Featured Breeder

A Brown Swiss Niche in the Arizona Desert

By Melissa Hart, Dairy Agenda Today, Brown Swiss Bulletin

He sold his commercial dairy in 2012 and was ready to embark on a different career when one meeting changed Rick Anglin’s direction.

Rick and Kristin Anglin own and operate Fond du Lac Farms in Arizona.

“After I sold the cows, I had plenty of time to think about things. I was invited to a dairy exchange meeting and there I met with a processor from the Midwest,” and that changed the trajectory of Fond du Lac Farms. After his visit with the processor, Rick stayed up late that night, crunching numbers and creating a budget for his on-farm milk-processing operation. After getting his wife, Kristin, on board, Anglin decided that if he was going to process his own milk, he would do it as a raw milk processor with Brown Swiss cattle and his plans were set in motion. Since July of 2014, Rick and Kristin Anglin have owned and operated Fond du Lac Farms as a raw milk dairy in Casa Grande, Arizona.

Rick has dairying in his blood. His great grandfather, grandfather and dad have all been in the dairy business. And when Rick was in 4-H, he fell in love with the Brown Swiss breed. “In 4-H I was getting my butt kicked all the time,” so Rick and his dad made a trip to Bridge View Swiss in California and he purchased a three-month-old Jade daughter for $1500. “My dad said I was crazy, but I brought her home and I enjoyed a lot of success with her. At that time, she was one of the first Jade daughters in the country.” Anglin had always wanted a herd of Brown Swiss and one trip to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, was the beginning. He purchased two cows from Grant DeBruin and then added cattle from there. Today his herd consists of 40 milking females and 60 head total.

Anglin Cows at Feedtime

Anglin studied the bull books as an adolescent, but he paid more attention to the maternal side of the studs. He believes that cow families that transmit are vitally important. He cited Valligrove Jetway Nora 2E-93 as an example of a cow that transmits time after time, “It doesn’t matter what you put in Nora, you always get a good one.” The breeding philosophy at Fond du Lac Swiss can be summed up in one word; longevity, “I want cows to last.”

Anglin admits, “Brown Swiss can be high maintenance divas. They have one speed, ‘Swiss speed’ and that’s usually slow.” He also maintains that Brown Swiss can handle everything, they are the masters of extremities. They can tolerate the cold and the hot temperatures and that fits well in his desert climate.

Rick and Kristin Anglin developed a demand for Brown Swiss milk in the Arizona desert. These cute calves are part of their herd.

When Anglin was designing his milking facilities, he pulled out old photos of herringbone parlors. “I felt a little like Bull Durham, people looked at me like I was crazy. I bought property and out of raw desert, I made a dairy.” He built a double-four parlor and designed it with Brown Swiss in mind. “It was purposely built to milk Brown Swiss. Everything is bigger, there is only one turn, it’s very open and functional.”

Anglin processes and sells whole raw milk, whole milk keifer and heavy cream to 48 stores in Arizona. “For me, Brown Swiss is our niche market. It’s about quality over quantity.” The surging popularity of the Brown Swiss can be found not only among dairymen, but Anglin says Swiss are being recognized and appreciated by the customers themselves. He commented “Brown Swiss are a beautiful physical specimen and people fall in love at first sight. Then once they actually taste the milk, they’re hooked! It’s the perfect balance of fat and protein. I like to compare it to the three bears: some milks are just not enough; other milks are too much, but Brown Swiss milk is just right!”
Rick Anglin sells raw milk in plastic jugs and it’s distributed into 48 stores in Arizona.

While raw milk consumption has been known to spark conflict over safety reasons, Anglin says, “People are beginning to ‘wake up’ and see the direct connection between food and health. We’re beginning to learn and understand the importance of gut health and how it impacts the entire body.” He continued, “There’s an awakening to the importance of real food that has not been altered and the incredible benefits to overall health. Raw milk is a living product with incredible probiotic benefits. As a country, we are seeing a shift in consumer demand for foods in their complete form, as well as cultured products.”

Anglin has found his customer base is looking for solutions to health problems, “We have a very loyal customer base who are dedicated to eating whole foods. Additionally, some of our customers suffer from health issues which includes everything from being lactose intolerant to Crones disease to autism. We hear from people with asthma who are drinking our milk and seeing improvement in their health.”

As the dairy industry has lost several herds because of low milk prices, Anglin believes the future of the Brown Swiss breed is literally in the breeder’s hands. “Let’s be real, there aren’t many of us left. We need to view our cattle as our niche that creates opportunities for us as breeders. Selling milk in bulk may work for a few of us, but I’d encourage breeders who are thinking about future generations to look hard at diversification.”

Anglin concluded, “I don’t know that the status quo is sustainable for the future. But as Brown Swiss breeders, the future is at our doorstep and there is a myriad of opportunities available for us.”