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This month’s member feature is Ray and Colleen Jackson from Logan County. They have been dairy farming for 30 years and raised their four children on their dairy farm outside De Graff.

A few years ago, the Jackson family introduced a new component to their business when they started Indian Creek Creamery. At the creamery, the Jacksons bottle their own milk and distribute it to consumers around their area.

As with any family business, each member has a role to play at the dairy and creamery.

“We believe in the family part of this business,” Colleen said. Their children assist in many capacities, from helping bottle the milk to running the creamery’s social media accounts. But even with extra helping hands, Colleen said the biggest challenge is finding enough hours in the day to accomplish everything that needs to be done.

“The rewards tend to outweigh the challenges because nothing makes us happier than hearing from customers and friends that they love our milk,” she said.

Ray does nearly all the milk deliveries himself and therefore gets to interact with the customers, which is valuable to the Jackson family.

“Having the owner who is passionate about his product out there interacting with the owners at restaurants and the customers that he meets at grocery stores, that is always the best way, we feel, to interact with the people who are going to be buying our milk,” Colleen said.

As Farm Bureau members, Ray and Colleen enjoy many benefits to their business. The Jacksons have participated in the Ohio Farm Bureau Workers’ Compensation Group Rating Program and have reaped the benefits of insurance discounts. In reference to the advocacy efforts of the Ohio Farm Bureau and its county affiliates, Colleen said, “They are always standing for the farmer and that’s something that individually we can’t do.”

View the full interview with Colleen Jackson of Indian Creek Creamery.