Member Profiles

Milk Made These Memories
By Meagan Seele

Living in Northeast Iowa makes it easy to gain first hand knowledge of the extremes in the dairy industry. Take a short journey to the Amish community in northern Howard County and get a living history lesson in "the way it was." Log-on to the Northeast Iowa Community College "web-cam" and instantly you are an eyewitness to the most modern dairy techniques in the mid-west. But if you would prefer a "real-time" education in how the dairy industry has evolved over the last 75 years, I would suggest a visit with Art and Leona Aegler of rural Cresco.

Long time Hawkeye REC members and family dairy farmers, Art and Leona can vividly describe what it was like to milk by hand with light provided by a kerosene lantern. In fact, Art, now 84, remembers details as precise as the name of the first cow he milked at the age of six. That was his start in a commitment to dairy production that lasted 60 years. Even so, Art was merely carrying on the tradition of dairying, which his grandparents brought with them to America from Switzerland. Art's eyes twinkle as he remembers listening to his elders singing the old songs of their heritage to pass the long hours of early morning and late evening milkings.

"Bach" was the name of the first cow Art milked. Art and Leona married in 1939. They developed a herd of dairy cows as they began raising their family. Their diversified farm included about 20 Holstein cows. Art, Leona and Art's parents would all milk together. The milkings took about 1 plus hours with an additional plus hour to separate the cream from the milk. Each individual cow produced about 50 pounds of milk per day. The feed ration for the cows was determined in relation to what each cow produced. The Aeglers first sold the cream to the Cresco Creamery. In later years, the milk was hauled to the Schley Cheese Factory.
What a glorious day it was in 1948 when electricity finally arrived at the Aegler dairy farm. Suddenly the routine of milking became quite different. Instead of sitting on a stool holding a stainless steel pail between his knees, "We could just sit and watch!" Art recollects with a smile. "But we also had to stay on our toes. If you left the machine on too long, it would hurt the cow and that in turn would hurt us."

Another of Art and Leona's favorite memories of getting electricity is the fact that they no longer had to carry a lantern everywhere, they could just flip a switch!

Whole milk was pasteurized and always plentiful at the Aegler's meals. An interesting memory to Leona is the difference in the flavor of that milk as the seasons changed. "You could definitely tell the difference in the taste when the ration for the cows changed with the seasons, but you soon grew accustomed to the subtle new flavor."

Art quit farming when he was 74, but still enjoys watching and advising his grandson David as he farms the land and stays busy growing more than 1+ acres of sweet corn to share with his family and friends!

And should he get tired, he still has his old milk stool to sit on and recall "the way it was!"

Since 1937, the dairy industry has set aside June as a time to pay tribute to the vital role milk and dairy products play in the American diet and the outstanding contribution of America's dairy farmers.