Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier, IA
04-16-06
Dutch dairy family settling into American way of life
By JESSICA MILLER, Courier Staff Writer
SHELL ROCK --- A cow lets out a distressed call from the calving area. Eduard
Reuling had taken a newborn calf from its mother, drawing her close to the pen's
edge.
"Here is your calf," he says.
The cow extends its head through the stanchion, locking herself in place so the
dairy farmer can collect the mother's first milk.
After calf No. 28 is safely isolated, Eduard turns to the captured cow.
"I got the wrong one," he says.
Cow No. 80 is tending to the afterbirth, and Eduard must push the animal to the
stanchion.
On day 59 of the Snow Rock Dairy operation --- managed by Butler County's first
Dutch immigrant dairy farmer --- cows and employees are falling into routines.
Eduard's employees handle the milking. Eduard takes care of the calves and
whatever else must be done. He has yet to take a day off.
Eduard sold his herd and milking business in April 2004 in the Netherlands. With
the savings, he said his family could have lived comfortably.
"That's not what I wanted to do. I want to work," he says. "I want to farm."
That same summer, Eduard and his wife, Resy, signed an option to buy 38 acres
near Shell Rock. They built a dairy operation and home.
The monumental change in their lives began after visiting Iowa as part of a tour
coordinated through the Butler County Farm Family project. The committee
formed to welcome people such as the Reulings. The group also joined forces
with Iowa State University Extension and the Iowa Department of Economic
Development to change federal law. The effort enabled Dutch dairy farmers to
receive immigrant status and begin dairy operations.
Eduard and Resy and their two daughters, Jenny, 6, and Ryanne, 4, arrived as
visitors in July. They returned to Holland after Nick was born in August. They
returned to the United States as permanent residents Oct. 23.
Along the way, Eduard cut his way through red tape to get a visa for himself and
his family. He also had to unravel other snarls related to the business. One of the
few cellular telephone companies whose service reaches his barn wouldn't give a
contract without an Iowa driver's license.
"I have my green card, I have a driver's license from the Netherlands. I have a
Social Security number. But I can't get a contract with US Cellular," Eduard says.
Eduard brought some technology found in Dutch milking operations.
"He is using a few things there that are unusual for the United States," says
Robert Tigner, Iowa State University Extension dairy specialist.
One is an automatic calf feeder.
"It breaks the rules we follow in the States on how to raise dairy calves," Tigner
adds.
Newborns go to one large pen where they all feed from the same machine. Each
has a transmitter in its ear that tells a computer when it is time for the calf to
nurse.
The feeder heats water to the proper temperature and formula spills into a mixer.
On day 59, Eduard trains the newest member to join the pen how to eat from the
machine. He normally shows animals one time before they catch on.
Some calves, though, are stubborn.
"It's the same as with people. Everybody is a different character," Eduard says.
If a calf isn't nursing, the contraption sends Eduard an alert and provides
information about which calves have eaten and how much they've taken. The
feeder automatically weans the calves as well.
Which all saves on costs and human error.
"Labor can make mistakes," Eduard says.
Tigner says other unique and labor-saving features include rubber flooring easier
on the herd's feet. Eduard also set water troughs higher to keep them cleaner.
Some believed cows wouldn't step up that high to drink, but Eduard's Holsteins
do.
Eduard also fashioned a machine that helps spread sawdust in pens so
employees don't have to.
He employs two people full time. Barbara DeGroot of Shell Rock serves as herd
manager. The dairy also hires part-time milkers.
The Butler County milking operation is moving the project committee toward its
goal. The group hopes to attract up to six Dutch dairy family farming operations,
says Pat Derdzinski, education director for Butler County Extension.
Another couple has an option to purchase land near Allison. Two other couples
are nearing agreements in Primghar and in Brooklyn. Those 300-head facilities
are all scheduled for completion within the year.
The Reulings will serve as an example to others coming from overseas. After a
few months in their new home, Jenny is settling into kindergarten and Ryanne
attends preschool. Both are learning English.
"They seem to be adjusting really well," Derdzinski says.
Jenny's teacher at Shell Rock Elementary, Andrea Knaack, says she is catching
on quickly.
During a morning session in January, a fellow classmate is unsure what number
comes first in the numeral 14. The girl says four. Jenny leans forward and
whispers.
"One."
Resy stays home with Nick but is becoming active in the community. Since
moving, she held a book club party in her home.
"They are now Americanized," Derdzinski says.
Holding Nick in what the Reulings' call their living kitchen, Resy agrees with the
sentiment.
"Now we are getting used to the American way of life."