After nearly 15 years, Brett and Jessica Dixon are living their dream as dairy farmers and producing a niche type of milk for consumers with dairy sensitivities.
In 2011, the couple moved away from their family farms in Missouri and started Stil Dreamn Dairy in the southwest region of the state.
What’s special about Stil Dreamn is the type of milk produced by their roughly 70 head of Guernsey and Ayrshire cows — A2A2 milk.
What is A2A2 milk?
In simple terms, it means an animal gets a milk protein gene from each parent, Jessica said.
“A lot of commercial milk has an A1 gene in it,” she explained. “It is something we can breed for as a genetic trait that we mate our cows for.”
Stil Dreamn markets its genetics around the world and utilizes artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization and genetic testing to do so.
“Genetics are a huge part of our story,” Jessica said. “Marketing our genetics has been a large part of our success, and we have received honors such as being inducted into the Missouri Dairy Hall of Honors as distinguished breeders at a very young age.”
The Dixons milk the cows in a double-four herringbone barn. While their cows are primarily grass-fed, they still offer extra nutrients by feeding a little grain during milking.
Stil Dreamn has a new on-site processing creamery where the milk is pasteurized and bottled.
“The creamery just became operational last fall, but it's been three years in the making,” Jessica said. “There was a lot of things happening behind the scenes before we were able to see any product on shelves.”
The A2A2 market
Jessica said A2A2 milk is for a niche, but growing, consumer group that is unable to drink regular milk.
“We do capture a couple of audiences with our products,” she said. “Being grass-fed is higher in omega threes, and a lot of people really want to associate with where their milk comes from."
Right now, the milk is being sold in farm stops and stores around southwest Missouri.
Jessica wears many hats at the dairy, including delivery driver. She packs the refrigerated trailer and spends the end of the week delivering what she spent the first part of the week bottling.
Their A2A2 products go beyond just milk. They also sell cheeses and chocolate milk.
“We really tried to hit everything we can to make this milk digestible,” Jessica said. “I hear over and over from people that they can't drink milk anymore, but [they] can [drink] ours. Our milk is so different from what you find on your Walmart shelf.”
A few yards away from the dairy is where the Dixons live and operate their own farmstead store based on an honor system for payment.
Here, people can buy milk, cheese and eggs from Jessica’s son Diesel’s chickens, and pork and beef that is also raised on the farm.
Where cows are like family
“If you can think how much you love your dog,” Jessica said, “that's the same as the relationship we have with our cattle.”
The cows at Stil Dreamn have names and personalities too. That’s important for the Dixons since their operation would not be possible without the cows.
Making the girls comfortable is part of their goal on the farm. When grazing in summer, the cows feast on ryegrass and annuals. During colder months, the couple offers hay.
“Being able to make the farm profitable to keep our girls going and provide the best life we can for them has always been the goal,” Jessica added.
For the personality side of the cows, she posts a quarterly feature story on a cow. This summer, the featured cow will be Seltzer. During the first quarter of the year, they featured Trixie, the oldest cow on the farm who will be turning 15 this fall.
The story gives more information to consumers on where the milk comes from and a history of each cow.
“That's kind of the thing that people really enjoy,” Jessica said. “They’re like, ‘Hey, I met Trixie. Trixie made this milk for me.’ We want to keep incorporating that.”
Still dreaming about the future
Currently the dairy is run by Jessica, her husband, son and sister-in-law, who also farms nearby. But there are dreams for more help as time has become a clog in the udder for the operation.
“A lot of things always come down to time and money,” Jessica said. “And we're at a point where we're not far enough into this process to have employees.”
Still, she is feeling the growing pains of wanting to hire more employees, from delivery drivers to someone to help in the creamery.
Coming soon, there will be upgrades to the dairy, such as equipment that can help the Dixons bottle more milk.
“Eventually, we want to be able to have more family members come back to the farm, and hopefully, make coming to our farm a really cool experience for a lot of people,” Jessica added.
As dairy farmers, the Dixons are proud of the business they’ve created by taking control of their products and cutting out the middleman.
“We get to set our price for what we need for our cows to be profitable, to provide the life that we want to for ourselves and our cattle,” Jessica said.