Vanilla Yogurt

In May of 2002, Mennonite family Dave & Carolee Rapson moved to Hawkeye, Iowa from Michigan to pursue a dream of starting their own dairy farm. For Carolee, it was the preservation of a family legacy. For Dave it was the evolution of a love for dairy farming discovered at the age of 17.

At that time, Dave began working at a neighboring dairy farm. He held that job for 9 years, eagerly learning all he could about the great agricultural tradition of dairy farming. Later Dave became the Herdsman and eventually the Herd Owner of another dairy farm. These pivotal experiences for Dave combined with Carolee’s background and knowledge of the profession led us to purchase our own dairy farm and begin a homesteading life together.

For 19 years, they happily grew our family and our farm. Then, in 2011 with 5 children ages 4-17, the Rapson’s knew that we must start thinking hard about the future of their family dairy farm. With the extreme challenges faced by many dairy farmers, they knew that they would have to create something truly special to build a lasting enterprise.

Carolee had been making wonderful homemade yogurt for a couple of years and knew how to create a product that our family enjoyed on a small scale. After discovering that there weren’t any other yogurt producers in Northeast Iowa, and that there was a demand in our community for local, healthy, all natural, cultured foods (like yogurt), we decided to pursue the unique art of making yogurt on a larger scale as well.