Below is the beginning of the manuscript entitled "The Dutch Dairy Migration to Tulare County". It is a short history of the migration from 1963 to 2000. John Grimmius is a real estate broker who was involved in a very large percentage of the dairy relocation to the Central Valley and particularly Tulare County. He is also the owner of the brokerage firm The Ranch Co.
The Dutch Migration to Tulare County
by: John Grimmius
Preface
What a privilege it is to have been a part of the dairy cows (and people) migration into the San Joaquin Valley and particularly Tulare County for over 40 years!
As a land broker our primary working area has been Tulare County. Even with the limited area it has not been unusual to drive from 35,000 to 40,000 miles per year showing off our area to those considering moving here.
The first seven years were the most difficult years. Establishing a large enough Dutch community to attract fellow countrymen, touring people through the latest dairy developments and finding the appropriate parcel of land. But the pay was good: 40 acres at $500 per acre with a 5% commission, which you split with the listing broker less the office cut and you wound up with $300! Back then we sure appreciated an 80 acre sale at $750 to $1,000 per acre!
The migration happened in basically three stages. The first stage happened in the years between 1963 And 1968. These people were the pioneers – the ones who came to buy a herd of cows, who had no money for a facility and who worked on paying down the cow loans. The second stage was people who came to the area with their herds – they had good herd equities and enough borrowing power to build themselves a new place – 1965-1985. The third stage was basically people who sold property elsewhere and came with substantial money – enough to build plus double or triple their herd size – 1985-2005.
This booklet is not meant to be an accurate record of what happened during the 40 plus years. Too many records have been lost, memories have failed or become inaccurate. Too many names have inadvertently been excluded. We didn’t always keep track of what our competition was doing in relocating dairies, who they were selling to and when. We apologize for errors and omissions. Although this is primarily the record of the Dutch migration it certainly included a number of non-Dutch dairy producers.
If you are a part of the “migrants” we certainly hope we did not forget your name and if we did please accept our apology.
The sad part of compiling this history is to realize how many of these people who settled into Tulare County have passed on. Hopefully these pages will help keep them in our memory.
A journey of a group of people whether crossing a border, coming across the ocean or migrating to a different part of the country or state creates history. This booklet is to give you a glimpse of the migration of Dutch dairy families to the San Joaquin Valley.
Chapter 1
On a bright sunny day we’re driving out in the flatlands of the San Joaquin Valley to find the right 2,000 to 4,000 acre ranch to use as a site for a new 5,000 to10,000 cow dairy. Adding the dry cows and replacement calves and heifers, we are actually looking for a place to house 12,000 to 24,000 animals.
Today, we have only one property to show the dairy producer. It is 3,000 acres of all level row crop land that has, in the past, been planted to small grains, corn, cotton and alfalfa. Lots of wells with motors driven by either liquid fuel or electricity. There is lots of pipeline on the place for irrigation.
The dairyman is impressed. All he has to do is build the facility. Everything else is in place and he can harvest a year’s worth of commodities before milking the first cow. It seems absolutely ideal. The location is right, the family can build a beautiful home in town and the commute to the dairy is quite reasonable.
Before an offer on the property is made the dairyman checks with the banker, the CPA and his dairy builder. He also brings his wife to the site and while she’s rather impressed with all the flat land, she’s quite happy about the nearby city (25 miles away) with its upscale shopping and prestigious residential neighborhoods.
A decision is made. An offer for the property is formulated at a price of $3,000 per acre. It is well under the asking price but a reasonable figure from which to begin the negotiations.
The property is purchased. Now begins the work of all the specialists – water experts, soil experts, building experts plus the people who do the investigative work and write the Environmental Impact Report. This is a lengthy process and depending on which county the property is located, will take from one to two years.
Things move at a much slower pace than the dairyman had hoped for and the time delay frustrations at almost every turn gives him fits! The total of 3 years from land purchase to the first milking proves to be the most stressful time of his life and certainly has its impact on his family as well.
