Newsletters: March - April 2007

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Local Spotlight-Kurtz and Son's Dairy

By Bobby Dixon

"When you are the best at doing something it is because you love doing it. When you can produce and sell what you are the best at, you will be compensated for it and will be living the American Dream."

When Leslie Kurtz emailed me this thought, it was not written as a statement of bravado, or for purposes of bragging. There is an air of grace around both Bubba and Leslie Kurtz, of Kurtz and Sons Dairy, that can only be fostered with confidence in yourself and in your way of life. Every time I come in contact with these dairy farmers I am met with nothing but smiles, smiles so deep-seated they cannot be shaken off.

Leslie was only 19 when she first met Bubba, who was in charge of working the Kurtz beef herd. The young cattle farmer could have taken off to spend time with his new girlfriend-after all, he was his own boss and no one would have stopped him. But Bubba simply told Leslie, "I have work to do, would you like to join me?" For many young women, the idea of spending quality time with your boyfriend means anything but spending time with a herd of cows. However, she could tell he was different.

The Kurtz's started their family, ran their farm, and began producing one of the highest quality milks in the Southeast. They participated in a cooperative of dairy farmers, Southeast Milk, Inc. (SMI), for almost 14 years and had little need to ever work away from the farm. Bubba and Leslie were able to produce one of the best milks available, free of growth hormones, while avoiding the factory farm model-but the gains were nominal. Their rewards were "raising a family while running a farm on 1970s wages in the 2000s." Their involvement in SMI finally clarified their options: they could run their business as a factory farm, a model which has been shown to be economically feasible; or they could circumvent regular routes of commerce and sell direct. They chose the latter path, and that seems to have made all the difference.

Over the past four years the Kurtz family has incorporated a bottling plant on their farm and has been able to bottle all the fresh milk they desire. Since their move to bottle, market, sell, and deliver all the milk themselves, the farm's profile has risen. They are also being better rewarded for all their efforts.

Running a dairy farm as a couple is hard work. They estimate that they received about 74 cents for every gallon they sold to SMI. However, by selling their milk direct at farmer's markets, health food outlets, and natural food stores, they are now receiving about $3.50 per half-gallon.

The quality of their milk is something Bubba and Leslie firmly believe in: Grade A pasteurized dairy. But what makes their milk unique is being non-homogenized. Homogenization is a process which breaks up particles of butterfat, preventing the cream from separating from the rest of the milk. Since milk from their dairy farm is not homogenized, every bottle has a delicious layer of cream on top.

The Kurtz Dairy's cows are free of recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), a staple of almost every factory farm. Cows injected with rBGH can produce up to 20 percent more milk. However, milk from hormone-treated bovine contains increased levels of insulin-like growth factor one (IGF-1), which has been linked to heightened susceptibility to breast, colon, and prostate cancer in consumers.

It has been almost four years since the Kurtz family broke out of the mold of model dairy farmers. For a while they were still relying on the SMI co-op to sell off extra stock at a fraction of what they would have made selling on their own. Simply put, Leslie said, "Staying with the co-op is putting us deeper into debt." They stopped relying on the dairy conglomerate and are now totally independent.

The Kurtz's say they are thankful for every month and remain hopeful of what the next month will bring. Hope, grace, and conviction in what they are doing is the fuel that keeps this milk coming. "We believe in what we are doing," Leslie told me, "and all the market trends tell us we are on the right path." Even though the path they chose was a hard one, this family from Live Oak, Florida, has stuck with it: doing what they love and emulating the American Dream.