Straight from the source

JUNCTION CITY, Kan. — Unlike many other dairy farms, Hildebrand Farms Dairy sells its milk directly to consumers. The dairy milks cows and bottles their milk in glass containers all on the farm.

“We are a little different than most farms in our region,” said Melissa Hildebrand-Reed.

Hildebrand-Reed, a daughter of one of the farm owners, helps operate the business. Her parents, Alan and Mary, own the farm with Alan’s brother, David, and his wife, Kathy. David and Kathy’s son, Tod, also plays a role in the daily operation of the farm. They milk 120-150 cows and farm over 2,000 acres. The cows are milked in a double-6 parlor and housed in a freestall barn.

The family built a milk processing plant in the mid-2000s and bottled their first glass jar of milk in October 2008. They primarily bottle fluid milk for the wholesale market, but churn butter and ice cream to sell in their on-farm store as well.

While Hildebrand-Reed is running the daily operations of the plant and managing the cows, Alan is running the farm and works on the feed side of the dairy. David and Kathy are involved in the crop operations and Hildebrand-Reed’s cousin, Tod, helps wherever needed on the farm.

Hildebrand-Reed is the fourth-generation. Her great-grandfather, Arnold, established the farm with the purchase of four cows. Milk was sold to a processor in town. Her grandpa, Carl, took over and built the farmsite of today, which is located up the hill from the original homestead. Finally, ownership was passed down to Alan and David.

“My dad and my uncle really took and grew and expanded the farm into what it is,” Hildebrand-Reed said.

Selling milk directly to consumers affects their managment.

“That drives a lot of our decision making and even how we dairy differently,” Hildebrand-Reed said.

They try to get peak milk during their seasonal demand, which is September through December.

Along with selling their dairy products in their on-farm store, they also provide tours and public events for people to get an on-farm experience.

Hildebrand-Reed said when she was in high school, she had an interest in advocating for agriculture and farming.

“I went to college as an ag communications major at K-State in hopes to someday share agriculture with the world,” Hildebrand-Reed said. “By selling directly to consumers, I am able to do that in a huge way and I absolutely love that part of my job.”

Hildebrand-Reed said she expressed interest in high school in coming back to the farm.

“Once they built the plant it was so cool to see the growth and everything that we were doing here it was hard to look away,” Hildebrand-Reed said.

Alan and David built the processing plant when Hildebrand-Reed was not actively working on the farm.

“They took the ‘If we build it, they will come approach,’” Hildebrand-Reed said. “They got lucky and I did.”

Aside from family, they also have 20 employees who work at the plant and the dairy operation.

“It’s very much a business that can support not only just two families as it was originally, but it can support me and my cousin as we come back to the farm,” Hildebrand-Reed said. “Then we have several other families (we can support) as we continue to grow.”

The dairy landscape in Kansas is evolving. When Hildebrand-Reed was younger, there were roughly 20 dairy farms in Geary County. Now, Hildebrand-Reed said they are the last dairy within a 4-county radius.

“There’s not quite the demand as there once was or the amount of dairy that there once was,” Hildebrand-Reed said.

Hildebrand-Reed said Kansas has different types of terrain. Their farm is located in the Flint Hills.

“We are fortunate to have nice river bottom ground that’s great for farming and helps support our herd,” Hildebrand-Reed said.

With evolving the dairy in mind, they are in the process of expanding their current freestall barn to house two Lely robots.

“It’s a big investment and it’s awesome, (but) scary,” Hildebrand-Reed said.

Although they have a lot of moving parts between the processing plant and the dairy itself, Hildebrand-Reed still enjoys spending time with the cows.

“When I come back after a hard week and I reflect on the best parts of that week, it’s always going to be the times that I work with the cows,” Hildebrand-Reed said. “Despite all the really cool things we are doing that’s where I am probably my happiest. That’s where I’m finding my most comfort in what I do.”