WEBVTT

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Creeping over fields of green Remembering the

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faces The moments unseen The hands that built

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a dynasty The vision in their eyes Echoes in

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the auction bar Beneath an endless sky This is

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the bull buy Turn the bar Welcome back to the

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Bullvine Podcast. Today we are sharing a story

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that, quite honestly, stopped us in our tracks.

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It really did. Usually when we talk about dairy

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history, we're looking at pedigrees or sire summaries

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or, you know, the evolution of the bulk tank.

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The chemical stuff, yeah. But today we're looking

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at a specific moment in time, 1942, and a specific

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operator who you absolutely know, but probably

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not for her cows. And I'll say right off the

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bat, this is the kind of conversation that reminds

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you why you got into dairy in the first place.

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It's about passion. It's about risk. And it's

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about the harsh reality of the business. It's

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not just a fluff piece. Exactly. We are talking

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about Ginger Rogers. The Ginger Rogers. Yes.

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The dancer. The Academy Award winner. The woman

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who did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards

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and in high heels. An absolute legend. But today

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we aren't talking about the films. We're talking

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about... the for our dairy because the twist

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here isn't that a celebrity bought a farm we

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see that all the time the twist is that she wasn't

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just posing for photos she was a producer and

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that distinction is everything we see it all

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the time right someone with money buys a ranch

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throws a few cows on it for the tax write -off

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and calls it a day right it's a backdrop for

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their instagram exactly that is not what happened

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here this is a story about infrastructure genetics

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and a military contract so let's set the scene

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I want to take you back to March 2, 1942. You

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walk past a newsstand and you see Life Magazine.

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Ginger Rogers is on the cover. Okay. Now, in

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1942, she is arguably the biggest star in the

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world. She just won the Oscar for Kitty Foyle

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a year earlier, beating Katharine Hepburn. She's

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RKO's hottest commodity. So you're expecting

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glamour. You're expecting a ballroom gown sequin.

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Or maybe her mid -pirouette with Fred Astaire.

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Something. You know, Hollywood. That's not the

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photo. It's not. She is standing on the banks

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of a river in southern Oregon. She's wearing

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fishing gear. She's got a rod in her hand. She

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looks capable. Capable. That's a good word. Not

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posed. Like she actually knows how to use that

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thing. Exactly. And when you open the magazine,

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the spread inside is even more surprising. There's

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a photo of her up on the roof of a ranch house,

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just looking out over a thousand acres. A thousand

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acres. A thousand. There's another one of her

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feeding wildflowers to a cow. And then there's

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this. Beautiful shot of her leaning against a

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fence rail with her mother, Layla, just watching

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the cattle at dinnertime. That fence rail moment,

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that's the universal language of farming right

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there. It is, isn't it? I don't care if you're

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in Hollywood or Wisconsin, leaning on a fence,

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watching the herd eat. That is the payoff. That's

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the moment of peace. But there was this tension

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right from the start, this outsider tension.

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Because as beautiful as those photos were. The

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agricultural community in Oregon wasn't exactly

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rolling out the red carpet. Oh, no. We thought

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it was a joke. Oh, absolutely. And honestly,

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I get it. I've seen it. You have city folks come

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in. They buy up prime land and the locals just

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roll their eyes and they think give it two winters,

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they'll be gone. There's a proving ground you

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have to go through. And it wasn't just quiet

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skepticism. It was. It was out in the open. There's

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this specific story about Dr. W .H. Little from

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the Oregon State Department of Agriculture. Okay,

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so this is an official. This is an official.

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He made a comment that I think sums it all up

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perfectly. He was talking to another actor, Eugene

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Pallett, who actually was a serious rancher,

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and he cracked a joke about Ginger Rogers. Uh

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-oh. He said her livestock would probably consist

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of nothing but bees. Nothing but bees. Wow. Can

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you imagine? That stings, pun intended, but...

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Think about the weight of that. It's not just

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dismissive. It's insulting. It is. It implies

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she doesn't know the difference between a cow

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and an insect or that she's just going to have

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a little hobby garden. It's that deep -seated

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skepticism farmers have for anyone who hasn't

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sweated through a harvest yet. Right. The assumption

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is failure. The assumption is boredom. That she'll

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get tired of the mud and go back to the spotlight.

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And that she's not. Serious. It's all for show.

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But Layla Rogers, her mother. She was not having

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it. I get the feeling she didn't take criticism

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lightly. Not at all. Yeah. She fired back immediately.

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She wrote a letter. And it wasn't a polite, oh,

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we love the country kind of note. It was factual.

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She listed their brand registration. She listed

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the breed of cattle. It was a business response.

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Putting them on notice. We've done our homework.

