Prairieland on a roll in milk production
The "all natural" promotion of the product means the cows get no hormone injections to boost their milk production and no antibiotics in their feed.
HALLAM, NEBRASKA - Dec 12, 2009 - The management at Prairieland Dairy feeds its 1,500 cows distillers' grain from the Adams ethanol plant, leftover cereal mix from US Foods in Lincoln and something called "spent brewers grain" from the microbrewery operation at Lazlo's Brewery and Grill.
They make compost for springtime gardeners and all-natural eggnog for Christmas. They use odorless, tasteless seaweed as the binding agent in their chocolate milk. The cows move back and forth through a tunnel under the road.
And if seemingly endless innovation goes according to plan, Prairieland is on its way to selling every drop of the 12,000 gallons of milk it produces a day near Firth into the Lincoln market.
"Right now we're focused on Lincoln," said marketing director Terry Landes. "And if we could be Lincoln's hometown dairy, we'd be fine."
In their first year of processing and direct marketing, sales already have reached 6,000 gallons a week.
"We go in every day with the attitude it's going to happen," Landes said of the longer-term goal.
This isn't the first time the dairy plant 14 miles away at Hallam has been a launching pad for big dreams.
In 2006, smaller dairy farmers and business partners Rex DeFrain of Fairbury and Jerry Bond of Avoca carved out some space in the dairy section in Lincoln stores from the same processing point, using glass bottles for eye appeal and flavors as exotic as root beer.
It all came apart in 2008, largely because of their inability to find other farmers willing to break ranks with the Dairy Farmers of America cooperative and sell milk to their Legacy Dairy to keep up with demand.
Prairieland, formed earlier from dairy farms at Firth, Beatrice and Falls City, acquired the plant from the bank a year ago.
"All the milk comes from our farm," Landes said. "That's our approach."
Rather than trying to pry producers out of the DFA hierarchy, they remain in the DFA supply line themselves and buy back part of their own milk for the Hallam plant.
"It's a bit of an insurance policy," Landes said of the continuing DFA association.
But so far, there's nothing to suggest that the boom phase at Prairieland is about to go bust.
"The last three months, we've doubled every month," Landes said.
The product selection, all sold under the Prairieland label, is built around white and chocolate milk, cream and half-and-half. And the stores on the delivery list include such familiar names as Russ's, Hy-Vee and Ideal.
The "all natural" promotion of the product means the cows get no hormone injections to boost their milk production and no antibiotics in their feed.
The local origin of the milk supply is also a big selling point.
A Prairieland brochure features a woman in 1950-style attire working on her milk mustache and seemingly pondering the question printed just above her: "Do you know where your milk comes from?"
For all their innovative zeal, Prairieland partners would like to take their customers back to the days when the answer to that question was a lot clearer.
The idea of local food is no longer just a fad, Landes said. "We're beyond the fad standard. It's a fad like the Internet is a fad."
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