NEW VIENNA, Ohio – For the past eight years, the dairy industry has been struggling with low milk prices, infrastructure problems, trade issues and isolation. Troubles for dairies started in 2015, and by 2020 milk prices dropped nearly 40 percent. The USDA reports that by 2021 there were just 1,620 dairy farmers in Ohio. Ten years prior there were 3,170 dairies in the state.

New Vienna dairy farmers Donald and Jackie Bickel felt the pinch as well and came to a crossroad. The couple felt they couldn’t keep the dairy farm going and were about to call it quits. The couple owns and operates New Horizon Farm and the Happy Cows Creamery in New Vienna, which was started 60 years ago.

“My husband and I stuck it out for as long as we could and have seriously considered an exit strategy,” Jackie said.

But just when her family’s dairy farm was on the brink of closure, Jackie’s daughter, Maggie Matthews, stepped forward with an idea that would later change the direction of her family’s farm. Her idea evolved thanks to an agriculture class at East Clinton FFA.

“We had a class project where we had to come up with an agriculture business plan and after our class visited Swallow Hill (jersey farm) where they were bottling their own milk. I came away with the idea of having my own bottling plant,” Matthews said.

Matthews showed her idea to her parents, and Happy Cows Creamery became a reality. Happy Cows Creamery bottles dairy on site, specializing in non-homogenized whole and flavored milk through low-heat pasteurization.

“We had to create our own business and I created this milk bottling plant,” Matthews said. “I had numbers and statistics and what the turnaround rate would be, including profit margins. The farm is now much more sustainable and healthier than it was five years ago. We’ve seen improvements and have expanded every year.”

The family soon began bottling their milk and adding fun flavors along the way. They would then sell it on Market Wagon, an online local farmer’s market delivered right to the customer’s front door.

The Bickels said the timing of the COVID pandemic actually worked in their favor.

“When we were getting ready to bottle, Ohio Gov. (Mike) DeWine shut us down for two weeks and we were in panic mode and we listed everything on Market Wagon,” Donald said. “The milk had on overwhelming response because people were stuck inside and could not get out to the stores and we had milk that we needed to get to the consumer, so it was a perfect match and we haven’t looked back since.”

Exciting for Matthews, indeed.

“Not a lot of people do dairy farming anymore,” she said. “For me, it’s the quickest way to see the product of your labor because it’s almost instant. It’s definitely kind of cool, because it wasn’t like a necessarily serious idea. At first, it was kind of thrown out and we joked around, but to see it actually come to and see that we have products like the milk that people are drinking. It’s bottled by us and I can give it to my friends, and it’s cool because those are our cows.”

Matthews’ drive and perseverance should come as no surprise. While at East Clinton Great Oaks FFA, she made the top four in the nation for her National Proficiency award in Dairy Cattle Entrepreneurship. She served her chapter as a Sentinel, was a member of the Dairy Judging Team, soils team and participated in public speaking. She was a Top Four State Finalist with her Dairy SAE and a Top Four finalist for the Star State Farmer.

“Just don’t give up,” she said. “There is a way if you really want to get it done.”

Matthews is the third generation to work at the farm, continuing a 60-year tradition.