Hickory Hill Milk

Edgefield,SC

Hickory Hill is a fourth-generation dairy farm owned by the Dorn family. The farm milks 130 cows with two robotic units they installed in 2020, and farms about 750 acres. Bottling for 15 years, Hickory Hill markets non-homogenized, low-temp vat pasteurized whole milk, chocolate milk, and buttermilk. We interviewed owner Watson Dorn, his son Daniel Dorn, and herd manager Joel Black.

Q&A WITH THE HICKORY HILL MILK TEAM

What made you decide to diversify, and what challenges did you face?

Watson: We came to a point on our operation that we needed to grow, exit, or diversify. We found that the mechanical part of processing was the easy part, and building sales was the challenge. For example, when we first got started, our milk wasn’t selling at a local grocery store, so I said, “I’m going to bring you a cow.” And I didn’t bring a calf…I brought a full-grown cow to the grocery store parking lot for people to get pictures and to talk to them. With education and effort, we gained customers. From there, we were able to start talking to distributors, schools, and restaurants, and we now sell milk in the tri-state area from Savannah to Charlotte. We also open the farm for tours in the spring and fall, and Tuesday nights in October we have live music, BBQ, a corn maze, etc. and average about 1,200 people each night.

How do you differentiate your product in the marketplace?

Watson: All milk is good for you, but ours is a little different because it is non-homogenized and low-temp pasteurized. We needed to educate consumers on why these processing choices are beneficial. The cream line does not mean the milk is bad, and without homogenization, the fat and sugar in our milk are left in their natural states for easier digestion. With low-temp pasteurization, we are keeping a lot of beneficial bacteria that can be lost in traditional or high-temp pasteurization. We think it tastes good too! We average about a 4.1 – 4.2 percent butterfat.

What does the future look like for your operation?

Daniel: We want to keep our operation as a family farm and continue interacting with consumers. It has also been neat to implement new technology on the farm, which is more my wheelhouse. Things progress generationally, but some things stay the same as well. Dad’s learned a lot from experience and we plan to use that in addition to new technology such as our robots to keep moving forward.

How does Premier help you reach your goals?

Watson: We appreciate working with Premier as a cooperative because the farmer still calls the shots and we can maintain our values. Genetics are important and Premier has been a great partner for us to bring in bulls that work for us.

Joel: Hickory Hill has used Premier Select Sires for a long time, and I trusted and used them back when I had my own herd. They furnish us with good sires with the type, production, and longevity we’re looking for. Udders, feet and legs, and productive life are important to me, and teat placement matters for the robots as well. We use mostly young sires and they have a lot of great sires to choose from.

The Dorns are an extremely respected family in the dairy industry. I work very closely with Herd Manager Joel Black for sire selection. After each proof, we sit down in the office and find the right bulls for their program. Hickory Hill always wants to make sure that the sire of choice has enough type to make them look like milk cows. We’ve worked to make sure that all sires will work in the robots and to make sure the teat placement is like it should be.

The Dorns always tell me, ‘If you are in our area on a Thursday, feel free to drop in for lunch!’ That is the type of relationship I, and Premier, have with Hickory Hill. Every time I plan to go to Hickory Hill, I know the cooler needs to be in the van so I can bring chocolate milk back home!

- Henry Mitchell, Area Sales Manager for Hickory Hill

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