ABOUT THE FARM
EST. 1891
Tetzner’s Dairy is a family owned and operated farm located in Washburn, Wisconsin. The farm features a small store that sells milk and ice cream that is produced on the farm, as well as other dairy products. The store is self-serve, where costumers write down the products they bought on an envelope, then put their money in the envelope, and the envelope in a box. Pete and Matt Tetzner are 4th generation farmers on their family farm in Washburn, Wisconsin. Washburn sits up in the northern part of the state with their farm overlooking lake Superior. Pete and Matt own and operate the family farm with their dad, Greg, and their Uncle Kevin and Aunt Jackie.
The store is open daily from approximately 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM.
OUR COWS
Cows on average are milked 3 times a day by a Lely robotic milker which was installed in 2014. Cows are let outside every morning while their free stall barn is cleaned and stalls get fresh bedding.
Don’t worry, each one of our milking cows has a lovely name, we love our cows.
OUR CALVES
A Holstein calf typically weighs 80-100 lbs at birth. At Tetzner’s dairy the calf barn consists of 5 group pens containing up to 4 calves per pen. A new born calf is fed 3 quarts of milk twice a day for the first couple weeks. It is very important the milk is fed in the range of 102°-108°F. They soon learn to drink from a pail and will drink 4 or 5 quarts twice a day. At this point the calves are offered a pelleted grain and free choice water. At two months calves are weaned from milk and are now fed 2nd crop hay, free choice water and whole corn and pelleted grain. Whole corn helps with rumen development which helps them absorb nutrients.
OUR MILK
Tetzner’s Dairy offers 2%, Whole, and Skim milk. A gallon of milk is sold in two half gallon bags packaged in a larger bag, as pictured below. The bags can be placed in a pitcher for easy pouring. Our milk is always fresh. The milk does not contain BGH.
THE MILK BARN
The milking barn was built in 1971. The barn is where all of the cows who are currently being milked are kept. Attached to the barn is the parlor where the cows are milked twice a day. Tetzner’s have 100 milking cows, but only eighty are milked at a time. The other twenty cows are in the dry lot on “vacation”. Each of the one hundred cows is named when they have their first calf and are brought into the milking barn. They are also given a neck chain with a number so that they can be easily identified. For more information about our cows check our our animals page.
OUR FEED
Primary sources: barley, corn, oats, wheat, molasses, beet pulp, and soyhulls. Most dairy farmers grow their own barley, corn, oats, and wheat and will often process these grains to be fed to the cows. Molasses, beet pulp and soyhulls are purchased from a feed mill. Not all of these carbohydrate sources are used as other sources are needed to complement the forage to meet the nutritional requirements of the cows.
OUR PRODUCTS
MILK
In January 2014, Tetzners made the decision to change their milking system from a parlor to robotic milking due to efficiency and ease of milking a robot provides. Robotic milking frees them up from milking for multiple hours twice a day and ensures that their herd is producing the most milk possible.
It all began in 1920 when Ernest, with the help of his family, began bottling and selling raw milk in Washburn via horse and cart. Then in 1943, after the family bought a car, Phil, at the age of 12, got his license so he could drive into town to continue to sell raw milk to the locals. In the 1970’s, when the sale of raw milk become illegal in Wisconsin, Tetzners made the decision to build a small processing plant and store on their farm to pasteurize and homogenize their milk so that they could continue to sell. At the time, the only milk they sold was whole milk, but then there became demand for 2% milk. When they started processing 2% milk, they discovered they had a lot of excess cream.
In the early 1980’s, they would bag between 600-700 gallons of milk every other day. Today, due to decreased demand for milk and a saturated market, they now bag about 300 gallons every other day.
PRICES
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2% - $3.00
SKIM - $3.00
WHOLE - $3.00
*A gallon of milk is sold in two half gallon bags packaged in a larger bag, as pictured below. The bags can be placed in a pitcher for easy pouring. Milk is bagged every other morning, so it is always fresh. The milk does not contain BGH.
ICE CREAM
Being freed up from milking twice a day has also allowed us to have more time to focus on the milk and ice cream business. It all began in 1920 when Ernest Tetzner, with the help of his family, began bottling and selling raw milk in Washburn via horse and cart. Then in 1943, after the family bought a car, Phil Tetzner, at the age of 12, got his license so he could drive into town to continue to sell raw milk to the locals. In the 1970’s, when the sale of raw milk become illegal in Wisconsin, we made the decision to build a small processing plant and store on their farm to pasteurize and homogenize their milk so that we could continue to sell. At the time, the only milk they sold was whole milk, but then there became demand for 2% milk. When we started processing 2% milk, we discovered we had a lot of excess cream. So, in 1986, our (Pete and Matt’s) grandparents decided to turn that cream into ice cream!
We make 8 flavors of ice cream and ice cream sandwiches, all made with our own milk. Our ice cream is made once, sometimes twice, per week. Last year we sold over 10,000 gallons of ice cream!
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1 QUART- $3.00
2 QUARTS - $6.00
5 QUARTS - $12.00
ICE CREAM SANDWICH - $2.00
*Tetzner’s Dairy has six flavors on hand all the time: Vanilla, Chocolate, French Chocolate Mint, Cherry Nut, Strawberry, and Peppermint. Chocolate Cookie has limited avalibility, and Holiday Special and Cinnamon are only made at certain times of the year. During the winter months ice cream is made about once every two weeks, and during the summer months ice cream is made about once a week. Tetzner’s ice cream comes in three different sizes: 1 quart, 2 quart, and 5 quart. All Tetzner’s ice cream contains: cream, whole milk, skim powder, sugar, stabilizer, and salt.
CHEESE
Tetzner’s purchases cheese from Anderson Distributors in Baldwin, WI, a company that picks up cheese from Wisconsin cheese factories. The cheese curds come from Nasonville Dairy in Marshfield, WI.
Nasonville Dairy is proud to be a part of the 150 plus years of dairy farming within the state of Wisconsin. Even before Wisconsin was officially a state people within the area where farming and perfecting the skills they brought from their European ancestry in the world of cheese-making. It is this long history and experience, passed down from generation to generation that helps Nasonville Dairy, employees and products, be outstanding in their field. Nasonville Dairy has won many awards both in USA and International cheese contests,
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STRING CHEESE - $4.00
CHEESE CURDS - $4.00
CUBIE - $4.00
MEET THE TETZNERS
PETE | MATT | GREG | KEVIN | PHIL
MATT TETZNER
It was after Pete and Matt both graduated high school and tech school that they both started farming full-time. Pete has now been farming full-time for 14 years, and Matt has been farming for 12 years. They both live nearby the farm with their families. Pete and his wife, Beth, have two children, as do Matt and his wife, Kristin.
PETE TETZNER
It was after Pete and Matt both graduated high school and tech school that they both started farming full-time. Pete has now been farming full-time for 14 years, and Matt has been farming for 12 years. They both live nearby the farm with their families. Pete and his wife, Beth, have two children, as do Matt and his wife, Kristin.
STOP OUT TO THE FARM
The store is open daily from approximately 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM.