Larson Acres is a 6th generation dairy farm located in Evansville. Sitting down with Ed and Barb Larson, I learned a little bit about the history of their operation. 

Back in 1920 Edward Larson, Ed’s great-grandfather, came down to Magnolia township from Lone Rock to purchase 80 acres of farmland.  His son Leo, Ed’s grandfather, bought the farm from his father in 1940, moved his family, and continued dairy farming there with his son Don (Ed’s father).

Don married Virginia Willing on February 14, 1948. They had six children: Kathy, Donald (aka Butch), Ed, Lori, Ricky, and Mike.

Don began a practice that was common at that time called 50/50 shares. The landowner would provide the land and buildings. The tenant farmer would provide the farm machinery, raise crops, and milk the cows. The landowner and the tenant farmer would split the profits.  Don had around 50-60 cows by 1955.

In 1957, Don turned 30 years old and bought his first farm, which was 400 acres, and a 57-cow stanchion barn, which is the current site of Larson Acres. (As a side note, at that time, another local farmer, Corvan Neuenschwander, was taking a Young Farmers Group class on farm management, and the class believed Don had made a mistake buying this farm. Don, Virginia, and their children worked hard and made the farm successful. Obviously, the class underestimated the Larson family.)

Ed also tells the story of how his father went to town to buy a tractor from the international dealer, except at that time, the dealer required customers to buy a refrigerator/ freezer from the remainder of those that had been stockpiled during the war. But Don didn’t want an appliance, he wanted a tractor. So, he went to a John Deere dealer and the Larsons have been driving green ever since (John Deere tractors, as most of you know, are green).

In 1971, the farm and the families were growing. At this point, it is important to note that the common practice in those days was for the father to send his sons down the road to acquire their own farm with their father’s help. The Larson’s chose to keep their sons on the home farm and expand it, a practice that has worked out very well for them. Another wise move was to hire Attorney Jeff Roethe from Milton to help them create a corporation. This gave a structure to the operation and was the beginning of Larson Acres Inc.  This set up the farm with the ability to successfully transfer ownership for generations to come.

Growth in the 1970s meant buying more land. The farm bought four more farms from Frank Milbrandt, a large landowner in the area. They also bought the Hyne farm, just west of 5th Street in Evansville. They farmed it for many years before developing it. These lots were sold to allow them to buy more land closer to the home farm. Don, Butch, Ed, and Mike all chipped in to milk the cows, pick rocks from the fields, and perform fieldwork. By this time, they were milking 80 cows. Around this time, Ed brought his girlfriend, Barb Peterson, out to the farm while he was milking. She was a city girl and was not knowledgeable about farming. After Ed finished the milking, he let the cows out, and they all defecated on their way out of the barn. Barb exclaimed, “You let the cow’s poop in the barn!?!”  After they married, Barb took over as the calf manager when the farm had between 25 and 50 calves at a time.  That number grew to 120 during her watch.

She had obviously learned a lot since that first visit to the barn.

In 1983, the Larsons expanded to a tie-stall barn, bringing the total number of cows being milked to 155. The family did almost all the work building the new barn themselves. Unfortunately, on September 6, 1984, they had a barn fire and had to rebuild.

In 1998, the farm grew to allow more family members to work there. They expanded to 600 cows and installed their first milking parlor and free-stall barn. In 2000, the herd expanded again to 1,200 cows.

In 2010, the farm expanded again from 1,200 to 2,800 cows, adding a second parlor and a cross-ventilated free-stall barn. The farm was then managed by Ed’s brother Mike and the 5th generation, Ed and Barb’s children, Sandy and Jamie.

Over the last several years, the 6th generation, Sandy’s children Brooke, Dane, and Luke, have become more involved in the farm's day-to-day operations.

Almost all the crops they grow on 5,500 acres, of which half are owned, are harvested for feed for the herd. In addition to growing crops, the team of 75 employees also includes office staff, those who care for the young stock, feed the cows, recycle sand, and, of course, milk cows.

Today, the Larsons produce nearly 30,000 gallons of milk per day, all of which are sold to Grande Cheese Company to make specialty cheese for pizzas.

At Larson Acres, they focus on three key things that are the foundation of everything they do as a family dairy business — Quality. Pride. Family. They take great pride in the top-quality cheese they produce for consumers. But it’s not just about the milk they produce. For generations, their family has taken pride in how they care for their animals, how they protect our environment, how they plan for the future, how they treat employees, and how they give back to the community in which we live. A prime example of this is the $500,000 gift they made to the City of Evansville to establish the West Side Park and build the new swimming pool.

The Larson family has built a family farm by growing and expanding together. They expanded organically over time. They acquired land when they needed to expand and took advantage of opportunities that came their way. They are proud to have three generations currently working on the farm.

Their Industry peers must feel the same way since Larson Acres was recognized in October at the World Dairy Expo with the Dairy Producers of the Year Award.