How We Came To Be

Dan and Debbie’s Creamery

This is the story of Dan and Debbie Takes. Two Iowa dairy farmers committed to building a sustainable farm and modern day dairy processing facility in Ely, Iowa. With the help of their children, they have dedicated their lives towards providing the freshest, most wholesome farm to table dairy products in the area.

After over a decade of raising beef cows on their small farm outside of Ely, Dan and Debbie were ready for a new challenge. Their love for cows and desire to grow their farm led them down a path to consider becoming dairy farmers. After building various barns and a milking parlor, they slowly grew their Holstein herd from 30 to 150 cows. It was only a few years into dairy farming that the family became very intrigued with the idea of producing farm to table dairy products.

After years of researching small farmstead dairy processing facilities, the family decided they wanted to produce their own farm to table dairy products. Some might say that the stars slowly aligned after the former Vavra Lumber Company went on the market in Ely, Iowa. It didn’t take long for the family to see the potential that building had. The location was simply perfect, being less than five minutes from the farm.

In 2013, they purchased the old lumber yard building and the renovations began. In-between the morning and night milkings, the family spent all of their free time making the necessary changes to the building in order to have it ready to produce value-added dairy products. Nearly three years later, on July 20, 2016, the family made their first vat of cheese using the milk from their own dairy farm.

Today, the Creamery is home to squeaky cheese curds, handcrafted ice cream, and cream top milk. The family has big plans for further product expansion in the future.