Terry Lautner was impressed when his father was feted by the Michigan Milk Producers Association after 35 years of membership in the co-op.
Now it’s Terry’s turn. Cathy and Terry Lautner of Elmwood Township were recognized yesterday by the MMPA at its annual meeting in Novi. for 35 years of service to the farmer- owned co-op That makes quite a run for a farm kid from Solon Township who 42 years ago married a “townie” from Wahoo, Nebraska. The two long ago settled what slight geographic differences they had.
“We got engaged, he came back to milk cows, and here we are,” Cathy said.
Cherry growers, whose season comes and goes in a matter of months, might be called the Ferraris of Leelanau agriculture compared to steady-as-shegoes dairy farmers. And none have been more steady in the Grand Traverse region than the Lautner family.
First John, then Terry, and now son Erich Lautner know their herd requires full attention twice daily. Dairy farmers rise with the sun and seldom wander far from home.
“It’s a tough gig, but hard work is all I’ve ever known,” said Erich, who is gradually taking over the farm. “I’ve liked being outside with dad since I was small. I wasn’t inside playing video games. It gives me a feeling of accomplishment, knowing you put something in the ground to grow until it reaches the full benefit for everyone. In our case it’s turning that product into milk. It’s a satisfying feeling.”
The Lautners farm about 550 acres in Solon, Kasson and mostly Elmwood townships. Their cows are milked at the last set of barns on the west side of Bugai Road before it intersects with M-72. The Lautner herd has about 120 cows, of which 75 are active milkers. The remaining animals are maturing but too young now to produce.
Terry and Cathy raised their children in the farmhouse near the milking parlor after buying the farm in 1984. A few years ago they built a home in the back of the property with a sweeping view of the operation. Erich and Sarah (Zywicki) now reside in the original farmhouse with their two-year-old son, Henry, and 3-month-old daughter, Hailey. Sarah is deputy treasurer for Leelanau County.
Erich signed up for the Army National Guard partly to learn about equipment repair — a required skill for farmers — and fully out of patriotism. He is now on active duty stationed in Traverse City, a sergeant in a motor division. Over five years he’s advanced to E-6 rank.
“My hard work ethic was learned from farming and has helped on the military side, and it’s showed in my military progression,” Lautner said.
Terry Lautner also liked to farm with his father, which led to a bachelor’s degree in dairy science from MSU. Sheepskin in hand, he accepted a job at a satellite farm run by the University of Nebraska and started attending Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Wahoo. There he met and married fellow parishioner Cathy, at the time a recent graduate of Nebraska.
“He missed the farm back home. We’ve been married 42 years now, and all is well. This is a good place to raise kids,” said Cathy, who runs a toddler classroom at Munson Health Care. She’s worked for Munson for more than 18 years.
The Lautners are also parents to Andy (Kori) Lautner, who works for the Department of Defense, and Julie Lautner, an emergency dispatcher for the Michigan State Police who resides in Marquette. She has a son, Noah, who just turned 15.
The Lautner family is steeped in county agriculture. Terry’s great grandfather migrated to the U.S. in 1865 from Bohemia. “He made his money selling potatoes. My dad said they use to ship 100 carloads of potatoes in the day out of Cedar, years and years ago,” Terry said.
Melinda Lautner, the longestserving commissioner on the County Board, is a distant relative through marriage.
Terry and Cathy’s farm has evolved through the years. They sold property on the east side of Bugai Road that was turned into a solar panel field, using the money to purchase the 90 acre Bugai farm south of the main Lautner homestead. Terry and Erich grow corn and hay on most of their acreage to feed their milk herd.
A few years back they built a new barn with a modern dairy parlor able to milk 16 cows at once — double the previous capacity.
The dairy business hasn’t always been profitable. The industry estimates the breakeven point for farmers at about $20 per hundred-weight of milk, enough “to pay your bills and get ahead a little. It’s about $18 now. But it goes up and down. In 2022 it got above $26. It averaged over $22 in 2022, so that was a pretty good year.
“Starting in January (2023), prices went down,” Lautner said.
The Lautners watched while other dairy operations in Leelanau County closed down as the industry consolidated.
“It’s tough to expand around here because of land prices. It’s always been that way. In the 1980s, farmland sold for $700 per acre in Mason County compared to $2,000 in Leelanau County. We all get paid the same price for milk, except trucking prices are higher here than downstate. That’s one reason you don’t see dairy farming around here much,” Terry explained.
The average milk cow weighs 1,300 to 1,500 pounds, takes two years before being put into production, is milked for three or four years, and is then sold for beef. But like humans, they are all different.
“My oldest cow. No. 584, is 11 years old and still giving milk,” Terry said.
Added Cathy: “We use to let the kids name them, but you run out of names.”
And Terry: “But they all go by numbers so you can identify them easy. They don’t know the difference.”
He is also active in local government, having served as an Elmwood Township trustee since 2000. Jeff Shaw has been supervisor for the past eight years.
“Terry is just a great guy. In working with Terry on the board, he is truly sincere with everything he does. He is someone you can count on to vote sincerely, and people respect him even if they don’t agree with what he thinks,” Shaw said.
The Lautners are a credit of their profession, said Ben Chapin, manager of field services for MMPA.
“They have been very loyal for MMPA, and advocates for agriculture in general. I’ve always enjoyed working with Terry and his family,” Chapin said.
Like his family predecessors, Erich says he’s in farming for the long run.
“I don’t think it will ever go away. Products like almond milk come out and compete against milk, but they aren’t milk and they never will be milk. I don’t plan to get out of dairy.
“My goal is to get a 35-year award just like my father and grandpa.”
