeoning into a life of its own. In a world where consumers are more and more interested in where their food comes from, and social media can provide as much misinformation as truth, the Schmids decided to share their love of dairying with people through social media, their Airbnb rental and the opportunity to camp with the cows.
Guests from around the world have booked, from places including Japan, Los Angeles and Houston. Some guests enjoy the views and their solitude; others want to learn about the dairy and participate in milking and other farm chores. Angela loves engaging with the guests and is willing to let them be as involved as they like.
“I have a deep passion for this farm and I love being able to share it with our guests,” she says. “They come as strangers and leave as friends.”
It seems the guests love it, too. As one Airbnb reviewer from New York City noted, “Be sure to take them up on a tour of the farm. If you’re anything like us, knowing where and how your food gets to you is such a meaningful experience. On top of that, the view is absolutely stunning.”
Glamping, anyone?
Lori Ciafardoni, Cheri Rossi and Desi Carter (from New York, Minnesota and Florida, respectively) took the Schmids up on their offer of an interactive Airbnb experience and booked Spectacular Views & Moos for an early-summer weekend. The three ladies work remotely for The State University of New York and attend commencement every year at the campus near Mountain View Dairy. They wanted to rent a place nearby with room for all of them. As Lori and Cheri searched together over the phone for a suitable rental, Spectacular Views & Moos jumped out at them.
“Views & Moos, what’s this?” Lori exclaimed, and then immediately called Desi and told her, “We’re staying with cows.”
They didn’t actually sleep in the barn during their stay, and they passed on the chance to camp in tents in the woods by the fire pit. Glamping is a little more their style, so the ladies stayed in the house on the property. They did, however, get a much more hands-on experience than they planned, including a little snuggle time for Lori and Snow, a 1,300-pound Holstein whom Lori hit it off with instantly.
The parlor
True to their word, Daniel and Angela let their guests be as involved with the farm as they liked. So, amongst the scattered moos of 50 impatient cows waiting just outside, Desi, Lori and Cheri strolled into the Schmid’s milking parlor at 6 a.m. on a crisp, bright Friday morning. Daniel and Angela gave them a tour and explained the process they go through twice a day, every day, to milk their herd. The ladies, with their boots on, were ready to start and dove right in.
The bovine ladies filed in, took their places and ate some grain. The Airbnb guests took their cues from Daniel and Angela and cleaned udders, connected milkers and even learned to milk by hand, which Cheri said was completely different than she expected and was her favorite part of the whole experience.
The milkhouse
Once the cows were milked and back to grazing in their pasture, Daniel cleaned the parlor and Angela took Desi, Lori and Cheri to the milkhouse. Here, she explained the mechanics of getting milk from 50 cows to their 1,500-gallon, stainless steel milk tank, into a tanker truck and to a plant.
While Angela explained the process of cooling the milk and taking test samples for quality, her guests peppered her with questions about pasteurization, expiration dates and cow care. Being a nurse, Lori was especially inquisitive about the health of the Schmid’s herd. She asked about treatments when cows get sick, which led to a discussion about antibiotics.
“I have a deep passion for this farm and I love being able to share it with our guests. They come as strangers and leave as friends.”
“We won’t take a risk that any antibiotics would ever get into the milk tank,” Angela explained. “We don’t have the piping system connected to the tank when we milk a cow that’s getting antibiotics. The cow still gets milked, but the milk goes into a separate pail, as it can never go into milk processed for human consumption.” Angela then went into detail about the testing protocols in place on every farm to prevent antibiotics — which, just like humans, cows receive when they are sick — from making it into dairy products: “Before our milk hauler will take our milk, the driver agitates the milk tank for 10 minutes and takes a sample, which he sends to the processing plant. The processing plant won’t accept milk that tests positive for antibiotics. Should any milk on that truck test positive, it would all be dumped.”
Providing answers to questions about milk, cow care and anything else related to dairy farming is part of the reason Angela loves agritourism. It allows her to engage with the public and promote the industry she loves. In this way, she can dispel some of the confusion people face when making food choices and bring them a little closer to agriculture.
She says, “With social media, it’s easy to share our day-to-day with people who wouldn’t normally get a chance to even see the inside of a dairy barn, let alone touch or hug a cow. It’s important to let them know we are here and we welcome them to come, see, ask questions and maybe even find a little passion.”
Reflections on the hill
After a visit to the pasture where the three ladies hugged cows and made friends with Sprinkles, the only Jersey on the farm, they had a picnic-style lunch and enjoyed the views from on top of the hill.
Reflecting on their morning of learning, milking and hugging cows, Desi, Cheri and Lori said they had really just been looking for a place to stay, but ended up with an unforgettable experience.
“Knowing it’s a working farm, we didn’t think we would be that involved because we would be in the way,” Cheri said. “But, they totally let us get in the way!”
Desi admitted they’ve already booked the Airbnb for next year’s commencement trip and she will be bringing her husband along to share the experience.
Whether it’s hosting foodies from New York City, glampers on a commencement trip, campers enjoying the fresh mountain air or just folks looking for a place to stay, the Schmids have found a meaningful way to connect people to dairy and the families who produce it.
Tammy Lowery | Buckner Dairy | Fair Grove, Mo.
I first met the family from Buckner Dairy amid a cacophony of voices as a group of dairy farmers converged in Springfield, Mo., for a meeting of their dairy cooperative, Dairy Farmers of America (DFA). We met as strangers; happenstance joined us at a table where we shared lunch, stories and cold glasses of milk. Some tales were outlandish, most were funny and, I was assured all were true. They centered on farming and family. I was struck with the group’s dedication to dairying, family and storytelling.
