Rep. Caraveo makes connections at dairy
Colorado Cow milk comes from Eaton, is bottled in Longmont
Colorado Cow is doing dairy farming differently and finding success in it.
William degroot is the manager of Colorado Cow, a family- owned farm in Weld County. The cows are milked in the Northern Colorado town of Eaton, but the milk is bottled in a small facility in eastern Longmont.
With just 90 cows, deGroot and his son, Terry, believe Colorado Cow is probably the smallest dairy producer in the state — definitely the smallest that bottles milk, they said. When the farm started in 2020, they only had 12 cows.
“Back when I was a kid, a big dairy farm was between 100 and 200 cows,” degroot said. “Things have progressed. Now, a little dairy farm is going to be 700, 800 cows.”
Colorado Cow ships its milk out to Whole Foods and Natural Grocers under the Origin name and label. The company focuses on high- quality milk by treating the cows with love and care; each cow has a name, friends and a distinct personality, degroot said.
The community response to the small operation has been overwhelming, deGroot said, citing people who have made trips from Denver to buy the milk from his stand in Kersey.
He said his goal is to move into a facility attached to an educational center, which can teach children about how to form relationships with dairy animals.
“It’s been our dream, our passion to work with animals and get to know the public,” he said. “The public support and the growth … everything has just been phenomenal.”
On Wednesday, Colorado Cow received a visit from U. S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo of Colorado’s 8th District, which includes a portion of Longmont. The congresswoman was joined by members of the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the tour of the facility. The degroots showed guests the process
ing room, fielded questions and sent everyone home with cartons of whole and chocolate milk.
“It’s wonderful to see what people are doing outside of the box in agriculture, and how specific and how innovative Colorado can get in terms of producing products that people want and need,” Caraveo said.
Caraveo, who is a ranking member on the congressional subcommittee for agriculture, explained that Weld County is the biggest agricultural producing county in the U. S. outside of California. She said it’s important to connect with agricultural producers in her district who have a “natural interface” with their customers, like the degroots.
“I think they understand best what the public is asking for,” she said. “You have to understand what your customer wants and needs.”
Xochitl Torres Small, undersecretary of agriculture for rural development with the USDA, said the degroots received a ValueAdded Producer Grant through the USDA in 2021. The grant helped cover equipment and marketing costs for Colorado Cow in its earliest stages.
“You learn the most when you listen to the experts, and this family is an expert in how to diversify and … create new markets by listening to the customers,” Torres Small said. “And if we’re investing in projects like that, we’re winning.”