Chapter 2
It hasn't always been this way! When the dairy migration began in the late 60's, parcels of land as small as 20 to 40 acres were purchased by dairymen. In fact, one producer wanting to buy no more than 40 acres was forced to buy a 60 acre parcel because it was the only one to fit into his price range of undeveloped land at $500 per acre. For several years he complained about having too much land. Of course, 20 years later he faulted his broker (me) for not selling him a larger parcel.
Today a 25 to 30 mile commute between home and dairy does not appear to be a big deal. In the beginning of the dairy migration it was difficult to sell property further than 5 or 6 miles out of towns such as Visalia, Tulare or Hanford. In fact, there originally was unbelievable resistance to moving further from Visalia than the St. Johns River (4 miles) and properties offered north of the river required a good discount to even be considered.
Prior to the passage of the Gonsalves Milk Pool Act in 1968, producers had contracts with processors (known as "shipping rights") which limited the delivery of milk to one particular processor. "Shipping rights" were not easy to obtain and consequently a dairyman never moved further from the processor than the processor allowed - seldom over 30 miles from the milk plant.
A producer in Southern California could move to the San Joaquin Valley only if he could find a processor willing to buy his milk and the payout was then based on the usage of the milk. Valley processors turned almost all of their milk into manufactured products and consequently the producers got paid accordingly and not the higher price received from processors in the Southland who sold most of their milk for fluid consumption.
The Milk Pooling Bill changed all of that and allowed dairymen to ship to a cheese processor and still receive fluid milk price for up to his historical production. A state agency was begun to create the milk pooling system and each dairyman was given "Milk Pool Quota". This was the producer's historical base on milk usage and his payout was based on this usage regardless of what his milk was used for. While a producer with the fluid use history continued to be paid the fluid price for his milk even though the milk was used for manufacturing purposes, the producer with a history of manufacturing milk could ship his milk to a processor who used it for fluid milk consumption, he was paid the manufacturing sale price.
This Milk Pool Quota system is still alive and well after functioning for 40 years! The Milk Pool Quota can be sold by a producer to another producer and has historically sold for an amount equal to the value of a cow, when covering the cow's entire production. (2005 price of $470 per pound of SNF with a cow producing 70# of milk with 5.4 pounds of SNF equals $2,538).
Chapter 3
1960-1965
Just before the pooling program began there were lots of dairies in Tulare and Kings Counties. In fact in the 1930's, Tulare County alone had over 1,100 dairies. Most of these were very small, averaging just over 31 milking cows per dairy. By the late 60's the number of dairies was considerably less and the size of each herd had gone up considerably. In 1970 the average size herd in Tulare County was 274 cows. Total herds: 230.
In the early 60's people of Portuguese decent owned most of the dairies, however Kings County had a number of Dutch dairyman. Of course there also were a good number of producers who were of neither descent. Already prior to the milk pooling bill a number of Dutch people purchased existing herds in Tulare County and were producing milk at manufacturing milk prices. Times were difficult and uncertain and most of these people worked extremely long hours and doing all or almost all of the work themselves and as families.
These were people who were young and just beginning the dairy business. Almost all began with buying a herd of cows and leasing the dairy facility. Included in the cow purchase (prior to 1968) were the "shipping rights" or contract with a particular processor. I'm sure I've lost the names of some of these pioneering Dutch. Our family didn't arrive until 1964.
One of the first of these was Frank and Adriana Leyendekker who settled on the Hesse Dairy southwest of Farmersville. They later purchased the property, and then began the purchase of land north of Visalia where they built a new facility. As the family grew up more land was purchased and several new dairies were built. They are an extremely hard working family that worked together to assure that each of the family members at some point could own their own facility if they wanted it.
Jacobus "Koop" and Elizabeth "Lisa" De Groot moved in the early sixties and began dairying north of Visalia in a partnership with the Doe family.
Tom and Grace Byl got their start on one of Gary Eilers facilities located east of Visalia. After a number of years they were able to purchase a great location between Visalia and Tulare and built a brand new facility. Land at that location was very desirable and sold for all of $1,000 per acre.
Kees and Helia De Jong started their herd in the Reedley area and then moved to a rented facility at Woodville in the mid 60's. After a few years they were able to purchase 320 acres north of Visalia from Branco and soon built a brand new facility. The De Jong family worked extremely hard, purchased all the land around them that they possibly could and then built several new facilities over the years. Each of the family members contributed an awesome amount of work toward the success of the operation.