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And Ginger herself shut it down even harder.

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A reporter asked her, point blank, do you really

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expect this ranch to pay? The big question. And

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her answer is fascinating. She said, you're joking,

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aren't you? Why, darn it. I am making it pay.

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That ranch is no hobby with me. Darn it. I love

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that. There's real fire there. She's annoyed

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that she even has to answer that. She is. But

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then she said the word that I think is the key

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to this whole story. Yeah. The reason she was

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doing it. She called the farm insurance. Insurance.

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It's my insurance. And when I'm through in films,

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I'm going up there to live. Okay. That changes

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everything. It does. Right. Why would a movie

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star? at the height of her power, needed dairy

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farm for insurance. Well, look at the context.

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Studio contracts in the 40s were brutal. You

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were property, essentially. The studio owned

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your image. They told you what movies to make,

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who to date. They could ruin you. And careers

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ended overnight. One bad movie, one scandal,

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or just getting too old, which in Hollywood could

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mean you're 35 and you're done, the income stops.

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Cold. So the farm wasn't a retreat from that

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world. It was a defense against it. Exactly.

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Land, livestock, milk production. The studio

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can't repossess that. It's a tangible asset.

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It's the philosophy that no matter what happens

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in the fantasy world of movies, people still

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need to eat. People still need milk. It's the

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most grounded investment you can make. It wasn't

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a hobby. It was a fortress. A fortress. I like

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that. And she didn't build this fortress alone.

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We have to talk about Layla Rogers. The mother.

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She is not your typical stage mom. Not by a long

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shot. Her resume is incredible. Layla was a powerhouse.

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She'd been a newspaper reporter, a screenwriter.

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She was a Marine Corps publicist during World

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War I. Stop and think about that for a second.

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I am. A female Marine Corps publicist in 1918.

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Can you imagine the force of will that takes?

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That is a tough, smart woman. She ran the entire

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Rogers household like a corporation. She was

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the CEO of Ginger Rogers Incorporated. So she's

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bringing that business mind to the farm project.

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100%. So in 1941, they buy these two parcels

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in the Rogue River Valley, Eagle Point, Shady

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Cove area, combines to about 850 acres initially,

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eventually growing to over 1 ,000. And a river

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runs through it, literally. Literally the Rogue

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River, which is crucial for the layout. Yeah,

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that's a huge asset. It lets you separate things.

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Which they did. They put the purebred Angus beef

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cattle on the East Bank and the ultramodern dairy

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on the West Bank. They separated the operations

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physically, which is just smart management. It

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was good biosecurity even back then. Keeps the

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herd separate. Smart. And Layla goes to the Medford

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Mail Tribune and she lays out the business plan.

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She's not shy about it. She says, quote, we will

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have possibly 50 dairy cows and as many blooded

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cattle as the ranch will accommodate. Blooded

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cattle. I love that term. It's so evocative.

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It is. It's an old school term for purebreds.

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It signals they aren't just buying scrub cows

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at the local auction. They are building a genetic

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base. This is a long -term plan. Which brings

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us to the big decision. The breed choice. Ah,

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yeah. This is where I need you to break it down.

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In the 1940s, what was the landscape? And why

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on earth... Did she choose Guernseys? This is

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one of the most interesting parts of the whole

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story for me because it shows their stratagem.

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By the 1940s, Holsteins were already the volume

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leaders. No question. The black and whites. The

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black and whites. If you wanted to just fill

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the tank and make money on volume, that's what

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you got. Or if you wanted a family cow, maybe

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you got a jersey for the high butterfat in a

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small package. But she went for Guernseys, the

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fawn and white cows. She went specifically for

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Guernseys. And it wasn't the easy choice. Well,

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they produce less volume than a Holstein. But

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she wasn't chasing volume. She wanted golden

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Guernsey milk. That was the actual trademark.

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It was a brand. It was a brand from the start.

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It was about quality over quantity. Guernsey

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milk has that rich golden color because the cows

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don't convert beta carotene into vitamin A as

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efficiently as other breeds. So the beta carotene

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passes right into the milk, giving it that color.

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So it looks richer. It looks richer, and it is

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richer. It's high butterfat, usually over 4 .5%.

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High protein. She wasn't trying to be a commodity

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producer. She was trying to be a premium producer

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from day one. And where did she get these premium

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cows? She went to the best sources in the region.

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She bought from herds in Skagit County, Washington,

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and Tillamook, Oregon. These were areas known

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for top -tier Guernsey genetics. So she's paying

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top dollar. You bet she is. She's buying the

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foundation for a blooded herd. And crucially,

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she joined the American Guernsey Cattle Club.

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Okay, what does that signify to a farmer? It

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means you're serious. It means you're all in.

