Making a home in America’s Dairyland

BLACK RIVER FALLS, Wis. — Luke Wolfisberg and his wife, Lis, always knew they wanted to start a life in agriculture. But land and space to start a dairy was hard to come by in their hometown of Lynden, Washington.

Luke had visited Wisconsin a few times, coming to World Dairy Expo in high school as well as venturing to western Wisconsin for Organic Valley’s annual meeting in 2023. Later that year, the Wolfisbergs decided to take the leap. With a truck, a horse trailer and one Jersey calf in tow, the couple moved to western Wisconsin to start a dairy life of their own.

Luke and Lis now operate Double L Dairy. They milk 40 cows in a 9-stall step-up parlor with a 40- by 80-foot sawdust bed pack barn on a rented farm near Black River Falls.

Luke grew up on a dairy farm in Whatcom County in the far northwest corner of Washington. His family had been shipping milk to Organic Valley since 2005. Lis also grew up in agriculture, helping on her grandparents’ horse and hobby farm and competing in rodeo.

“I was renting a house, working as a herdsman at a big dairy and we started thinking about our future,” Luke said. “I wanted to pursue homeownership, but the West Coast is really expensive. Lis and I are both rural kids and we wanted property. Having the experiences I had with bigger dairies, our goal was to have our own small family farm.”

With dairy in his heart, Wolfisberg worked at a variety of farms. He spent time at a 50-cow Brown Swiss farm, a 1,000-cow operation and was a herdsman at a 1,500-cow dairy across the river from his family’s farm. Seeing his family’s cows out on grass helped him realize how he wanted to operate his own dairy.

“I was working for a great family and it was a great opportunity in Washington,” Luke said. “But on the bigger dairies, you’re working with numbers and there’s less connection. We knew we wanted a smaller operation and getting the cows out on grass was a big factor for me. Being within an hour of the processing plant was important too, so we knew we wanted to be in western Wisconsin, southeast Minnesota or northeast Iowa.”

Wisconsin was not the ultimate goal, but a timely trip helped convince Lis that this was the right place for their dairy.

“We had plans to go to the beach in May of 2023, but Luke had gotten us tickets to visit Wisconsin last minute,” Lis said. “That was the perfect time to come. It was beautiful.”

Although ownership was the initial emphasis, meeting with a Farm Service Agency loan officer steered them to the renting option. This enabled them to gain experience operating their own dairy and building years to qualify for a young farmer loan.

“Renting and living off the farm wasn’t what we pictured at first,” Lis said. “We wanted to be on our farm and walk out our back door to milk cows. But renting has allowed us to get to know our new state better.”

After making the move to Wisconsin in spring 2023, the Wolfisbergs were in line to rent a farm that fall, but miscommunication derailed the opportunity.

“We were about to sign the paperwork to rent our first farm, but we realized not everyone was on the same page with the transition,” Luke said. “It made us nervous because we moved halfway across the country for this opportunity, and we couldn’t just go home.”

The two farm kids rented an apartment in the city of La Crosse that winter, picking up off-the-farm jobs. Lis worked as a bartender and barista, with Luke going to work at the Organic Valley-Chaseburg Creamery.

“Those six months off the farm really helped us get acclimated,” Lis said. “We got to know a new city, a new state. We had some time to really embrace what Wisconsin was about.”

For the first time in his life, Luke was not working on a farm. The new experience provided more perspective of the dairy industry.

“It was cool to be on the inside and see how it works on that side of the industry,” Luke said. “It was an eye-opening experience.”

Finding their community became more the goal than finding a farm during those winter months. Meeting new people, making friends and exploring the area brought them to their new farm near Black River Falls.

“I started making some phone calls about farms to rent last spring,” Luke said. “At that same time, some friends we had met at church texted us randomly and just asked if we were still looking for a farm to rent.”

Andrew Odeen, a fourth-generation farmer who milked a conventional 30-cow dairy, had recently sold his herd. His land was certified organic as his neighbors, David and Will Peasley, were renting the land. The Peasleys tipped off the Wolfisbergs about the potential of working with Odeen.

“Andrew was a little hesitant to us renting at first,” Lis said. “He reached back out to us pretty quickly and we sat down and started putting a plan together. He could really see our vision. He’s great to work with and he’s the best landlord we could have asked for. He’s been open and honest with us. He built the facility almost by himself and knew that we would care for the facility like he would.”

The Wolfisbergs filled the barn by purchasing cattle from neighbors and the area’s organic community. They are renting 80 acres, 60 of which will be pasture this spring with 10 going towards corn to make feed in the fall.

“We want to let the cows graze as much as we can,” Luke said. “We wanted enough land to keep cattle outside May 1 until Dec. 1.”

Starting a dairy nearly 2,000 miles from home has been difficult, but the power of community has helped the Wolfisbergs realize their dream in western Wisconsin.

“One of the biggest challenges was just figuring out who to talk to about what,” Luke said. “Back home I knew who to call for feed or equipment, but here we were starting from scratch. Everyone we’ve worked with has felt like they’ve been on our side.”