125 years of processing

PLAINVIEW, Minn. — Plainview Milk Products Cooperative is celebrating 125 years as a creamery.

Becky Pearson, the Plainview-based cooperative’s general manager/controller, said she is grateful for their patrons.

“They are some of the most loyal patrons and I just am incredibly thankful for their dedication and the incredible quality milk that they produce,” Pearson said. “We have very good milk. ... It takes a lot of work from the farm. .... I can’t thank them enough.”

The cooperative has rich history, and is moving towards a strong future with goals for expansion and current improvement projects underway.

Plainview Milk Products Cooperative processes 1.2-1.4 million pounds of milk each day from 103 patrons.

They produce sweet cream, condensed skim milk, nonfat dry milk powder, bulk butter and one-pound blocks of butter.

“The various products we produce I think has been one of our strong suits for all these years and (has) helped us to continue to grow,” Pearson said.

As Pearson looks to the future, she envisions increasing their daily processing to 2.1-2.2 million pounds of milk.

“(We want) to help provide a home for the farmers (and) for the new farmers coming up,” Pearson said. “We’re just really proud of what we do here. ... I’m looking forward to watching us grow.”

New this year are a second separator and a new cream plate. They will also be installing a new truck scale. The separator and cream plate allow them to bring in outside cream and to increase the volume of milk processed.

Pearson said that their current building has space for them to meet their goal of almost doubling their processing capacity.

“Making the improvements with the addition of equipment, improving our efficiencies, and allowing us the opportunities to grow I think has been a huge piece of management (for success),” Pearson said. “(Also) working together to look at where we want to go and what we need to do to get there, and we’re well on our way of doing that.”

Expanding their processing capacity will increase how the cooperative can serve the dairy community.

“We have some young(er) farmers that are starting to come up and are interested (in farming,” Pearson said. “I love to see that, especially when it’s a multi-generational family (farm) to keep that going.”

The diversity and the shelf stability of some of the cooperative’s products have allowed them to capitalize on product prices. This give the cooperative more stability and enables it to give back more to their patrons, Pearson said. The diversity also helped them survive the COVID pandemic.

“We’re lucky that we were able to put up the bulk butter and the powder during those times,” Pearson said.

For the 125-year anniversary, Pearson has been exploring the cooperative’s story.

“Looking back from how we started to now, it’s just been (very interesting and) so much fun,” Pearson said.

Plainview Milk Products Cooperative started in 1899 on the west end of Plainview. In 1923, they spent $21,000 to build a creamery at the cooperative’s current location. According to a Plainview News article dated Nov. 23, 1923, the plant operated with 33.25 horsepower. Some of the original building is still used today.

The cooperative started out bringing in cream for butter, but in the early 1930s, they started buying milk as well. According to a Winona Daily News article dated Feb. 10, 1926, in 1925 the cooperative produced 482,128 pounds of butter and had 190 patrons. According to another article dated Dec. 11, 1969, butter production was 2.8 million pounds plus 10.5 million pounds of dry milk powder through September.

Donald Schultz is a current worker in the production plant working with nonfat dry milk powder. Schultz has worked for 35 of the 125 years of the cooperative’s existence.

“It’s kind of great,” Schultz said. “(It does not) seem like it’s been there that long. It’s worth having a celebration for that.”

In 1945, Plainview Milk Products Cooperative shipped its first carload of 50,000 pounds of dry milk powder according to a Winona Daily News article dated Jan. 20, 1945. It took 20 days to produce and was valued at $7,000.

Plainview Milk Products Cooperative is led by a board of dairy farmers, including Bill Miller who has served on the board for 15 years.

“What I think Plainview has done (well) is the quality of the milk,” Miller said. “They’ve always pushed for the best quality of milk.”

Miller milks 300 cows near Theilman. He and his family have been selling their milk to the cooperative since the 1960s. Miller said the premium package for the quality milk has been good.

The board member said the cooperative’s milk haulers have been part of the reason his farm has remained loyal to the cooperative.

“(I) always liked the hauler I’ve had,” Miller said. “This creamery is the closest one to me. ... Why would you want to sell to a far-away one and pay the full cost of hauling?”

Knowing where their milk is shipped and what is used for is also important to Miller.

Pearson said she is proud to be part of the cooperative and to see how it has developed over the years.

“There have been some ups and downs,” Pearson said. “We’ve all just worked together to continue to believe in the coop and to help us continue to grow.”