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You aren't just milking cows. You are registering

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calves. You are tracking bloodlines. You are

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paying dues to an association to be part of the

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breed improvement on a national level. That's

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a commitment. It's the difference between driving

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a car and being a mechanic who builds the engine.

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She was committing to the genetics of the breed.

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So she has the land, she has the cows, the vision

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is there. Now she needs the facility. And this

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is where the story shifts from nice idea to commercial

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reality. Yeah, this is where the money gets spent.

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Because you've seen the specs on what she built.

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This wasn't a rustic red barn with a dirt floor.

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No. Not even close. This is state of the art

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for 1942. She built a 12 cow milking parlor.

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Which sounds small now, but for them. For a new

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operation, that's a serious parlor. Yeah. But

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here's the kicker. She installed electric milkers.

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Was that where? It wasn't unheard of, but it

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was a major investment. Hand milking was still

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very, very common, especially for smaller herds

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of, you know, 30 to 50 cows. Putting in electric

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machines means you're looking for efficiency,

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consistency, and sanitation. It was a long -term

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play. It's a massive long -term play. She also

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had a 40 -cow feeding barn, a 150 -ton corn silage

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silo, and a haykeeper for 100 tons. These are

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commercial capacities. This isn't a hobby farm

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setup. But there's one detail in the infrastructure

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that when you first read it, you said it changed

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your whole perspective on her. It did. The hospital

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barn. Explain that. She built a dedicated eight

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stall building, a separate building, specifically

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for fresh cows, cows that just calved, and for

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sick cows. Why does that matter so much? Because

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a hobbyist doesn't think about the sick cow until

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she's sick. A professional anticipates it. Building

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a quarantine zone, a place for recovery, shows

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she understood biosecurity. It shows she understood

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animal welfare. It shows she knew that to keep

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the main herd healthy and the milk ratings high,

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you have to separate the animals that aren't

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100%. It's proactive, not reactive. That's it,

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exactly. That one detail convinced me she was

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more serious than anything else. That's a pro

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move. So she's got the land, the cows, the state

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-of -the -art facilities. She's all set up. But

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then... The world changes. Romantically. It's

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January 1942. The United States is fully in World

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War II now. And nine miles from her front gate,

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something happens that changes her entire business

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model overnight. Camp. The U .S. Army decides

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to build a massive training camp in the Agate

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Desert. And when we say camp, we're underselling

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it. They built a city. A whole city. In six months,

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1 ,300 buildings, roads, sewers, a hospital,

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everything. The scale is just staggering. 40

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,000 soldiers stationed there at its peak. Over

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100 ,000 men processed through it in just a few

00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:04.240
years. Imagine a city of 40 ,000 young men appearing

00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:07.259
out of nowhere, nine miles down the road from

00:13:07.259 --> 00:13:10.519
your brand new dairy. And what do 40 ,000 young

00:13:10.519 --> 00:13:13.399
active men need every single day? They need calories.

00:13:13.580 --> 00:13:16.340
Lots of them. And specifically, the Army wanted

00:13:16.340 --> 00:13:19.690
milk. Good, safe, fluid milk. This created an

00:13:19.690 --> 00:13:22.250
instant massive market vacuum in Southern Oregon.

00:13:22.409 --> 00:13:24.389
An incredible opportunity. You have this massive

00:13:24.389 --> 00:13:26.769
guaranteed demand and very little local supply

00:13:26.769 --> 00:13:29.350
that can meet the Army standards. And the 4R

00:13:29.350 --> 00:13:31.730
dairy, with its brand new parlor and electric

00:13:31.730 --> 00:13:34.149
milkers. Was perfectly positioned. They stepped

00:13:34.149 --> 00:13:36.309
right into that. They secured a contract to supply

00:13:36.309 --> 00:13:38.970
the military. This is the turning point. This

00:13:38.970 --> 00:13:41.669
is where it goes from insurance to war effort.

00:13:41.909 --> 00:13:44.279
From a personal project to a national one. But

00:13:44.279 --> 00:13:46.120
I want to talk about what this actually looked

00:13:46.120 --> 00:13:49.159
like for her. Because remember, she's still Ginger

00:13:49.159 --> 00:13:52.419
Rogers. She's not retired. She's filming Roxy

00:13:52.419 --> 00:13:55.279
Hart. She is the biggest star at RKO Studios.

00:13:55.820 --> 00:13:58.139
So she's living a double life. A completely double

00:13:58.139 --> 00:14:01.120
life. And she's commuting. That's a heck of a

00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:04.399
commute. 15 hours. That's the drive time from

00:14:04.399 --> 00:14:08.179
Hollywood to Medford in 1942. On 1940s roads.

