“There’s really no such thing as a typical day,” Mauthe said, noting that whether it’s delivering products to stores from New Orleans to Jackson, milking cows twice a day, processing the milk or baking Milklady Cheesecakes, something always needs to be done.
The hard work on a dairy farm is nothing new for Mauthe. His grandfather began dairy farming in New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward in 1933. Since, Kenny Mauthe’s two daughters, 32-year-old Katie and 34-year-old Sarah, have rounded out the fourth generation of family members to work at the dairy. And every Friday, Kenny Mauthe’s 87-year-old father — who used to deliver milk door-to-door in the Big Easy — tags along for Kenny’s deliveries in New Orleans.
“He’ll tell me stories he says he’ll never forget about how he used to make sure people had milk on their doorstep before they went to work,” Kenny said.
“To be a part of this and know that we can carry it on, it’s just a great feeling,” Sarah said. “It’s what we want even for our children.”
Though the business took a hit in 2005 with Hurricane Katrina, Progress Milk Barn made a comeback and now sells to about 65 businesses in Mississippi and Louisiana, including grocery stores, coffee shops and restaurants. All of that is in addition to time spent at farmers’ markets.
“We never realized there was such a demand for fresh, local milk in the marketplace,” Kenny said. “I think people are more conscientious now than ever about where they get their food and how the animals are treated. We get a lot of questions like that from our customers.”
Those same curious customers often brave anything from cold rain to heat waves so they can get their milk from the Mauthes at farmers’ markets.
“On a Saturday when it’s cold and rainy and they come anyway, it makes you feel good,” Katie said. “That customer will say, ‘Thank you so much for being here,’ and we can turn around and say ‘Oh, no, thank you for being here.’”
Seeing the smiles and knowing the customers appreciate the Mauthes’ hard work is a huge payoff.
“At the end of the week, that’s our reward; that’s
what we’ve worked for,” Sarah said.
Finding milk farmers today isn’t as easy as it was in Mississippi’s past. The number of dairy cattle farms in the state has steadily declined over 30 years, said Lamar Adams, Pike County Extension agriculture agent. In 1960, Mississippi reported 3,230 dairy farms, compared with
85 today.
During that same time, however, the amount of milk per cow has dramatically increased because of advancements in genetics, forages, feeding systems, herd health protocols and other management, Adams said. Every dairy farm in the state today, he said, is a small, family-owned business.
About 90 miles north of the Mauthes’ Milk Barn, 31-year-old Sarah Davis typically can be found at Southern Touch Farm in Brandon with her family and generally surrounded by any number of animals — including about 20 dairy goats.
At 12, Davis was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, but it’s never stopped her from constant hands-on care for the animals she loves, from her Yorkie lapdog to the miniature jersey cows in the pasture.
And like at the Mauthes’ spread, there’s never a dull day at Southern Touch Farms, regardless of the time of year. In the fall, the goats are bred, and they have their babies in the spring. As soon as the goats give birth, the milking begins for the mothers, and the feeding begins for the babies.
“We deliver the babies and raise them as our own so the mothers can be milked, so they think we’re mama,” said Susan Fitts Davis, Sarah’s mother. “We bottle feed them just like you would a human baby.”
Since she was a little girl, Sarah Davis has turned her love of animals into both hobby and sport by showing animals at fairs, spinning wool and making clothes, and making her own dairy food products.
“I guess I wasn’t always comfortable being in front of a lot of people, I never really was outspoken,” Sarah said.
“But working with the animals gave me a confidence.”
When Sarah was more mobile, she and her mother would load up some of their animals and take them to events around the area — from church carnivals to the library — and teach local children about caring for them.
“I quickly learned that the kids thought it was pretty cool. They had questions, and I was able to answer them,” Sarah said. “I felt accepted in that area, where sometimes I didn’t really feel that accepted in other areas.”
Today, the Davis family produces fresh milk and eggs, and they also have experience in making soaps, cheese and yogurt from their dairy. Sarah also spends time teaching interested students how to show animals at fairs, and their gate is always open for visitors who want to learn more about life on a farm.
Unlike Sarah Davis and Kenny Mauthe, 39-year-old Paula Brown in Oxford did not grow up on a dairy farm, and she certainly did not imagine she would wind up operating one in her adult life.
After earning a graduate degree in education and spending time working as a teacher, Brown became a stay-at-home mother in Oxford. To make ends meet, her husband, Billy Ray Brown, took a job working for the city but felt that it just wasn’t what he was meant to be doing.
“He (Billy Ray) came up with the idea — he saw it on ‘The Today Show’ where someone had a very small dairy and pasteurized and bottled it right there on sight,” Paula said. “He came in one day and said he’d put his two weeks’ notice in. I had a little doubt right then, but he’s always come through for us. It took us a while. We did a lot of research. People told us we were idiots and it would never work, but we finally got it built.”
In 2009, the Brown family dairy was up and running, starting with about four cows.
“We immediately realized that wasn’t enough, and we’ve been growing ever since,” Brown said.
Today, they’re milking about 30 dairy cows, in addition to taking care of 50 hogs and 200 beef cows. Their dairy products are sold in counties all across North Mississippi, and they haven’t missed a Saturday farmers’ market in Hernando since they started.
“It’s very busy,” Billy Ray said. “You’re more than married to this. I bottle 120 gallons a day, and that’s on a short day.”
As a mother of three, Paula Brown enjoys the flexibility of
farm life.
“We’ve practiced spelling words out there in the barn while I’m milking,” she said. “I could do my daughter’s hair for a dance out there.”
During the past 10 years, Adams said, some local dairies have entered into the value-added concept of milk production and are now processing and selling milk and other dairy products on their farms for direct marketing in their local communities.
“Our farmers have to overcome the ill-effects of the hot and humid Mississippi summers on forages and dairy cattle, but they are committed to providing the best care possible to their animals to ensure we all continue to enjoy access to fresh milk and dairy products,” Adams said.
Though the days of delivering glass milk bottles to doorsteps of homes before sunrise have passed, the families involved in the dairy business know there is still a demand for their products, and that’s what keeps them going.