Pastured hills of dairy opportunity

GRANT COUNTY, S.D. — In 1880, Grant County was home to 179 “milch cows” according to the U.S. census. Farmers used their milk for their own purposes, as processing facilities were not commonplace. The local newspaper, Grant County Herald, placed advertisements to entice settlers to the rolling hills and good pastures for dairy cattle that covered the area.

“Come build by the gushing fountains,” the advertisements read. “Come and live by the babbling rills, that rise in the Coteau Mountains, Grant County’s great pasturing hills.”

Just a decade later, the county’s dairy landscape had exploded. By 1890, the number of dairy cows had increased to 4,093. Declining wheat prices and scattered droughts had forced farmers to diversify. The “creamery fever” spread across the county, according to Elwin E. Rogers of the South Dakota Historical Society in an article entitled “’Creamery Fever’ among the Scandinavians in Grant County before WWI.”

Each town in the county held meetings to discuss and vote on building their own creamery, and the beginning of the dairy industry that continues in Grant County to the present day was born.

In 1889, Twin Brooks Manufacturing Company, one of the first creameries in Grant County, had established creamery popularity by winning a blue ribbon at the state fair.

Sixteen years later, during Grant County’s 1905 annual creamery meeting, reports show that three of the top-paying creameries in South Dakota were based in the county. Milbank Creamery was first, followed by Big Stone Co-op Creamery and Stockholm Creamery. Milbank Creamery was reported to be No. 1 in South Dakota in butterfat with an average of 3.97% compared to the state average of 3.86%.

Heritage of the towns played a part in the success of the burgeoning creameries. Early settlers were primarily of Scandinavian descent, with German settlers being attracted to the area later. The Danish settlers in the area had the advantage of having experienced dairying in their homeland as well as having cooperative experience.

Rivalries developed between the towns due to the creameries — or lack thereof — based on a submission from one Troy settler to the newspaper, Review, in 1897.

“Troy’s discomfiture in establishing a creamery is essentially Strandburg’s opportunity,” the submission read. “Sweden has surely plucked the golden egg.”

The town of Troy was an American settlement, but Strandburg was Swedish.

Milbank Creamery employed one of the first Danish butter makers in the county, James Sorenson. Sorenson studied dairying in Denmark for two years before coming to the U.S. He was a champion butter maker and directed creameries in four other states before coming to Milbank. Sorenson won many awards at state and national levels before he was hired as the state dairy inspector for Minnesota.

Succeeding Sorenson at Milbank Creamery was A. P. Ryger, another Danish man. Ryger was influential in the creamery scene not only in the county but in the state as well.

“He urged the farmers to patronize the local creamery to the fullest extent so that the operating expenses would be proportionally reduced,” said an 1904 article in the Herald Advance.

Ryger was a prize-winning butter maker and a honest man. Ryger remained in Milbank for 15 years before being named South Dakota state dairy inspector. However, he continued to visit Grant County frequently.

Butter maker roles as a whole however were transient. Two years of employment was the average length of stay at any one creamery, as creameries would attract butter makers through more money or better opportunities.

Fluctuating feed sources and butter maker turnover created hardships for the creameries. Strandburg and Stockholm shared a butter maker, three days in one town, three days in the other. Albany Creamery closed due to a lack of patronage.

The popularity of the creameries ebbed between 1905 and 1910. The number of creameries in the state fell from 95 to 62. The census for 1910 disclosed the number of cows in Grant County had decreased to 8,098 milking cows with 2,902 yearling heifers.

After 1910, however, dairying interest in the county increased due to the use of silos which allowed farmers to store silage for a more efficient feed source throughout the winter.

Ryger returned to Grant County to encourage farmers to consider the benefits of silos. He saw the feed storage as a way for farmers to have a more consistent milk supply for the creameries.

The Review published an advertisement from The Triple Wall Silo company who wanted to capitalize on the new popularity. The ad is written in dialect doggerel.

“Ay got gud big silo, to, day call it “Triple Wall,” Made by Independent Company, down In old St. Paul. I har my silage in da varm ven blizzards blowin cold. It’s da only building on ma farm wat’s wort his weight in gold.”

Silage production increased and so did the milk supply. Creameries prospered again and new creameries were built. However, despite the surge, of the 10 creameries that were established before WWI, only three survived the highs and lows of the post-war 1920’s economy.

Today, Valley Queen Cheese, is the only remaining operational processing facility in Grant County.

Sources:

- South Dakota Historical press Vol. 09 No. 1 “’Creamery Fever’ among the Scandinavians in Grant County before WWI” by Elwin E. Rogers. 

- Grant County Herald, 30 Aug. 1879.

- Review, March 12, 1896; June 3, 1897; and March 15, 1917.

- The Herald-Advance. Milbank, South Dakota. Feb. 5. 1904, p. 4; Feb. 5, 1915, p. 1. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.