00:14:08.419 --> 00:14:12.080
In 1940s cars. No interstate. Think about that.

00:14:12.139 --> 00:14:15.690
That's not a weekend trip. That is a trek. And

00:14:15.690 --> 00:14:18.509
she did it constantly. Even when gas rationing

00:14:18.509 --> 00:14:21.070
kicked in during the war, she kept coming. That's

00:14:21.070 --> 00:14:23.210
dedication. You don't do that for a hobby. Now,

00:14:23.230 --> 00:14:25.549
she was clear. She admitted she wasn't doing

00:14:25.549 --> 00:14:27.529
the heavy plowing. She had hired crews for that.

00:14:27.950 --> 00:14:30.649
But she was there. She was present. She was on

00:14:30.649 --> 00:14:32.950
the roof, climbing the silo, overseeing things.

00:14:33.129 --> 00:14:35.909
And the dairy was pumping. It was. Let's do the

00:14:35.909 --> 00:14:37.629
napkin math on this because I love seeing if

00:14:37.629 --> 00:14:39.250
the numbers hold up. It tells you if the story

00:14:39.250 --> 00:14:41.529
is real. Go for it. So the records say she was

00:14:41.529 --> 00:14:45.149
shipping about 150 gallons of milk per day to

00:14:45.149 --> 00:14:48.850
Camp White. Okay. She had about 32 cows milking

00:14:48.850 --> 00:14:52.210
at her peak. A gallon of milk is roughly 8 .6

00:14:52.210 --> 00:14:57.370
pounds. So 150 gallons is, let's see, just under

00:14:57.370 --> 00:15:00.600
1 ,300. pounds of milk a day. Okay, 1 ,300 pounds.

00:15:00.779 --> 00:15:03.740
You divide that by 32 cows and you get about

00:15:03.740 --> 00:15:07.840
40 to 41 pounds of milk per cow per day. And

00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:09.279
what does that number tell you? Is that good?

00:15:09.340 --> 00:15:12.700
We're Guernseys. In 1942, that is solid, honest

00:15:12.700 --> 00:15:15.720
production. That is really good. Remember, Guernseys

00:15:15.720 --> 00:15:18.179
aren't volume cows like Holsteins. Getting 40

00:15:18.179 --> 00:15:21.120
pounds a day of high component premium milk is

00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:23.299
excellent. What does it prove? It proves the

00:15:23.299 --> 00:15:25.320
cows were well fed, they were comfortable, the

00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:27.379
genetics were good, and the electric milkers

00:15:27.379 --> 00:15:29.120
were doing their job efficiently. She wasn't

00:15:29.120 --> 00:15:31.200
faking those numbers. That's a real working dairy.

00:15:31.480 --> 00:15:33.299
And the quality had to be there too, right? Yeah.

00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:34.919
This isn't just selling to the corner store.

00:15:35.019 --> 00:15:37.019
It's a military contract. No, the army doesn't

00:15:37.019 --> 00:15:38.840
mess around with food safety, especially not

00:15:38.840 --> 00:15:41.360
then. They check bacteria counts religiously.

00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:43.720
If your milk is dirty, if your somatic cell count

00:15:43.720 --> 00:15:46.460
is high, they reject it, period. So all that

00:15:46.460 --> 00:15:48.980
infrastructure. The hospital barn, the easily

00:15:48.980 --> 00:15:53.029
cleanable parlor, those electric milkers. It

00:15:53.029 --> 00:15:56.009
wasn't for show. It was necessary to meet the

00:15:56.009 --> 00:15:59.029
quality standard for that contract. The fact

00:15:59.029 --> 00:16:01.250
that she held that contract means her sanitation

00:16:01.250 --> 00:16:04.210
was top notch. And she branded it. This is the

00:16:04.210 --> 00:16:06.169
part that I love that speaks to the Hollywood

00:16:06.169 --> 00:16:08.850
side of her. Yeah. She had custom glass bottles

00:16:08.850 --> 00:16:11.070
made. You can still find them sometimes. Embossed

00:16:11.070 --> 00:16:13.289
to ragless. What's up? And they said Golden Guernsey.

00:16:13.409 --> 00:16:16.809
Trademark. America's table milk. America's table

00:16:16.809 --> 00:16:19.120
milk. That's brilliant. Isn't it? She understood

00:16:19.120 --> 00:16:21.679
branding before branding was a buzzword. She

00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:23.539
wasn't selling milk. She was selling a story.

00:16:23.679 --> 00:16:25.860
She was selling patriotism. She was selling quality.

00:16:26.360 --> 00:16:28.659
But here's the conflict. Okay. And it's the,

00:16:28.740 --> 00:16:31.139
well, it's the tragedy of this specific deep

00:16:31.139 --> 00:16:34.860
dive. The war provided the customer camp white.

