Medlang in Iowa
Kids’ Summers — in a Good Way!
By Melissa Hart
Worth County, Iowa, is home to the Medlang family farm, where they began their Brown Swiss herd in 1945 when the family doctor, Dr. R.L. Olson, and his brother dissolved their farming partnership with a sale.
James and Marvin Medlang, who had begun their dairy operation in the 1930s with three Jersey heifers bought from their uncle for $10, grabbed their dad and went to the Olson sale. Their mom was partial to Brown Swiss after seeing one at the county fair, so they ended up with six cows and a bull — and with that, the Medlang Brown Swiss herd was established.
According to a local newspaper clipping, James’ oldest son, Charles, explained while he was growing up his father milked 50-70 cows — and in one 13-year stretch, James only missed one milking.
Today, the farm is managed by Charles’ and Linda’s son, Steven Medlang, and they have updated their facilities to include a parlor and a compost-bedded pack barn. They milk 80 cows and farm 400 acres of corn, soybeans, and hay to feed the herd. They breed for type and production and use a variety of bulls. The current sire list includes Phantom, Doboy, Halano-P, Crazy Man, Prince, Nashville, and Jim Beam.
Though Charles passed in 2021, Linda still plays an active role in keeping the books, running errands, and is the occasional tractor driver. Steven’s sister, Michelle Medlang, is also active on the farm. Her full-time job is with Compeer Financial, and she lives in Rochester, Minnesota, but she works the farm on the weekends and during the family’s busy month before their local county fair.
The Medlangs milk Registered Brown Swiss as well as provide a service to the community with their herd. No, they don’t do school tours, and they aren’t set up for agritourism — they make it possible for local youth to be involved in showing cattle at the Worth County Fair.
“It started when I was a kid,” Michelle recalled. “My cousins had moved back to the area from Wisconsin, and I was in fourth or fifth grade at the time. I had a little bottle calf, and my mom and aunt thought it was a good idea for my cousins to show that bottle calf in the ‘Bucket-Bottle’ class. This was a class of small calves, and anyone at the fair could lead the calf in the class, and they would get some ride tickets, a ribbon, and some ice cream.
“My cousin started doing that, and when she got old enough to be in 4-H, she wanted to continue to show.” Michelle was 12 years old when she was tasked with getting not only her own heifer ready for the show but her cousin’s as well. “I didn’t intend to start this, but my parents said, ‘Just let her show your calf, and get it ready for her.’ Once she started, my other cousins joined in, and then their friends wanted to show, and it went on from there.”
The group of kids who expanded out of the cousin crew included friends at school and their siblings. Once they aged out of 4-H, Michelle decided she needed to recruit more kids to take calves to the fair. “That has spiraled into me helping about 15 kids a year, and this year we are up to 18 kids showing 29 animals,” she explained.
These young people come from varying backgrounds. Some of them are traditional 4-H and FFA kids who show other species and also want to show dairy, and others come from homes that don’t have acreage to house livestock.
The Worth County Fair is every June, and the kids who show calves begin working with their projects toward the end of May when school lets out. They come to the Medlang farm when their schedules allow to work with their calves, and the level of experience dictates which animals they will show.
“We will go out and catch the heifers a few times. Fortunately, because they are Brown Swiss, they calm down pretty quick, usually. And once they get used to being tied with a halter and kind of let me stand nearby them, I’ll have the youth start coming,” Michelle noted. “Once the heifer is used to the 4-Her, we start leading them around in a small space and then go outside and do laps outside in a bigger space.”
Every child will show a heifer at the fair, while the older youth also have a chance to show a milk cow as well. The county fair does not have milking facilities, so the cows are hauled in for the show and then back home, all on show day.
No matter what their age, Michelle involves every kid in clipping the heifers. Armed with several pairs of clippers, she gives each a set, shows them how, and then lets them go to work. The youth also learn about show preparation, including feeding and washing. One of Michelle’s key requirements is that they all learn how to tie a quick-release knot.
“That’s one of the main things, trying to make sure they know how to tie a knot, so that way when they get to the fair, they can tie up their animal,” she explained.
She likes to keep things simple and focus on the young people learning about dairy farming. “We focus on them actually getting some farm experience. We don’t have schedules for them, but when they are out here, they will help with different chores, and we will go into the parlor so they can learn to milk the cows and get those kinds of experiences,” she said. “They are getting a lot of knowledge and experience in a short period of time that will stay with them the rest of their lives.”
This year, the Brown Swiss show at the Worth County Fair will feature 29 head from the Medlang Farm.