In the early days nearly every farmer in Borculo kept a few dairy cows for their own use and churned the surplus milk into butter. The butter was then sold to the local grocer. Many housewives were the butter makers. After the milk was strained, the milk was placed in shallow pans where the cream was later skimmed off. The cream was then placed in a churn where it was made into butter.
Around 1900, cooperative creamery companies were formed by local farmers to separate the cream from the milk. They used machine separators which was a much faster and more efficient method. Each creamery had a butter maker who was in charge of the operation. The milk was hauled from to the creamery by horses pulling a wooden wheeled wagon. The milk was transported in 10 gallon steel cans which would weigh about 100 pounds when full. A wagon would usually carry a load of 20 milk cans. Each farmer had an assigned number painted on his cans. The milk hauler would bring in a load of milk each day, except on Monday when he would bring in two. NO MILK HAULING ON SUNDAY! Each farmer’s milk was weighed and tested for percentage of butter fat. A Holstein cow would usually produce milk with a 3.5 percent butterfat. It would take 100 pounds of milk to make 4 ½ pounds of butter.
The milk hauling business progressed over the years from the wagon to the truck and then to the large bulk tankers. My grandfather had a milk route in the early 1900’s. He used horses and a wagon at first then some trucks. One truck had solid rubber tires.
The Borculo Creamery Company came into existence in the 1899. It was located just north of Borculo in the building that later became the Borculo Feed Mill. The Creamery had a butter maker who ran the daily operation. For many years the butter maker was Henry J. Meppelink who was known for his delicious Borculo butter.
The Borculo Creamery operated for 29 years, expanding the business and property as time went on. In 1928 the Creamery was sold to a much larger company, Mead Johnson Co.. They operated it until 1939. They sold the property to Gerrit and Herm Bussis, who then sold it to Henry Weaver in 1941.
The Borculo Creamery had a large pond on the property which was used in the Winter months to harvest the ice that was used in the early days to keep the milk and butter cool in the Summer months. The ice was cut in squares and packed in sawdust to keep it from melting. The ice was cut when it was about one foot thick with a large saw. Later they used a large circular saw mounted on the rear axle of a Model T.
The butter that was made was often packed in wooden tubs holding 60 pounds. It was packed in ice and sent by rail cars to large cities. Some was sold locally to grocery stores.
It appears that the Creamery building burned down and was rebuilt during the time it was operated by Mead Johnson in the 1930’s.
In later years milk was sold to local dairies as Grade A milk. Fairview Dairy in Borculo had a bottling operation just east of Borculo.
Today instead of many farmers keeping a few cows, you have large dairy farms keeping many cows. The Nienhuis in Borculo milks around 300 cows.
Bob Essenburg.