00:16:35.100 --> 00:16:37.940
But the war also took the one thing she couldn't

00:16:37.940 --> 00:16:40.320
replace. The labor. The great paradox of the

00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:42.799
war economy. It's the story of agriculture across

00:16:42.799 --> 00:16:46.210
the entire country in the 1940s. All the young

00:16:46.210 --> 00:16:47.990
men, the guys who would be running the milking

00:16:47.990 --> 00:16:50.789
machines, bucking hay, moving irrigation pipe,

00:16:51.009 --> 00:16:52.789
they were gone. Where did they go? They were

00:16:52.789 --> 00:16:55.049
either drafted and sent to the Pacific Theater

00:16:55.049 --> 00:16:58.350
or they went to the cities like Portland to build

00:16:58.350 --> 00:17:00.870
Liberty ships in the shipyards because the war

00:17:00.870 --> 00:17:03.470
industry was paying wages a farm could never,

00:17:03.549 --> 00:17:06.390
ever match. So Ginger Rogers, the movie star

00:17:06.390 --> 00:17:08.309
with all their money. Could not compete with

00:17:08.309 --> 00:17:11.900
the war economy. No farm could. It's a fundamental

00:17:11.900 --> 00:17:14.839
economic reality. You can have the best barn,

00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:17.460
the best cows and the best contract in the world.

00:17:17.640 --> 00:17:19.960
But if you don't have the hands to put the cups

00:17:19.960 --> 00:17:21.980
on the cows at four in the morning. You're dead

00:17:21.980 --> 00:17:24.700
in the water. Completely. I want you, our listeners,

00:17:24.759 --> 00:17:29.119
to just imagine that moment. It's 1943. You've

00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:30.859
been doing this for two years. You've proven

00:17:30.859 --> 00:17:33.180
everyone wrong. You've silenced the nothing but

00:17:33.180 --> 00:17:35.299
bees crowd. You're making it pay. But it's two

00:17:35.299 --> 00:17:37.440
in the morning and you literally cannot find

00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:39.819
anyone to help you milk. That is a panic that

00:17:39.819 --> 00:17:41.809
hits you in the gut. Because when the cows need

00:17:41.809 --> 00:17:43.710
to be milked, they need to be milked. Right.

00:17:43.789 --> 00:17:46.029
It's a biological imperative. You can't put it

00:17:46.029 --> 00:17:48.349
on hold. You can't say, we'll get to it next

00:17:48.349 --> 00:17:50.250
week when we hire someone. The cows are standing

00:17:50.250 --> 00:17:53.069
there full of milk, uncomfortable. You have to

00:17:53.069 --> 00:17:54.809
do it. So she had to make the hard decision.

00:17:55.069 --> 00:17:57.849
The hardest decision a farmer can make. She dispersed

00:17:57.849 --> 00:18:02.609
the herd. Around 1943, barely two years in, the

00:18:02.609 --> 00:18:06.049
Guernseys were sold. The parlor went quiet. The

00:18:06.049 --> 00:18:09.089
bulk tank went dry. All that investment, all

00:18:09.089 --> 00:18:12.630
that work. just stopped. It feels like a failure,

00:18:12.670 --> 00:18:14.309
doesn't it? Yeah. When you say it like that.

00:18:14.470 --> 00:18:16.990
It feels like heartbreak because she did everything

00:18:16.990 --> 00:18:20.329
right. She told reporters, darn it, I am making

00:18:20.329 --> 00:18:23.029
it pay. She was defensive about it because she

00:18:23.029 --> 00:18:25.750
knew she had cracked the code. She had a profitable

00:18:25.750 --> 00:18:30.089
dairy. But you can't fight history. No. Macroeconomics

00:18:30.089 --> 00:18:32.170
killed it. It wasn't bad management. It was history

00:18:32.170 --> 00:18:34.549
running right over her business plan. But this

00:18:34.549 --> 00:18:37.599
is where the story pivots for me. Because a tourist,

00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:40.059
someone who was just there for the image, for

00:18:40.059 --> 00:18:42.140
the Life magazine spread. Would have sold the

00:18:42.140 --> 00:18:44.099
land right then. Absolutely. The cows are gone.

00:18:44.180 --> 00:18:46.460
The experiment failed. Time to cut your losses

00:18:46.460 --> 00:18:48.299
and go back to Beverly Hills. But she didn't

00:18:48.299 --> 00:18:50.619
leave. She kept the thousand acres. And she kept

00:18:50.619 --> 00:18:53.599
the Angus beef cattle. Right. Why was that different?

