Direct Dairy: Farmers Look Beyond Large Cooperatives

By Karen Gardner

Most dairy farms in Maryland are small, with less than 100 cows per operation, but there’s nonetheless a tendency for those farmers to sell their milk to large dairy cooperatives, the end products showing up in your local supermarket.

But some farmers have decided to change the way they do business. Instead of selling to large cooperatives, they’re processing the milk on the farm and selling it and other dairy products directly to customers. Still a niche business model, only 5 percent of dairy farmers sell directly to the consumer. But for some, this has allowed them to not only stay in business, but also to implement some practices they might never have tried otherwise.

Emily and Craig Walton, of Glamourview Creamery in Walkersville, are just starting their venture of bottling their own milk and directly marketing milk and ice cream to their customers. Ben Sowers, of South Mountain Creamery in Middletown, has helped to oversee his dairy’s growth in bottling milk and directly marketing to consumers over the past 24 years. And Middletown’s Moo Cow Creamery has found a specialty market in making cheese from milk produced on the farm.

Moo Cow Creamery

When Emily and Craig Walton bought the former Biser farm in Walkersville in 2014, it had an old brick farmhouse and fields that for decades had been rented out. There was no barn, no farm equipment, no outbuildings.

Emily, 43, grew up on a dairy farm in Indiana and Craig, 47, spent his youth on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania. Currently, they milk 180 cows that produce roughly 1,000 gallons of milk daily, shipping it to a dairy cooperative.

Selling to a co-op, Craig says, means “we’re supporting five other people in the process, which has run small family farms out of business.” Wholesale milk prices have dropped considerably in the past year, from $25 per hundredweight to $15 per hundredweight (100 pounds of milk). Along with lower wholesale prices, farmers are also having to pay more for feed.

The couple consulted with friend, partner, and fellow farmer Gene Iager of Howard County to start the process of bottling and selling milk directly to consumers. “The more you can be

“The more you can be direct to the consumer, the better it is for everyone,” says Glamourview Creamery owner Craig Walton, who, with wife, Emily, runs the Walkersville farm where 180 cows are milked.

direct to the consumer, the better it is for everyone,” Craig says.

The couple is starting small. They plan to make and sell ice cream on their farm this summer, selling it from a food truck they bought and outfitted for local events. Last year, they set out to learn what they could from other farms with similar setups.

Along with the food truck, they bought a 53-foot shipping container to hold the equipment, which soon will be used to process milk and make ice cream. Their cows are a mix of Holsteins, Jerseys, and Ayrshires, but they’re gradually adding more Jerseys to increase the butterfat content. They also plan to make their own ice cream mix, rather than use a commercial product.

Emily and Craig have also implemented other farming processes they hope will make their milk and ice cream more appealing to consumers. They have put in three robotic milkers, which allow the cows to be milked whenever they prefer. “They eat, sleep and get milked whenever they want,” Emily says. The couple also grows feed for the cows, providing them with corn, silage and haylage. The cows alternate their time between the barn and the pasture.

The couple has installed a milk pasteurizer. Dairies typically pasteurize twice, once to purify the milk and a second time to homogenize it, but the couple plans to skip the homogenization step and instead sell creamline milk, which means the milk and cream will separate.

At first, they plan to use plastic containers for their milk, but eventually, expect to switch to reusable glass containers. “The glass process is more involved,” Emily says. The shipping container is equipped with a bottle washer, an ice cream maker and a Beast freezer that freezes ice cream quickly to help retain the creaminess. There’s also a large cooler to store milk. Eventually, there will be a walk-in cooler and freezer.

By summer, there will be a two-story store where customers can buy milk and ice cream on the farm. Across from the store is the pole barn, where visitors can see the cows and watch them be milked. There’s also a large solar array, which generates enough electricity to power 25 houses. It provides most of the power the farm needs. There’s also a rainwater collection system to provide water for the cows.

Ben Sowers has been part of his farm’s milk bottling and direct marketing business for 21 years. His parents, Randy and Karen Sowers, started dairy farming in 1981, but by 1999, prices had dropped, making it tough for the family to earn a profit. “It was pretty rough,” Ben says. “We were going to either go out or do something else.”

Ben and his wife, Kate, opened South Mountain Creamery in 2001, bottling their own milk and making ice cream. They began home delivery of milk and other dairy products, plus selling at farmers markets. Ben worked with his parents to make the business a success, but the early days were a bit rocky. They were able to pay their bills, however, through a combination of profits and credit cards.