John and Willie De Jong began dairying in Riverdale and then moved to Tulare where they also purchased the facility. They are one of the few early settlers who purchased, this dairy facility is still being operated and is owned by the Pacheco family. John and Wilie have gone on to operate a number of dairies in Kings County over the years.
Cornie and Margaret Vander Stelt began in the Dinuba-Reedley area on a leased facility. They later purchased an 80-arce parcel north of Visalia and constructed a new facility. Their daughter Beverly and her boys built a new facility in west Fresno County many years later.
Adrian and Betsy Van Groningen came from the Hanford area to operate a facility east of Visalia for a number of years. Later their son Art moved to the Eiler's facility vacated by Jay and Agnes TeVelde. A grandson still operates it today.
Joe and Ann Diepersloot in partnership with Joe's brother Adrian and his wife Willie purchased the Replogle herd between Visalia and Dinuba in 1963 and operated the facility for a number of years until they purchased the Allan Grant Dairy north of Visalia along with a separate parcel which has recently been subdivided and sold. Both have retired from the dairy business and Adrian and Willie's son-in-law and and daughter now operate the dairy.
Jay and Agnes teVelde came from the Chino Valley and purchased the cows on one of Gary Eilers Dairies east of Visalia. After a number of successful years they had the opportunity of expansion in Chino and returned to that area for 20 or so years before returning to Visalia.
Tony and Betty DeGroot began dairying on a rented facility located between Visalia and Tulare on the east side of Mooney Blvd. when it was just an ordinary two-lane road and the first stop sign on the way to Visalia was at Mooney and Main. Tony and Betty moved up from the Escondido area and were followed by Betty's brother John and his family who established Bothof Bakery in Visalia. In later years two other brothers, Gerrit and Wilber, moved up and both are still in the construction business.
It was this group of people along with others, mostly, but not all of Dutch descent, who began the First Christian Reformed Church of Visalia in 1965 with Pastor Bartel Huizenga, they had there meetings at the Visalia YMCA.
These were the real pioneers who didn't come with money from the sale of property, did not have a herd of cows prior to coming but started from scratch. They literally worked themselves to the bone and were so sleep deprived that it was not at all unusual to see one or more of the men nodding their heads or falling asleep in church or even at the small Bible study evening group in a home. These were very disciplined people who knew that they could not make it with just hard work but who sought God's blessings on their work and family.
Chapter 4
What made these people come to Tulare County during the early and mid sixties? Was the money to be made in operating a dairy and selling milk to a processor who had a lot of control and where milk was predominately used for manufacturing, thus paying out much lower prices than were received by most operators in Southern California? Why work like a slave and tie your family down to that type of lifestyle as well.
It seems that many of the Dutch people have an overwhelming desire to be in a business for themselves. Many of those who came from across the ocean had limited education but a strong background in agriculture, particularly dairy. I believe that the desire to be on one's own, not accountable to others, and the belief that if one worked hard enough and long enough, you could be successful. I'm not sure just what the definition of success was at the time except that it included eventually of having one's own dairy facility, raising a family which in most cases included private Christian education at a substantial cost, and at some time being relieved of some of the hard labor. Another goal was to help any of the children who wanted to get into the dairy business to do so.
My guess is that few could have envisioned the dairy industry as it is today. In talking to some, the comment is often made that they had no idea the dairy business would take them financially to the point where they are today.
As noted earlier, most of these people coming prior to the establishment of the Milk Pool Quota system, came with very limited funds. Many borrowed from a friend or relative in addition to a bank just to buy a herd of cows and rent a facility. I believe it really shows that will and determination to be successful. Bankruptcies just didn't happen among these people!
Most all of the rental dairies had flat barns and either flat corrals or corrals with big holes in them. Winters were tough for man and beast! Most of the Dutch dairymen attended the Hanford Christian Reformed Church but few made it to the evening service during the winter due to all the extra work. Even over the next 10 years or so the evening church services were held late to enable the dairy families to attend.