00:18:53.930 --> 00:18:55.990
They're so much less labor intensive. You don't

00:18:55.990 --> 00:18:59.769
have to milk an Angus cow twice a day, 365 days

00:18:59.769 --> 00:19:02.470
a year. They raise their own calves out on pasture.

00:19:02.650 --> 00:19:04.589
It's a completely different management style

00:19:04.589 --> 00:19:07.130
that you can run with a skeleton crew. So she

00:19:07.130 --> 00:19:09.809
adapted. She didn't quit. She adapted. And she

00:19:09.809 --> 00:19:12.349
kept living there. She became a local. The stories

00:19:12.349 --> 00:19:14.529
are amazing. There are stories of her fishing

00:19:14.529 --> 00:19:17.230
the Rogue River. There's a famous local fishing

00:19:17.230 --> 00:19:19.750
guide, Glenn Wooldridge, who said she was one

00:19:19.750 --> 00:19:21.650
of the best guests he ever had on the river.

00:19:21.930 --> 00:19:24.529
She wasn't afraid to get dirty, to handle the

00:19:24.529 --> 00:19:26.930
boat. And there's that photo, I think we've both

00:19:26.930 --> 00:19:29.289
seen it online, of her climbing her own silo.

00:19:29.660 --> 00:19:32.420
Yes. I love that picture. She's just scaling

00:19:32.420 --> 00:19:35.660
this concrete ladder up the side of her 150 ton

00:19:35.660 --> 00:19:39.220
silo. No safety harness, just in her work clothes,

00:19:39.339 --> 00:19:41.660
climbing up to check the feed or maybe just look

00:19:41.660 --> 00:19:43.859
at the view. That is ownership. That is not an

00:19:43.859 --> 00:19:45.539
actress playing a role. And she held that land

00:19:45.539 --> 00:19:48.539
for 50 years. 50. That's incredible. She didn't

00:19:48.539 --> 00:19:51.839
sell the last pieces until 1990. So she outlasted

00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:53.900
the studio system that she is insuring herself

00:19:53.900 --> 00:19:56.940
against. She outlasted most of her film career.

00:19:57.470 --> 00:19:59.869
The land really was her insurance and it paid

00:19:59.869 --> 00:20:03.609
off. And she integrated into the community. She

00:20:03.609 --> 00:20:05.890
wasn't Hollywood to the people in Eagle Point

00:20:05.890 --> 00:20:09.069
and Medford. She was a neighbor. She helped restore

00:20:09.069 --> 00:20:11.349
the Criterion Theater in Medford, which is the

00:20:11.349 --> 00:20:13.250
place where she actually danced as a teenager

00:20:13.250 --> 00:20:16.410
on a vaudeville tour. Wow. Full circle. Full

00:20:16.410 --> 00:20:18.750
circle. Yeah. And where her movie, Roxy Hart,

00:20:18.930 --> 00:20:22.390
had its local premiere. After she died, they

00:20:22.390 --> 00:20:24.930
renamed it the Criterion Ginger Rogers Theater.

00:20:25.480 --> 00:20:27.579
That's a legacy that goes way beyond just being

00:20:27.579 --> 00:20:29.680
a famous face. That's putting down roots. That's

00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:33.289
real. But I want to loop back to the cows. Because

00:20:33.289 --> 00:20:35.730
there is a ripple effect here. A modern chapter

00:20:35.730 --> 00:20:37.750
that Ginger Rogers never lived to see, but she

00:20:37.750 --> 00:20:40.289
was eerily prophetic about. The golden Guernsey

00:20:40.289 --> 00:20:43.269
bet. Exactly. We talked about how she chose Guernseys

00:20:43.269 --> 00:20:45.190
for the color and the butterfat, but she also

00:20:45.190 --> 00:20:46.849
chose them for something she couldn't possibly

00:20:46.849 --> 00:20:49.809
have known about in 1941. The A2 protein. Okay,

00:20:49.829 --> 00:20:51.450
explain this for the listeners who might see

00:20:51.450 --> 00:20:53.509
A2 milk in the grocery store and don't really

00:20:53.509 --> 00:20:56.269
know the science behind it. Sure. So, very simply,

00:20:56.450 --> 00:20:59.049
milk contains different types of proteins. One

00:20:59.049 --> 00:21:01.609
of the main ones is beta -casein. Historically,

00:21:02.009 --> 00:21:04.650
thousands of years ago all cows produced only

00:21:04.650 --> 00:21:07.049
the a2 type of this protein the original milk

00:21:07.049 --> 00:21:09.809
protein the original over time a natural mutation

00:21:09.809 --> 00:21:12.809
occurred in some european herds mostly in what

00:21:12.809 --> 00:21:15.289
became the holstein breed that created the a1

00:21:15.289 --> 00:21:17.789
protein for a lot of people it makes no difference

00:21:17.789 --> 00:21:20.799
but for some The way their body breaks down that

00:21:20.799 --> 00:21:23.660
A1 protein can cause inflammation or digestive

00:21:23.660 --> 00:21:26.680
discomfort. And A2 is different. A2 is the original,

00:21:26.799 --> 00:21:29.119
more easily digestible form for many people.

