Generational Family Dairy Farm Embraces Regenerative Practices

By Denice Rackley

Seven generations have made 104 acres of land in Clay City, Indiana home.  It all began when David and Magdelena Jegerlehner and their children left Switzerland in 1851 for a better life in America.

The Jegerlehner (traditional Swiss spelling) traveled around the world for new opportunities. Bringing traditional craftsmanship of carpet weaving and shoe making with them, the farm provided enough food for the family and a little extra to share with neighbors. The Jegerlehners passed down the knowledge from the old country and lessons learned about this new country on the farm. Each previous generation’s hard work and sacrifice have enabled the Yegerlehner farm to weather many changes, preserve their heritage, and remain economically viable over its 160 plus years of existence.  

Dairy Cattle became the way forward

The farm transitioned into dairy cattle with the fifth generation in 1950. After WWII, Ken and Mary Lois Yegerlehner diversified the farm, adding dairy cattle while continuing the furrow to finish hog operation and raising a few crops.

The dairy cattle were managed traditionally in confinement. Confinement meant feed was raised and fed to the cattle and manure hauled out to the crop fields. Guernsey’s, Holsteins, and crossbreds comprised the 30 to 50 cow herd. As farming progressed, a heightened awareness of dairy nutrition increased production.

Alan and Mary and their children, Kate, Luke, and Jess gradually took control of daily activities. Beginning in the ‘70s when reduced tillage and soil conservation practices were just beginning to be explored, the Yegerlehners adjusted their farming methods to use this new knowledge.   

Adopt conservation practices

Intrigued with the promises of no till that would reduce erosion and alleviate water ponding issues, a mental shift took place on this farm and many others. Becoming stewards of the land rather than squeezing the highest possible production from each acre came with appealing benefits. The goal became working with nature to improve the land while making a living. As the ’80s slid into the ’90s they were milking 140 cows with hired help.  

Pasture Based Dairy

After college Kate Yegerlehner joined her father working full time on the farm. Ready to fully embrace the grass-fed movement that proved dairy cattle could do well on pasture, the farm transitioned from confinement to grass fed, rotational grazing, and seasonal milking.

It was a gradual transition requiring lots of trial and error to discover what genetics, forages, and management practices could be combined to enable the best use of land and labor that would support several families.

One of the few things in agriculture that you can count on is the need for continual learning and adjustment management techniques to coincide with current conditions and goals.

The size of the cattle was reduced to match a forage system, instead of selecting for large quantities of milk, the Yegerlehners selected cattle for high butterfat that could raise calves and produce both meat and milk.

“In addition to the Guernseys and Holsteins, we bought several Jerseys, some Ayrshires, and eventually gravitated towards Milking Shorthorn, Devon, and Dutch belted genetics. These breeds and their crossbred calves excel in our climate and with our management system,” says Kate.”

Traditional dairies use grain and high protein feeds to produce gallons of milk which require milking twice a day. The Yegerlehners knew they needed to do things differently if they intended to be pasture-based and rely on family member for the majority of the work. They continued to make adjustments, reducing the size of the herd to match their land and available labor and moved calving and milking to coincide with forage growth, to work in harmony with nature.

Calving and milking to match forage and labor

Farm life is always a struggle to balance animal management, production, costs, and labor. Milking once a day only through the growing season enables the Yegerlehner’s to remain solely grass-fed and process their milk without needing full-time hired help.

Calves are born in early spring to match the spring flush. While many different methods to raise calves were tried, they settled on one method that provides the greatest benefit for the calves.

Removing calves from cows and hand-raising them is time-consuming and doesn’t integrate calves into the grazing system as well as leaving the calves graze alongside the cows, Kate notes. Leaving calves on cows and just taking the extra milk once a day was also explored. But this led to an inconsistent amount of milk harvested. Nurse cows are now used to raise the calves.

The heifers that transition into the herd and the steers slated to be harvested are adapted onto cows that are raising their own calf. These mom’s raise both calves while being rotationally grazed which leaves most of the herd without calves available for milking. Because they have been specially selected, the nurse cows are able to raise twins for 8 months on forages.

Leaving calves on the cows longer reduces the need for supplementing the young stock with grain, lessens parasite problems, and decreases weight loss at weaning. “The cows fatten the calves rather than us fattening them,” says Kate. Some calves are sold as bottle calves, others go for 4H or butcher calves.

“We only milk till the holiday, then dry off the cows.” As a result, the cows have lower nutritional requirements through much of the dry period and are able to get in shape for calving without the drain of milking or raising calves. This strategy enables lower quality forage utilized in the fall and winter and gives the Yegerlehner’s a much-needed break. Farm work never stops; when the physical work of managing livestock slows down, planning for the future comes to the forefront.  

New dreams spur more changes

Inspiration can come from unlikely sources. A trip to visit relatives in Switzerland in the mid 90’s would lead to more changes on the farm.

A full circle experience in their ancestorial village would transform life on the farm. While visiting relatives in the small village of Bleienbach, Alan, Mary, and their children witnessed cheese making – a new dream was born.

Would it be possible to produce value-added products on their small farm to enhance economic viability?

“By the end of the decade, the grain crops were phased out, and the rotationally grazing dairy herd became the sole farm enterprise. It became evident that selling milk on the commercial market would not be profitable enough to keep the farm in business for long. The trip to Switzerland sparked an idea; we began closing the gap between farmer and consumer.”

In the summer of 2000, the first batch of cheese was produced, then Labor Day weekend the on-farm store – The Farm Connection opened.

On-farm store

“The store enables us connect with and educate consumers, which is great. The store is an added time commitment that is hard to balance with farm chores, but the advantages are worth the extra work.”

Offering a wide variety of products helps get people in the door, notes Kate. To that end, the Yegerlehner Farm now produces dairy products - milk, cheeses, and butter, meat – pork, veal, and beef, and eggs from pastured layers. The store also offers other local products from neighbors – honey, maple syrup, breads, grass-fed lamb, pastured chicken, and a few other items.

“We use Golden Comets for egg production since they are very productive,” says Kate. Eggs are a great product since everyone uses them, but it is also very labor intensive- gathering eggs, washing, boxing, and caring for the chickens. “We tend to raise just enough hogs on pasture to use the dairy byproducts”. The hogs are fed the skim milk from butter production and whey from cheese making, adding value to ‘waste’ dairy products. Figuring out how best to utilize every piece of land and every product is essential with the small margins in farming.

Marketing

The Farm Connection has a website through Grazecart for online sales. They also deliver to pickup locations in several towns around them every other week. A Facebook site is regularly updated with photos and farm happenings. A local bakery also contracts for a large portion of their pastured eggs.

Kate admits she should dedicate more time to marketing, but “it’s a challenge wearing multiple hats in a family business.” Livestock always comes first, no matter what else needs doing. “We do have informational postcards and email newsletters, but word of mouth drives most of our sales.”

Thankful for the past generations

“Over 150 years plus, six generations after David and Magdalena and their family settled here; we now manage the dairy as a 100% grass-fed operation. We are creating artisanal raw cheeses from the rich golden milk of our pasture-fed cows. We also have a flock of pastured laying hens, and each year we purchase a few feeder pigs to consume the whey and skim milk byproducts we generate through cheese and butter making.”

With a deep respect for the land and the privilege she has been given to be a steward of God’s gifts, Kate says, “I love our life here and am thankful to those that came before us to paved the way.”

“It is a ton of work, but a good life.”