So it has been almost a year since we started selling milk and officially “opened” the dairy. However, Valenta Jersey Farm had been in the process of getting started for several years before we opened for the first time.
Valenta Jersey Farm began as an idea in 2011 after a trip to Missouri for a dairy judging camp. Kyler and Danielle had been showing dairy for about 4 years. While Wharton County had not had a dairy in the county in over 40 years, we had one of the largest dairy showing groups in the state. Because we had no dairy in the county it made keeping dairy cows very hard because you either had to use the cows as nurse cows (which is not ideal for show cows) or send them to a dairy in La Grange. It was because of this dilemma that the dairy came to our minds. We wanted to provide a place for young dairy exhibitors in our county to have a place to take their cows to be milked. Somewhere they did not have to drive over an hour to work with their cows. Once we got home from Missouri we did a lot of research about obtaining a Grade A Raw Milk Permit, however at the time we did not have the resources to start and was placed on the back burner.
Flash Forward to 2014 and our plan was ready to be put into action. We finally had the resources to start the dairy. We were started purchasing equipment and putting together the parlor and milk room in our barn. We were able to start milking into our new equipment in February. We took several months to get used to the new equipment and finish up several things needed for our permitting… Then finally in May 2015 we starting selling to the public. We started with two cows and are now milking 5 cows and will be increasing our production again soon to meet demand.
There was much more involved in starting this dairy, but it would make this post way to long to go into every detail. It took a lot of hard work and determination, but we did it. And we will soon be celebrating our 1 year anniversary of being open. So now is the best time to look back and remember how and why we got here. We got here because of a dream, a passion about what we were doing, and a desire to help those who will continuing showing after us. Thank you to everyone that has helped get us to where we are today!
valentajerseyfarm 