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Beginning over five generations ago, the Kettler family has continued their tradition of providing farm fresh milk for the Brazos Valley.
On the outskirts of Brenham, the Kettler Family Dairy farm lies on a plot of sacred land dating back 1949. Now, with the fourth generation of Matthew and Ashley Kettler managing the farm they continued to pass on traditions to new generations who continue to run and evolve. Before taking over the family business, Matthew says his father did a lot to continually build the business and helped make the switch from commercial to retail when milk prices dropped.
“We’re trying to keep the family business going as a generational business,” Matthew says.“There used to be 150 dairies in Washington county at one time, but we are the only one left —we just want to keep the dairy tradition alive in the area.”
Even the children ages 3 to 14, as the fifth generation, are already helping to service the family business, the Kettlers say. Depending on their ages, they all have various chores and abilities that they share with the business.
“Our oldest son likes to working the store so he gets some experience in dealing with money and interacting with customers,” Ashley says. “Two of our daughters really enjoy working with the animals so they spend a lot of time helping maintain their well-being.”
Operations begin early in the morning on the farm with a lengthy milking process starting at about 4:30 a.m. and lasting about two to three hours, Matthew says. The family then works on property chores and opens up the store on certain days of the week for customers to come visit.
“We milk about 75 to 80 cows at a time using a system that operates on both sides of our barn,” Matthew says. “We can milk eight cows at a time with four on each side before we feed them and let them graze the pastures.”
Then, in the afternoons, it’s feeding time once again and time for another milking session before heading into bed for the night — and starting the process over again in the morning.
"In between milkings we work on all other chores that need to be done including property management and improvements and collecting eggs from our chickens.”
All of the cattle are all born and raised on the property and cared for by the family, Matthew says.
“We raise all our own calves, all our own replacements so that we keep our herds closed,” Matthew says. “Right now, we have about 40 calves on hand.”
The family offers a variety of products with their main operation being raw milk sold by the gallon and half-gallon, Matthew says. When customers come to visit, they help to educate on the qualities of their milk and answer any questions the customers may have for them.
“We try to educate our customers on different aspects of the farm and practices,” Matthew says. “We welcome all questions and try to answer them, but in the event we may not know the right answer, we point them in the direction of someone who might be able to help.”
As a newer venture, the dairy also offers a variety of raw milk cheeses in one pound and 8-ounce blocks in a variety of flavors including a traditional yellow cheddar cheese, white cheddar cheese and smoked black pepper, among others.
“We got into cheese because we had some extra milk and people were really interested in us offering some other dairy products,” Matthew says. “We decided to got hrough the permitting process and soon after began the cheese making process, which started out as just our basic cheddar, but we’ve been adding some new flavors.”
For those around the Brenham area, their shop is open four days a week for customers to come and purchase products and for those farther away in the College Station area, they offer a weekly delivery service to the area for customers to meet at a set location on Thursday mornings.
“We deliver weekly to College Station on Thursday mornings in the parking lot of Grand Station Entertainment,” Ashley says. “We arrive at about 9 a.m. and from 9:15 to 9:45 a.m., customers can come and pick up their pre-orders.”
Kettler Dairy Farms are located at 10639 Kettler Road in Brenham and are open for business on Mondays from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursdays from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Local delivery is available for pickup at Grand Station Entertainment on Thursdays from 9:15 to 9:45 a.m.(must pre-order on Tuesdays by 8p.m.). For more information, visit their Facebook page at Kettler Family Dairy or call (979) 251-4172.
