The whitewash man

BRANDON, Minn. — After growing up on a dairy farm, Cliff Roers thought he would make dairy farming his career. But, his banker offered him a deal to paint barns that he could not refuse.

“Someone else had been doing this, but the business got repossessed by the bank,” Roers said. “My banker told me that he had a business opportunity that I could make work. I tried it, and it just grew and grew.”

That was in 1983, and ever since, Roers has owned and operated Roers Whitewashing & Steam Cleaning. The business is based in Brandon, but covers all of Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and just started working in Illinois. Roers’ wife, Phyllis, often comes with him to assist. He also has one full-time employee.

“I like to visit with the farmers and see the countryside all over,” Roers said. “I just love that. I get to see so much and see how the crops are doing. I don’t mind driving.”

Roers takes pride in doing a good job and growing his customer base.

“My goal is that the farmer is happy,” Roers said. “I keep gaining new customers because I take care of the ones I have. I gained 10 new farms this summer.”

Roers started out whitewashing barns, but now sprays for flies, too, which has strong demand, he said.

When the Roerses arrive at a farm, they begin their routine by cleaning out the barn; using an air compressor to blow off the dust, then hand scrapers to scrape the manure off the walls. If the barn has steel sides, they use a steamer to clean the walls. Roers mixes the batch of whitewash for the barn, then gets to work. After whitewashing, Phylis brushes off the pipeline, windows and light bulbs while Roers cleans the equipment.

The whitewashing substance starts out as a powder that Roers mixes with water. The powder has a glue base. Once, he was sold a powder base that did not have any glue in it, so the Roerses had to buy all the glue they could find in town and mix it in themselves.

When on the road, the Roerses eat breakfast and lunch on the go, but once they are done for the day, they clean up and eat supper at a sit-down restaurant.

“That’s a must; a sit-down supper,” Roers said.

Over the last 44 years, the 78-year-old painter has put on a lot of miles. Roers has gone through five pickup trucks. His newest truck was purchased May 19, and by Sept. 19 he will have 20,000 miles on it.

When Roers first started whitewashing, he was also milking 85 cows. He would milk at 4 a.m., then whitewash three or four barns, returning home around 4 p.m. to milk again. Roers sold his own cows in 2007 when neither of his two children had an interest in farming. His daughter and son-in-law worked with the whitewashing business for a while but have since chosen different occupations.

“When I started out, I only went 30-40 miles from home,” Roers said. “Now, I drive out about 500-600 miles one way.”

Roers said that when he started, he had quite a few barns without a pipeline. Now, the Amish are the only ones without a pipeline. He also has several customers with robot barns.

Depending on how far away the first barn is, Roers will get up at 4 or 5 in the morning to get to his first stop by 7 or 8 a.m. If it is out of state, Roers will stay at a hotel close to the farm the night before.

“I want to get as close as I can to my first barn each morning,” Roers said.

For farms further away, Roers schedules a week’s worth of barns, leaving Monday morning and stopping at farms along the way, sometimes spraying for flies in 14 barns in a day. He gets in as many barns in an area as he can and then returns home on Friday.

“Every day has to be a full day,” Roers said. “I schedule farms based on proximity.”

From April through October, the Roers are busy spraying barns. During the off season, the couple stays in Florida. While there, Roers makes sure to stay physically fit.

“I walk a couple miles every day,” Roers said. “I spend a lot of time in the pool, too, walking and swimming for exercise.”

Roers said that because of his good health, he can continue his career.

“I would drop over dead if I sit still too long,” Roers said. “As long as I keep moving, I can keep going. I will keep going until my health won’t allow me to.”