Chapter 5
1965-1968
Not a lot happened during these years in the Tulare County dairy scene. We had just moved up in 1964 and had gotten a real estate license after a year or so of buying dairy heifers and beef calves to ship to Southern California. The buying territory stretched all the way up to Orland, California where many springers were purchased from small dairies that had a surplus.
This, however did not keep me busy enough so I decided to apply at Security National Bank (or was it Security First National Bank?) for the position of an appraiser. After an interview at the Fresno headquarters I was hired to begin in two weeks. A few days before I was to report for work, the Fresno office called to check if I was involved in a cattle partnership. I told them that my brother Tom and I were partners in a feeding operation and buying and selling of dairy cows. Since I was not willing to give up the partnership, I got fired before I began work.
Fortunately for me things soon seemed to be opening up a bit and it appeared that some land sales could be made.
I made my very first land sale (for a dairy) to John and Willy de Jong. It was a 275 acre parcel between Visalia and Hanford. This was virgin land and sold for just over $400 per acre. Tony and Betty de Groot purchased a parcel north of it and both are still in the same ownership 40 years later.
Shoerd and Alice Lanting had sold some land and facilities in the Artesia area in 1966 and purchased 60 acres just north of Tulare where they built their home. In addition, in 1967 they bought a 40 acre parcel on Caldwell Avenue west of Highway 99 where the dairy was built.
In 1968 Charlie and Rhonda Boonstra purchased a 60 acre parcel northeast of Tulare. It had a home on the property which Charlie and Rhonda and their family occupied for a number of years. All this was purchased for under $900 per acre.
When the Lantings and Boonstras bought land, the Milk Pool legislation had not been passed but it looked somewhat promising. This made the financing for the dairies rather difficult to obtain. More on this later.
Tom and Grace Byl purchased a 40 acre parcel just northeast of Tulare. They got an ideal location but had to really pay for it by making a deal at $1,200 per acre - unheard of for farm land at that time. Only Lanting's 60 acres at Cartmill and Demaree - near Highway 99 cost more, $1,750 per acre, but then it had a small grove of big Valley Oak trees as a setting for a home site. They utilized the trees and built a gorgeous home with the big trees all around it.
Kees and Helia de Jong were one of the first to build a new facility. It was the very first dairy with a lagoon and mounded corrals. This family gets the credit for a total liquid run-off and water disposal system. It began a new era in dairy construction.
During this time two brothers from Escondido owning Visser Brothers Construction purchased a 100 acre parcel north of Visalia with the intent of building a new dairy and making it available to a dairyman as a rental. This was in the neighborhood of $700 per acre.
This was a period of time when buying a herd of cows or selling a herd of cows was very difficult. The processors had the upper hand. Each milk contract had a 30 day termination clause and at various times the processors would not transfer a milk contract from the seller to buyer of a herd. I remember well having a herd of cows listed and after finding a buyer (at $285 per head) Dairymen's Cooperative Creamery Association (DCCA) would not allow a transfer of the milk contract. The dairyman, an older man wanting to retire could not sell his herd!
This was also a time when some under the table kind of deals were made between the producers and processors for getting a larger contract (more shipping rights). One example was a processor owning some worthless land and selling it to the producer at a high price. The sale of course included not only the land but additional "shipping rights".
Very few new dairies were built in Tulare County during the sixties. It was a quiet time compared to what was to come. During this time the Dutch community grew and almost all of the social activity centered around the church which became firmly established. Land was purchased for the church (4 acres on south Linwood in Visalia for $25,000) and plans were made to build.
Chapter 6
Early Financing and Permitting
Even before obtaining my real estate license I had the dream of working on relocating a good number of dairies to the valley. I could see the benefits of the area: inexpensive land, good water, lots of feed and great use for dairy wastes.
The passage of the Milk Pooling legislation in 1968 opened the door for me to begin promoting the valley and particularly Tulare County.
