Meinders Farm Fresh Dairy delivers for neighboring communities
By Jean Caspers-Simmet
simmet@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 06/16/2011 9:10 AM
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BUFFALO CENTER, Iowa —Meinders Farm Fresh Dairy near Buffalo Center sells its milk in north Iowa and southern Minnesota towns, some so small there is no grocery store.
The federally inspected on-farm processing plant is owned by Bruce and Stacie Meinders. They have two children — Ava, almost 3, and Ben, one month. The milk comes from Stacie's Dairy, the family's 60-cow Holstein herd that is milked by a Lely robot.
The farm has been in Bruce's family since 1902.
In addition to whole, skim, 1 percent and 2 percent white milk and chocolate milk, the Meinders will soon sell vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream and butter.
Customer feedback has been positive.
"We only drink your milk now and encourage others to do the same," wrote one customer on the Meinders Facebook page. "We are hooked," wrote another. "Am very impressed! Will absolutely keep buying your product," and "What great tasting milk," wrote two other fans.
Bruce Meinders has farmed all his life except for seven years when he attended Iowa State University. He didn't grow up milking cows, but he'd always been interested, and enjoyed working with animals.
"I decided if I'm going to do it, I better get started," Bruce said. "I was 43 at the time."
Two years ago, he started Stacie's Dairy using a robotic milking system.
"We're old school and new school here, meaning that we milk cows with a robot, but our cows are free housed with a deep-bedded pack," Bruce said.
He promotes his product as "locally produced and milked by robot." The Meinders' operation is the only robotic dairy in the country to bottle its own milk. The logo on the milk jug shows a robot sitting on a stool milking a Holstein with a stainless steel pail. Meinders is the 10th on-farm processor in Iowa.
Plant manager Michael Dunn of Sturgis, S.D., graduated from South Dakota State University's dairy science program in May and started work two days later. He helped on weekends before that.
"When I came Jan. 5, this was basically a concrete floor with walls," Dunn said. "I helped Bruce get things set up, designed and rolling."
Bruce procured processing equipment from all over the country. He found equipment in Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Texas and Idaho. Hansen's Farm Fresh Dairy in Hudson and Picket Fence Dairy at Woodward have been helpful in offering advice and encouragement, Bruce said. He's also drawn on the experience of several Idaho on-farm processors.
Dunn's parents had operated a 400-cow dairy in western South Dakota. His plan was to establish a dairy plant on his family's farm. That didn't work out, and so when Bruce came to SDSU looking for a plant manager, Dunn signed on.
"We're very glad to have Mike," Bruce said.
The Meinders started milking when dairy prices were at a low point.
"My first milk check was for $9.80 per hundredweight," Bruce said. "That's about 70 cents a gallon. That got me thinking about how I could get more of the consumer's dollar because the processing plants were still making good money. Producing more milk at a low price just didn't seem like the way to go. I chose to put my money into this (plant) as a way to have a more stable market."
Bruce started researching on-farm processing a year-and-a-half ago. They broke ground on the processing facility in August.
The Meinders are in an area where there are few dairy farms. There are many small communities without grocery or convenience stores. Bruce has devised a way to provide these communities with his milk.
He worked with a company to design a high-tech vending machine that kicks out half gallon jugs of milk. The milk vending machine resembles a big pop machine. It has a 22-inch video screen that tells the story of Meinders Farm Fresh Dairy. Bruce will have continuous communication with the machine via wireless Internet.
"I'll know the inventory at all times," he said. "If something goes wrong, I'm contacted right away so the product stays safe. I'm the only dairy in the country that's selling milk this way."
Grocery stores in Buffalo Center, Thompson, Titonka and Algona as well as some area convenience stores carry Meinders Farm Fresh Dairy milk. Rake, Lakota, Woden, Leland, Fenton, Lone Rock and Ringsted are among the first communities where Bruce will install vending machines. He said his products are priced competitively with other brands.
During the summer, the Meinders' cows can go on pasture so they have plenty of space to get out and walk. Cows come and go to the Lely Astronaut A3 robot as they please. The herd averages 3.1 milkings per day.
"We view our dairy as being about as cow friendly as it can be," Bruce said.
Bruce raises 600 acres of crops, mostly corn with a few acres of soybeans and alfalfa.
Meinders vat pasteurizes its milk by heating it to 145 degrees for 30 minutes. Bruce said it's a gentler way to handle the milk.
"We feel it results in better quality milk," he said.
When asked to name his favorite dairy product, Bruce responds, "It's hard to beat ice cream. We make a rich, high-end ice cream. It's good."
Small towns in northern Iowa and southern Minnesota that are interested in a milk vending machine should contact Bruce at (515) 341-2222. Learn more about the creamery on Facebook at Meinders Farm Fresh Dairy.