Chapter 9

1 Chapter 9 1974-1985 Continued growth (at a slower pace) While the big rush of land sales to dairymen came in the early 70 s, the years that followed brought a steady number of producers and really built the total number of dairies, and particularly the number of cows in Tulare County. The basic means of luring dairy produces to come to the valley by our company was to keep sending newsletters that portrayed the valley as a viable alternative for relocation. We kept promoting the low, per cow cost, for a complete new dairy. Over the years we upgraded our Dairy Relocation Guides a number of times adjusting the numbers as the land cost, construction cost and financing changed.

2 Our Newsletter was published on a quarterly basis; more often if we had a lot of property to sell and less often if we found ourselves short of property. It was a great way to keep our name in front of the dairy industry on a regular basis although not an inexpensive way to do it. We did very little advertising with conventional ads. Most all of our business came from a combination of referrals and the Newsletter. The Back Page of the Newsletter became the favorite page of most of our readers. We ve had untold calls asking when the next Newsletter was coming or did we drop them from our mailing lists?

3 (A copy of a 1970 s, 1980 s & 1990 s Newsletter can be found in the addendum of this booklet. Also included is a Newsletter published in the 2000 s) The 1974 to 1985 period was a time when most of the So. Cal. dairymen had already made their commitment to operate in Chino or the San Joaquin Valley. Most of the land sold during this period was the dairymen who already lived in the area (for expansion purposes) and an occasional sale for relocation from another area. In late 1973, my brother, Tom Grimmius came up from Chino and purchased a 560 acre parcel north of Visalia for construction of a cattle feedlot.

4 He got his permit and just as he got to the planning stages, the bottom dropped out of the cattle market. Over the years he handled a lot of beef cattle and leased thousands of acres in the foothills for a winter/spring growing program. Today, the family operates a large calf nursery and growing lot for dairy beef and replacements as well as retaining the foothill beef cattle program. Gerrit Visser, a dairyman from Riverdale and brother in law to Cornie Vander Stelt bought a 160 acre parcel in Tulare County. He tentatively planned to build but many years later sold the land. Harold & Jeanette Dragt sold their original 80 acre parcel and in early 1974 bought a 160 acre tract west of Visalia where their dairy was built and remains today.

5 The family has expanded, purchased more land, built another dairy and also purchased a dairy facility. George teVelde Jr. from Chino bought an 80 acre parcel near Tulare. This parcel was located next to the 256 acre ranch he previously purchased. The land was used for the construction of a heifer replacement facility. George and his wife, when relocating out of Chino ended up building a facility near Modesto. Mary Atsma Camaron and her husband found their location on Hwy 198, just inside of Kings County. Over the years Mary has been very active in the dairy industry and its various organizations.

6 In early 1975, Frank Konyn, a dairyman next to the San Diego Wild Animal Park near Escondido, purchased 326 acres of land just south of Yettem (North of Visalia). Frank remained at his facility in Escondido and today the Griffioen family is operating a heifer replacement facility at the site. Ernest DeGroot from Artesia purchased an 80 acre parcel east of Tulare in 1976 and later purchased land in the Pixley area. He and his family did not move to Tulare County choosing to relocate to Chino instead. Hubert Vander Ham and family purchased 400 acres north of Visalia in 1976. This family sold land in Artesia for subdivision, so consequently they were able to buy a large parcel and build a large dairy (at the time a 900 cow dairy was large!)

7 1976-1977 proved to be very slow years for us for dairy relocations. The dairy industry has suffered through a year or two of high feed prices and these were years of rebuilding. At the same time, due to the higher commodity prices, the value of land took an upward turn. Land sales began again in 1978 with a number of local dairymen increasing their holdings. Case deJong purchased a couple of parcels as did Allen Bakker. John deJong bought 610 acres south of Exeter and Wim Griffieon purchased a fruit ranch east of Orosi. John Bothof of Bothof s Bakery in Visalia purchased 36 acres of walnuts between Visalia and Tulare.

8 The partnership of Pacheco and Fagundes purchased 160 acres west of Lindsay and constructed a new dairy facility that families still operate today. Len Slegers from Chino purchased a 318 acre parcel north of Visalia which he sold some years later. Flores Ykema, Chino dairyman, bought a 208 acre parcel just inside of Kings County, which was developed into a poultry operation. Frank Boersma, also a Chino dairyman, purchased a 100 acre parcel north of Visalia and constructed a new dairy in 1979. While Frank remained in Chino, his son Bill moved to Visalia to operate the dairy and eventually developing the Bravo Cheese operation.

9 Carl and Opal Woltjer who owned a lawnmower shop in Chino moved to Visalia and ended up owning several properties in Tulare County including a dairy north of Visalia before moving to Santa Maria. Carl actually worked as an agent for The Ranch Co. for a number of years and he introduced his brother, Lou Woltjer, who was with The Ranch Co. for over 20 years. Below are copies of our Newsletters, each copy represents a decade of Newsletters beginning in the 1970 s: 1970 s 1980 s 1990 s 2000 s Chapter 10 .. To be continued