00:21:29.299 --> 00:21:31.900
It's the protein structure our bodies were sort

00:21:31.900 --> 00:21:34.779
of originally accustomed to. And Guernseys. Guernseys,

00:21:34.779 --> 00:21:36.539
because they come from a more isolated genetic

00:21:36.539 --> 00:21:38.900
pool from the Isle of Guernsey, they practically

00:21:38.900 --> 00:21:41.809
stayed pure A2. Today, science tells us over

00:21:41.809 --> 00:21:43.990
80 % of registered Guernseys are genetically

00:21:43.990 --> 00:21:48.109
A2A2, and 100 % of the AI sires, the bulls used

00:21:48.109 --> 00:21:51.569
for breeding, are tested and confirmed A2A2.

00:21:51.829 --> 00:21:54.089
So when Ginger Rogers went to Skagit County and

00:21:54.089 --> 00:21:56.910
bought those foundation cows in 1941... She was

00:21:56.910 --> 00:21:59.730
buying an A2 herd without even knowing it. She

00:21:59.730 --> 00:22:01.750
didn't have a genomic test. She didn't know what

00:22:01.750 --> 00:22:05.630
a beta casein was. But her instinct for quality

00:22:05.630 --> 00:22:08.970
and golden milk led her to the breed that...

00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:12.000
80 years later, would be leading a niche market

00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:15.940
projected to hit $7 billion. She was 80 years

00:22:15.940 --> 00:22:18.759
early to the wellness trend. She absolutely was.

00:22:18.859 --> 00:22:21.500
And if you look at modern farming, especially

00:22:21.500 --> 00:22:24.319
artisan dairy, there are people doing exactly

00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:26.920
what she tried to do. Let's talk about those

00:22:26.920 --> 00:22:28.859
modern parallels because this is where the story

00:22:28.859 --> 00:22:31.740
gets so relevant. We see this model working now.

00:22:31.859 --> 00:22:34.500
Right. Look at a place like Promise Valley Farm

00:22:34.500 --> 00:22:37.279
on Vancouver Island. Mark and Caroline Noctegal.

00:22:37.769 --> 00:22:39.609
They were milking Holsteins the conventional

00:22:39.609 --> 00:22:42.529
way, and they were struggling to make ends meet.

00:22:42.710 --> 00:22:44.250
I think a lot of people listening can relate

00:22:44.250 --> 00:22:46.529
to that. Absolutely. So they switched. They sold

00:22:46.529 --> 00:22:50.329
the Holsteins and went to a 100 % A2H Guernsey

00:22:50.329 --> 00:22:53.509
herd. Now they process everything on farm. They

00:22:53.509 --> 00:22:55.690
make yogurt. They sell milk in glass bottles.

00:22:55.849 --> 00:22:57.869
Glass bottles. Just like ginger. They're telling

00:22:57.869 --> 00:23:00.730
a story about quality, about a specific kind

00:23:00.730 --> 00:23:03.009
of milk, and they're thriving. That's incredible.

00:23:03.470 --> 00:23:05.549
And then there's Pleasant Meadow Creamery down

00:23:05.549 --> 00:23:09.109
in Idaho. Paul Herndon. He does raw milk direct

00:23:09.109 --> 00:23:11.430
-to -consumer. His whole business model is built

00:23:11.430 --> 00:23:13.970
on the Guernsey difference. People drive for

00:23:13.970 --> 00:23:16.730
miles to his farm because they want that golden,

00:23:16.910 --> 00:23:19.069
high -fat, A2 milk for their family. It's the

00:23:19.069 --> 00:23:21.170
complete vindication of Ginger's business plan.

00:23:21.329 --> 00:23:24.279
It is. She had the right idea. Premium, story

00:23:24.279 --> 00:23:27.460
-driven, high -component micro dairy. She just

00:23:27.460 --> 00:23:29.460
had the terrible luck of trying to launch it

00:23:29.460 --> 00:23:31.839
during World War II. The model works. She just

00:23:31.839 --> 00:23:34.059
couldn't get the labor to sustain it through

00:23:34.059 --> 00:23:36.519
that specific historical moment. Right. Someone

00:23:36.519 --> 00:23:38.460
is listening to this on their tractor right now.

