Conservation Training

Adding Small-scale Dairy Processing for Farm Diversity

June 18, 2022

1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Location: Hager City, WI

Come and hear Cella Langer and Emmet Fisher share the story of how they started their small, rotationally grazed dairy cow herd and on-farm, Grade A creamery. This field day will include a tour of silvopastures, seasonal milking parlor, and Grade A dairy plant. Learn how the creamery fits into the bigger picture of their farm business CSA model. They’ll also cover direct marketing, navigating the regulatory process for starting a dairy plant, and answer any questions about starting and running this type of enterprise. There will also be milk and yogurt for sale from their farm store!

The 2022 growing season is Emmet and Cella’s 10th season in production. They raise vegetables for 75 CSA members who all pick up on the farm through their free-choice, market-style CSA from April-December. They also rotationally graze pigs, laying hens, beef cattle, and four dairy cows which they milk for their on-farm Grade A Dairy plant. Most of the eggs, meat, milk and yogurt produced is sold through the CSA and a couple small wholesale channels. They cultivate small amounts of cut flowers and shiitake mushrooms as well. They value feeding their community and their own family as much as possible from the farm through as much of the year as possible. Their farming model is built on a belief in diversity, small-scale production, self-reliance, and minimal inputs. They follow organic practices in all our enterprises, though are not certified organic.

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