The family’s patriarch, Charles Buckner, is a stalwart in the Missouri dairy community. One of the first stories he shared wasn’t about his family’s rich history on their operation, but about its bright future at the hands of his eldest daughter, Tammy Lowery.
Windy or calm, frigid or sweltering, and even on the rare perfect days Missouri occasionally offers up, you’ll find Tammy in the parlor, working with the cows. She’s been on the farm all her life, milking cows before she was 10 years old. She has known since she was a little girl she wanted to stay there. When she got a little older, she committed it to ink and paper: “I wrote in my high school newspaper that I was going to be a dairy farmer,” Tammy reminisced. Her dream came true in 1980, when she began managing the dairy branch of her family’s farm.
Standing in the parlor on a frigid February day, Tammy was a bit reticent to speak about herself and her work. As on every farm across the globe, work at Buckner Dairy goes on regardless of the weather, world events or visitors to the farm. Although Tammy’s work is extraordinary, to her, it’s everyday life. She takes care of her family, takes care of her cows and feeds the community.
When given the opportunity to share stories about her love for dairying, Tammy becomes downright voluble. She knows each cow as it files into the parlor, pointing out that this Holstein may shy at the camera flash, the Braunvieh back there was likely to be a little feisty and kick off the milker a time or two, and in general, the Crossbreds (a Holstein and Jersey mix) are her best milk producers. Tammy says the Crossbreds are sturdy cows, usually provide large quantities of milk with high butterfat percentages, and she and her brother, William, who manages the beef side of the operation, agree they are more economical when it comes to feed.
As Tammy expertly evaluates each cow and completes her morning work, she shares her true passion: “Teaching kids about the dairy, that’s one of my favorite things.” Tammy explains, “we have preschool to sixth-grade kids come out to learn about the farm.” William says most of the kids come through the Head Start program in Springfield, Mo., and usually, it’s the first time these kids have ever seen (or smelled) a farm.
Knowing from personal experience that an infatuation with farming can form at an early age, Tammy makes it a point to educate youngsters about life on the family farm. She teaches the kids about hard work, educates them about the dairy industry and offers the chance to form a passion like hers.
Sharing their dairy story is as much of a family tradition for members of the Buckner family as the dairy itself. “This is the oldest dairy farm in Greene County,” Charles told me. Theirs is a Century Farm that started as 60 acres in 1914 and has become a diversified operation of more than 350 acres, 300 dairy heifers, 150 beef cows and 150 dairy cows.
Charles began milking cows in 1952, and the farm is part of life for all four of his children. Two of his grandchildren even work on the farm a couple days a week. They’re the fifth generation to work and learn on Buckner Dairy, and as Tammy mentions, “there are three great-grandchildren in the family now, and who knows, they may decide they want to carry it on when they get older.” Passing farm knowledge between generations through stories and experiences is part of this dairy’s long tradition.
The milk from Buckner Dairy is picked up every other day from a family of haulers that has been transporting the Buckner’s milk for three generations. After pick-up from the 2,000-gallon milk tank on the farm, the milk journeys to the Cabool, Mo., plant where it’s added to Starbucks® coffee drinks or to the Hiland® Dairy Springfield, Mo., plant, where it’s processed as fluid milk
Providing milk for the community is a point of pride for Tammy and her family. They drink milk from their farm, and Tammy’s mother, Katherine, offered me a Starbucks Frappuccino® after inviting me in to her home.
“Teaching kids about the dairy, that’s one of my favorite things.”
Buckner Dairy is full of tough, driven women. Tammy proudly regaled me with a couple of stories about her mother, who milked cows for 58 years. Katherine milked by hand for many of those years, including while she was pregnant with her first child, Tammy. Only four hours before going into labor, Katherine was in the parlor, milking and checking the cows. Today, although she’s handed the milking off to Tammy, she still accompanies her husband and children out to the barns and fields to care for the animals.
William, namesake to the farm’s founder, his great-grandfather, and born the same day he passed, lives in the original farmhouse. Tammy’s sister, Janet, is a staple on the farm, feeding calves and helping with everyday chores. Their other sister, Sherry, lives on a farm not far away and is always available when they need another set of hands. “We’re a really tight-knit group,” Tammy says.
Charles and Katherine have 10 grandchildren, all with varying degrees of involvement in agriculture. This family is narrating its traditions into the future, teaching the next generation how to dairy and the importance of family farms.
Tammy’s dairy expertise is the result of dedication, years of hands-on experience and lessons learned from her family. As a way to transfer some of that knowledge to others in her community, Tammy participates in promotions and education for the Greene County Farm Bureau. The program promotes agriculture and educates the public about its importance.
As evidenced by Tammy’s community involvement, empowering the next generation to be an active part of the agriculture industry is a large part of her life. She was the first female officer in the Fair Grove Future Farmers of America (FFA) program, paving the way for generations to come. Her children and many of her nieces and nephews participated in the same program years later.
During the brief hiatus between morning and afternoon work, I gathered with the family around the dining table. We refreshed ourselves with Frappuccinos® likely containing milk from the very cows we’d just seen outside, looked at family photos and shared a few more family anecdotes. And with a multitude of grandchildren and great-grandchildren creating their own stories, there will be plenty more to share in the future.