It took some time to work out a strategy or marketing plan. What would draw an Artesia dairyman to relocate in Tulare County when most of his friends were moving to Chino? Which dairyman should we target - those who owned their facilities or those who leased? Since there was already a large community of people of the Portuguese descent, should that be our first target? Did we have enough amenities to attract people who did their shopping in large new Southern California malls? Did the community offer enough things to do? Did people who rented facilities have enough equity in their herd to build their own facility? Was the church base large enough? Would people who wanted their children in Christian education be willing to have the kids go to a Christian school in Hanford everyday? Could the weather factor be overcome; the winter cold and fog and the 100˚+ summer weather? What could be done to make Tulare County a more attractive option for relocation?
While we wrestled with the items above and more, the reality was that without good financing the above really didn’t matter. There were really no existing dairies available and those that did become available were old and generally needed a lot of work. That meant we could work as hard as we wanted to but unless financing could be obtained for land, facilities, cows and feed, our efforts didn’t accomplish much.
Things didn’t start out very well! Our first try on getting a loan for land and construction was a huge disappointment. A dairyman and myself went to the Federal Land Bank to see what the possibilities might be. He brought a copy of the estimated cost for construction and I can’t remember if he had a small sketch of a dairy or not. He was hoping for a 60% loan. At that percentage he could make it work.
I’ll never forget that morning as we sat down with the Vice President, Ken Billings, and went over the costs. I’m not sure Ken had ever made a dairy loan, certainly not in the recent past. Remember, this was just prior to the establishment of Milk Pool Quota and dairies had not been generating a lot of profit. Ken put some figures together and told us he could possibly make a 35% loan. The dairyman’s face fell, as did mine. After all, I had a property in escrow subject only to the approval of financing. It was a dark day and both of us knew if there would ever be any hope it would come by way of the Milk Pool Quota. His dairy was in Artesia and his production history was fluid milk.
A brighter day came but it was not without meeting with a number of bankers and finally the passage of the Milk Pool Quota legislation at the end of 1968. This really opened the door for Southern California producers to come to the valley and receive class 1 prices for their milk while enjoying the benefits of lower production costs.
The permitting process was unreal! You purchased a piece of property and built a facility of whatever size you wanted – no acreage requirement. You just started grading (if you wanted to grade) and dig a lagoon if you wanted to and as deep as you pleased. You did not even need a building permit for the barn or the corrals. No one came by inspecting anything!
In total, prior to 1973 you needed three building permits – one for your home, one of them for the septic tank of your home and one for the septic tank of the bathroom in the barn. That was the extent of the permits! You could buy a property, close the escrow a week later and begin building the following day. It was simple, it was easy and it kept the costs down to a minimum. Its hard to believe today that the world was so simple at that time.
Today there are still many dairies that were built prior to 1973 that were never permitted and are not permitted today. All have to conform to certain rules such as set forth by the Regional Water Quality Board, but there is no county dairy permit in place for these facilities. That is why you will find some dairies milking 600 cows on 40 acres or 900 cows on 80 acres. These operate under what is called and “Existing Non-Conforming Use” and they can continue to operate and change ownership without any required changes as long as they operate on a continuous basis with no longer than a 90 day interruption. Also, these can be upgraded and remodeled as long as they remain the same foot print. Currently new regulations are changing some of this.
Having come from this kind of permitting processes is no wonder that the older dairymen now hate the new process with a passion.
Back to financing. In order to attract the maximum number of producers to the Valley we developed a brochure that outlined a construction proposal with a dairy just large enough to support the payments; yet affordable to most. We produced the brochure with minimum cost, doing most of the work ourselves, including pasting the pictures! Approximately 500 of the first brochures were produced and advertised in the "Dairymen" as well as being handed out personally in the greater Artesia dairy area.
A copy of some of the pages in the brochure are printed below. This was a joint venture that was sponsored be The Federal Land Bank, Wasnick Dairy Equipment and Rossitter Dairy Construction.
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Promotional Dairy Brochure
1961
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Did anyone ever build a complete facility for the amount shown in the brochure? One dairyman came really, close with a 40 acre site for $25,000 and the described dairy. However, a few extra thousand dollars was spent on the home.
The brochure accomplished what it was designed to do: Attract dairy producers to Tulare County and the southern San Joaquin Valley. Approximately 35 came to the Valley between 1968 and 1972 to buy land and build new dairies!
