The sign on the edge of Twin Springs Creamery's property.
(Devan Ridgway, WFIU/WTIU)
On the far western reaches of Bloomington sits Twin Springs Creamery, a new dairy farm that aims to have Grade A pasteurized products on local store shelves in the very near future.
At the moment, Twin Springs has four Jersey cows — Rosie, Luna, Skittles, and Genevieve — who will supply the company’s product line of plain and flavored milks and yogurts.
It’s no small feat in today’s industry climate; many dairy farmers at this scale send the milk or cream from their cows to a separate operation to be processed before being sold. James Farmer, one of the owners of Twin Springs, said they plan to do all the milking and processing on-site.
“We're able to look at smaller scale equipment like this 100-gallon vat pasteurizer,” he said. “There are different companies that manufacture these, but 30 years ago it may not have been as possible to find the equipment to do it at this scale.”
The 100-gallon vat pasteurizer. (Devan Ridgway, WFIU/WTIU)
It takes a lot to get an operation like this off the ground. Oversight agencies, such as the Board of Animal Health, require on-site testing equipment, devices that milk the cows, and stainless-steel vats to keep the product sanitary.
Farmer said that this venture was made possible by an $85,000 grant from the Dairy Business Initiative.
“They paid for the pasteurizer, the chart recorder, the chiller behind me, and a little bit more equipment, as well as helping with some marketing and getting the website developed,” he said. “So, without that, this part of the operation would not be possible.”
To his knowledge, Twin Springs will be the only Grade A dairy facility in Monroe and surrounding counties.
And, other than one facility in Brown County, he’s not wrong. In an industry that has gone through as much consolidating in the last few decades as dairy has, this is by no means uncommon.
According to Steve Obert, executive director for Indiana Dairy Producers, the state has just under 700 Grade A dairy farms. He also says that most of the farms work through what is called a farmer-owned cooperative to sell their products.
Prairie Farms, O’Brien, and Dairy Farmers of America are examples of these cooperatives. In these business arrangements, farmers act as both shareholders and contractors that must meet certain quotas to get their equity.
“The profits of the cooperative, as well as maybe some deductions off of your own milk check, get put into that equity account so that the cooperative has money to operate with,” he said.
Historically, these co-ops have caused a hollowing of the industry, where smaller farms have a hard time being profitable if not aligned with a large processor.
James Farmer with two of his dairy cows. (Devan Ridgway, WFIU/WTIU)
But Obert said that businesses such as Twin Springs Creamery are a part of the latest development in the industry, where an interest in locally-sourced dairy products is allowing smaller, private operations to be successful. Twin Springs is one of 37 dairy farms in the state operating this way.
“They want to know where their food comes from,” he said. “And that helps create value to the farmer himself, because he's basically creating value on who he is and how he does things. That's been getting a little a little more popular.”
Obert also credits new technology with allowing dairy farmers the ability to take on more thanks to automation.
“It's sort of freeing the farmer up from the responsibility of being in his milk parlor two or three times a day to milk his cows at certain times,” he said. “With robotic technology, the cows decide when they want to be milked, and how often they want to be milked. And that allows the farmer to shift his energy and his time and his interest into something else, like perhaps putting in a processing facility and doing some direct marketing.”
And, frankly, dairy farming is hard. Unlike other forms of agriculture, such as row-crop farming for example, dairy farming takes place 365 days a year, multiple times a day.
“You are required to have a pretty disciplined time schedule,” he said. “You want to keep your cows on the same schedule. So oftentimes, you're getting up very early and getting your milking done so you can actually milk them again in the evening and not have to work so late.”
Another problem for the industry has been dealing with our neighbors to the north, Canada.
Since the '70s, Canada has operated on a quota system, which tightly controls how much dairy farmers can produce and limits imports through tariffs. On one hand, the control helps stabilize income for Canadian dairy farmers. On the other, dairy-producing countries like New Zealand and the United States feel it’s an unfair way to shelter the industry.
The U.S. has attempted to open trade with varying degrees of success, involving the US-Mexico-Canada agreement (USMCA).
The entire Twin Springs Creamery operation takes place in this barn and the adjoining field. (Devan Ridgway, WFIU/WTIU)
Shawna Morris, executive vice president of Trade Policy and Global Affairs of the National Milk Producers Federation, said that after winning one case with little change on Canada’s part, the Federation just concluded its second USMCA case on the grounds that Canada’s quota system doesn’t line-up with its responsibilities.
“We worked quite closely with the U.S. government, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Trade Representative's office, to encourage them to bring a second case and focus quite strongly on the need for a ruling across these various problematic measures,” she said.
The USMCA ruled in favor of Canada in that case, and now the U.S. and the National Milk Producers Federation are attempting to plan their next steps.
“I think what we have been really encouraged by is the statements from both the administration and bipartisan members of Congress saying this can't be the end of the line, like this decision simply makes no sense,” she said.
Morris said the issue is an important one, because it causes incrementally downward pressure on milk prices and losses for everyday farmers.
“When we see a trading partner that should be as law abiding and positive one as Canada is, given the U.S.-Canadian relationship, basically thumbing its nose at its obligations to us, well, that's pretty concerning,” she said.
Being able to export dairy products to Canada would eventually raise the prices of those goods, and allow more people like James Farmer to make a living as a dairy farmer without having to bring in a third-party co-op.