An article about them in The Washington Post back in 2004 gave South Mountain Creamery the publicity it needed to boost dairy delivery sales, which grew exponentially in the next few years, continuing through the 2008 economic downturn. Those robust sales marched through the next decade and during the pandemic. Today, the farm delivers milk, dairy, and other farmraised products to 10,000 customers.

Above: Kate and Ben Sowers opened South Mountain Creamery in 2001, bottling their own milk and making ice cream. Right: Moo Cow Creamery in Middletown is known for its line of cheeses as well as butter.

Marketing, however, has changed. South Mountain Creamery now only sells at two farmer’s markets in Baltimore. Karen and Randy Sowers are retired, but each Saturday, they go to the Baltimore farm markets to sell the creamery’s milk and ice cream.

Ben stays home and milks every Saturday morning. He’s in charge of running the farm side of the operation with the help of Kate. His sister, Abby Brusco, and her husband, Tony, run the farm’s business operations. Tony is the farm’s CEO, but Ben is still concerned with the farm’s marketing challenges.

Advertising used to be easy with radio and newspaper ads, but today’s market is different. The farm uses social media, but Ben isn’t sure that’s the best way to reach new customers. “We’re in a niche market,” he says. Fortunately, this area, like much of the Northeast, is receptive to customers who enjoy South Mountain Creamery’s dairy products from grass-fed cows raised in a humane environment.

Although most of the milk they produce is not certified organic, it’s produced using most of the processes used by organic farmers. The creamery also sells Trickling Springs Creamery milk and butter, which is produced at

a farm in Chambersburg, Pa., using certified organic processes.

The farm has found a few new markets. They partner with the Washington Nationals to sell its ice cream at FedEx Field and is also selling its ice cream at Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium, home of the minor league Aberdeen Iron Birds.

They sell at some local markets, including MOM’s Organic Markets in Frederick and around the D.C. area. Many Harris Teeter supermarkets also carry South Mountain Creamery products. Last year, the creamery opened a new ice cream shop on Carroll Creek at what was once Hometown Harvest Kitchen.

Most South Mountain and Trickling Springs products are sold in glass bottles, with only about 15 percent of the company’s milk and cream sold in plastic bottles. Most of the glass bottles are returned, steam cleaned and refilled.

“In 2001 when we did it, it was nostalgic,” Ben says. “Today, the business is striving to be green, and aiming for netzero emissions. We’re already thinking that way.” The farm is 100 percent no till, which reduces erosion and promotes soil conservation.

The farm goes beyond dairy products. At South Mountain Creamery, 130 beef cows are raised, and there are flocks of laying hens for humane-certified eggs and some chicken. The farm’s 470 dairy cows are raised at the farm’s Middletown headquarters, but by next year, they will be moved to pasture near Brunswick, where the creamery is building a robotic milking facility.

“I’m thinking about getting into lambs, but I don’t really jump into things,” Ben says.

Moo Cow Creamery in Middletown has mostly Guernsey and Jersey cows, which tend to produce milk that is high in fat and protein resulting in a richer taste.

The cows at Moo Cow Creamery in Middletown produce milk that’s sent to standard dairy cooperatives. What sets them apart, however, is its specialty cheese, says farmer Pam Moser.

“In our case, once they taste it, they’re in,” Pam says proudly. “The cows we milk have a high fat, high protein content, and it makes for a richer taste. We started out with two flavors and worked our way up to 18.”

They produce varieties of cheddar, colby, swiss, and gouda cheese, along with butter. “The other thing that sets us aside is the casein proteins,” she says. Milk consists of A1 and A2 proteins. A1 proteins can be harder to digest for lactose intolerant people. Pam includes herself among them, even though she grew up drinking milk. Most of their milk contains A2 proteins.

“We get no complaints for our cheeses or our butter from people with digestive issues,” she says.

The farm’s 125 dairy cows, mostly Guernsey and Jersey, are raised on 350 acres of Middletown farmland, some family owned for over 100 years and some rented.

“The best part is we’re local, we’re family owned, and we’ve been here forever,” she says.

Glamourview Creamery www.facebook.com/GlamourviewCreamery-105726321366712

Happy Cow Creamery at Grandview Acres Farm https://happy-cow-creamerygrandviewacresfarm.business.site

Moo Cow Creamery www.moocowcreamerywrf.com

Rocky Point Creamery www.rockypointcreamery.com

South Mountain Creamery www.southmountaincreamery.com