The numbers used in the brochure look like pocket change today. In 1968 this was real money and every last dollar was hard earned with an unbelievable amount of manual labor.
Several more brochures were developed over the years, each was better and bigger and each considerably higher prices.
It was a fun time when you could see people realizing their dreams of owning their own dairy facility and raising their families with the entire family working together. The kids grew up in true old fashioned "country" living.
Chapter 7
Motivation
What was the real motivation behind so many producers coming to the Central Valley over the years? Before getting into the long list of Dutch “migrants” who came in the seventies, it would seem appropriate to discuss just why they came. Those on the outside of the industry seem to have very differing opinions as to why the Dutch came. Perhaps a little background would be helpful.
Many of those who came in the early years were immigrants to America. They had come across the Atlantic as children with their parents or as young adults. They had settled in the U.S. to make a living, not unlike immigrants from all over the world. Why did they come to the U.S.? (Some immigrated to Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, etc.)
In 1945, the Dutch (as well as others) were liberated by the U.S. and Canadian soldiers. After five years of occupation the country presented very little opportunity for its young people. The possibilities of buying a farm/dairy were practically nill. Many middle aged people saw very limited opportunity in this small country for their children and so they began to look elsewhere. And this is where a personal story comes in:
Dad and Mom had done well in Holland and even managed to get through the war without becoming a financial casualty. Dad was the second person in town to buy a car after the war (the doctor was first). They owned their place with a 28 cow milk barn. The fact is that they were quite comfortable. But the folks had 3 boys and 1 girl and the overriding question became: What opportunities will be available for the family? Would the kids be able to find work or have a chance to own their own farm?
In order to immigrate to the U.S. a person or family had to have a sponsor, someone willing to take on the financial responsibility of the immigrant family so that the family never became a burden to the state. Inquiries were sent and Dad lined up a tentative sponsor in Missouri. After further inquiry, Dad did not find the future opportunities in MO very attractive. He eventually found a sponsor in California.
Despite the fact that you could not take your money out of Holland, we embarked on our journey to the U. S. When we got to New York our train fare to San Diego was paid and Dad had a total of $75 out of which to buy food on the train and pay for the first months rent on a home! Fortunately, Dad began his milking job the day after we arrived and my older brother also found a milking job in a few days. My sister began a domestic job within a week. (Dad was a month shy of being 51 when we came.)
Nine months later we moved to Artesia. Dad had found a partner who had $5,000 and he found someone who would loan him $5,000. They rented a little dairy and bought 40 cows which were milked by hand. As most partnerships go, this one didn’t last and Dad found himself renting another little dairy and owning 30 cows. For the next 15 years Dad kept expanding the herd and established two additional herds with a partner.
By the time Dad retired – 15 years after immigrating – he had helped my older brother buy a place and a herd in Washington, helped my sister and her husband buy property for a nursery business and sold the cows of the home herd to my younger brother and I.
Dad and Mom had reached their goals for their children in less than 15 years and had ample money to retire comfortably. Their dream was fulfilled and as Dad so often said, “Only by God’s blessings” During those 15 years they were willing to live in what today would be sub-standard housing They never needlessly spent an extra nickel and yet helped many people who needed assistance in one way or other.
The above story is told only to give the reader a feel for the motivation of these people. They did not come to the Central Valley because they were greedy or because of a big ego or even to accumulate riches. They came because they had a vision for each of their children and a sense of responsibility to help them get a start in life.
Today we see actual riches within the dairy industry. How did this happen? The Dutch seem to have an innate desire to improve upon themselves. The thinking seems to be: Do something well – the best you can. Then look around to see if you can learn and adapt other methods to help improve what you already have. As dairymen came to look at the Valley, one of the most important things was to look at dairies that were already built. They would then figure out ways to improve on what they found. Very few dairies were built as an exact replica of one that had been built a year earlier. Once built, improving the facility and equipment as well as expanding it was a never ending process. Why? The same reason as were given earlier. In addition, it allowed the families to help build new churches, a large Christian school complex and a beautiful retirement village. Other charitable causes were also supported very generously.
Most have the attitude that “We’ve been blessed so that we can be a blessing”.
Chapter 8
To Be Continued……..