00:23:38.519 --> 00:23:40.680
They've heard about the electric milkers, the

00:23:40.680 --> 00:23:43.539
Oscar winner, the bees joke. What is the one

00:23:43.539 --> 00:23:45.480
thing from the story they should sit with today?

00:23:45.700 --> 00:23:47.900
For me, it comes down to the value of differentiation.

00:23:49.500 --> 00:23:52.220
Ginger Rogers refused to be a commodity producer.

00:23:52.519 --> 00:23:54.779
She didn't just want to sell milk. She wanted

00:23:54.779 --> 00:23:57.160
to sell Golden Guernsey America's table milk.

00:23:57.559 --> 00:24:00.599
She picked a specific breed for a specific product

00:24:00.599 --> 00:24:03.480
with a specific story. Even 80 years ago, she

00:24:03.480 --> 00:24:05.759
understood that if you are small, you have to

00:24:05.759 --> 00:24:08.140
be special. You can't just be a line item. You

00:24:08.140 --> 00:24:10.819
can't. You can't compete on volume against the

00:24:10.819 --> 00:24:13.539
big guys, but you can always beat them on quality

00:24:13.539 --> 00:24:17.180
and story. That's powerful. Be special or be

00:24:17.180 --> 00:24:19.690
gone. And the second thing, and it's a tougher

00:24:19.690 --> 00:24:22.509
one, is a reality check on labor. Yeah. You can

00:24:22.509 --> 00:24:24.390
have the best infrastructure in the world, the

00:24:24.390 --> 00:24:27.109
hospital barn, the silo, the money, but it all

00:24:27.109 --> 00:24:30.529
fails without the hands to run it. It's a reminder

00:24:30.529 --> 00:24:33.349
that labor is the most fragile, most critical

00:24:33.349 --> 00:24:36.849
part of the entire dairy ecosystem. It was true

00:24:36.849 --> 00:24:40.009
in 1943, and it is more true today than ever.

00:24:40.170 --> 00:24:41.950
And I'd add one more, which is something we touched

00:24:41.950 --> 00:24:44.460
on at the beginning. Respect the outsider. Yeah,

00:24:44.559 --> 00:24:46.680
that's a good one. Sometimes the person with

00:24:46.680 --> 00:24:48.539
fresh eyes, the person looking for insurance

00:24:48.539 --> 00:24:50.240
instead of just doing what we've always done,

00:24:50.359 --> 00:24:53.400
sees the value in a breed or a method that the

00:24:53.400 --> 00:24:56.440
industry has moved away from. The experts laughed

00:24:56.440 --> 00:24:59.259
at her guernseys. The guy from the Department

00:24:59.259 --> 00:25:02.259
of Ag thought she'd have bees. But she was sitting

00:25:02.259 --> 00:25:05.740
on a goldmine of A2 genetics and a business model

00:25:05.740 --> 00:25:08.140
that was decades ahead of its time. That's a

00:25:08.140 --> 00:25:11.059
humbling thought. The city slicker might actually

00:25:11.059 --> 00:25:12.519
be on to something. We should probably listen

00:25:12.519 --> 00:25:15.259
more. As we wrap up, I just keep thinking about

00:25:15.259 --> 00:25:17.960
that image from Life magazine. Yeah. Ginger and

00:25:17.960 --> 00:25:21.200
her mom, Layla, at the fence rail. Two incredibly

00:25:21.200 --> 00:25:24.240
strong women, mother and daughter, united by

00:25:24.240 --> 00:25:26.160
the land. Yeah. And the fact that those milk

00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:28.819
bottles still exist. You can go to a museum in

00:25:28.819 --> 00:25:31.180
Independence, Missouri, and see one. It's a real

00:25:31.180 --> 00:25:34.170
object. America's table milk. It's a physical

00:25:34.170 --> 00:25:36.890
piece of proof. She did it. For a short time,

00:25:36.950 --> 00:25:40.309
against all odds, she really, truly did it. That's

00:25:40.309 --> 00:25:42.549
another story from The Bullvine Podcast. These

00:25:42.549 --> 00:25:44.250
are the people building the future of dairy,

00:25:44.470 --> 00:25:47.430
even the ones from the past. Find more at www

00:25:47.430 --> 00:25:50.910
.thebullvine .com. Subscribe so you don't miss

00:25:50.910 --> 00:26:05.109
the next story. Thanks for listening. Never will

00:26:05.109 --> 00:26:10.630
die From the show ring Thunder to The quiet strength

00:26:10.630 --> 00:26:16.950
they knew Hear that story's now Coming right

00:26:16.950 --> 00:26:23.369
on through Oh, tell the tale Tell the tale The

00:26:23.369 --> 00:26:26.289
Beaumont Legends live here