Dairy farming is part of Jeff Strassburg’s DNA.
The same can be said for his family — wife Jeni, son Jake Strassburg and daughter Alyssa Schmidt — who own and operate Strassburg Creek Dairy near Bowler.
Jeff is a fifth-generation farmer and has spent most of his life on the farm, which his family established almost 140 years ago.
“It goes back to 1886,” he said. “My parents bought the farm in about 1969 from my grandparents. We own almost 1,900 acres. We crop about 4,100 acres, so we rent (land) from a lot of great people. We’ve had great relationships over the years.”
Raising dairy cattle has always been the farm’s focus.
“When I graduated from Bowler High School, we were milking 68 cows,” Jeff said. “In ‘92, we started to slowly grow the farm. We needed to add cows so we had enough money to support the families we have here. It’s kind of the nature of the beast today in business. We’re always trying to milk enough cows to support everybody. Over the years, we’ve had a lot of great employees, employees that have been with us for 20-plus years.”
Strassburg Dairy has about 20 full-time employees, including Jeff and his family. His father, Ken, also helps out wherever he can.
A family commitment to running a successful dairy operation is one of the reasons for the farm’s long-term success, according to Jeni.
“I think we have a shared commitment to carrying on those traditions between Jeff, the kids, his dad and the employees,” she said. “It’s always been there as something we’ve always been committed to and wanting to see it succeed and continue. There’s always been that passion for dairy, the industry, the land.”
Alyssa and Jake will eventually take the operation over.
“They told both of us that we were free to do whatever we wanted,” Jake said. “We both went to Fox Valley (Technical College) in Appleton.”
Jake studied agronomy, while Alyssa focused on agriscience. Both knew they would stay connected to the farm.
“It’s not very common that a person my age can say that they see their sibling, parents and grandparents on a daily basis,” Alyssa said. “It’s really nice.”
Her husband, Dan Schmidt, also works at the farm part-time.
“He was always involved in agriculture, and his cousins have a farm by Bonduel,” she said.
“We have staff on the farm working shifts 24 hours a day,” Jeff said. “There’s always somebody here and if something’s wrong, they know our cellphone numbers and will call if they can’t handle it, but there’s a lot that they can handle. This is our business and we’re happy to help.”
Jeni married into the family after growing up in Antigo.
“I did not grow up on a farm, but some of my family farmed and I was familiar with agriculture,” she said. “When I met Jeff, we were just out of high school and I watched him making decisions. I guess I was always supportive with what he wanted to do.”
Family support is big when it comes to making major decisions about the farm, Jeff said.
“We have quarterly meetings with our banker and financial consultant,” he said. “For a lot of the projects, we’re looking at the pros and cons and saying, ‘Hey, is this the right thing to do?’ For the most part, we do a budget and analyze that.”
Jeni also works for the Bowler School District as a full-time speech/language therapist at the elementary school.
“The reality of insurance has always been a piece of that,” she said. “I can contribute in that way. On the weekends and in the summer, I get involved with different things.”
More than a century of family ownership has helped the farm succeed where others didn’t, Jeff said.
“I guess it’s the help of my mom and dad and their commitment to want to see the farm keep going,” he said. “Mom (Shirley) passed away two years ago in May and did the books until three days before she passed. That’s when Alyssa jumped in. Her role was always to take Grandma’s job. She graduated (from Bowler High School) on a Tuesday and on Thursday, Grandma passed. Grandma showed her a lot of things and there was a plan in place.”
Ken and Shirley played a role in making decisions.
“Even when we looked at a robot barn, we were just going to add some calves,” Jeff said. “A local builder said we should look at robots. Mom and Dad did not go along, but we took video, came back, showed them the video and they said, ‘Well, whatever you guys think. If you think that’s what we need to do to stay relevant and keep the business going, we support you.’ It’s been great to have the family support.”
Dairy farming stays in family for Strassburgs
