There was no question what twin brothers Jason and Justin Sparrgrove wanted to be when they grew up. The question was how they could financially make their dream of owning a dairy farm work.
By tapping into their entrepreneurial spirit, the Sparrgroves have managed to grow their 40-acre dairy farm in the town of Woodman to 130 milking cows while at the same time developing a successful ice cream shop and growing their families.
”You’ve got to do something different to make yourself stand out a bit,” said Justin Sparrgrove, as he discussed how the family settled on calling their business Udder Brothers’ Creamery. “The milk check just isn’t enough.”
Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) Secretary and CEO Missy Hughes and Marcy West, director of WEDC’s Office of Rural Prosperity visited Udder Brothers’ Creamery in Boscobel Monday as part of Wisconsin’s celebration of June Dairy Month.
That something else became Boscobel’s Udder Brothers’ Creamery run by the brothers and their families with the help of eight teen employees. In addition to 24 flavors of ice cream, made by one of the processors that handle the farm’s milk, the store sells pork raised on the farm and products including lamb, beef, poultry and more raised nearby. The brothers are also selling their own line of Cheddar cheeses made for them with milk from their herd.
The hope now is to raise the money needed to begin processing their own milk into ice cream and cheese, a goal the brothers say they hope to reach within the next five years.
Both brothers left Wisconsin after high school – Justin to attend college and Jason to join the U.S. Navy as a Seabee. But they both wanted to return to the state to farm and to raise a family.
“We want to raise our kids the way we were raised,” Jason Sparrgrove said, noting that each brother now is father to four kids. The eight cousins enjoy running around the farm where both families live, feeding baby lambs together and exploring.
