Harvey and Ella Dennis purchased the original 70 acres on March 16, 1920 which consisted of the existing house (built in the 1880s), the hip roof barn (built in 1902), and several out-buildings. Harvey and Ella had two children. The family milked cows and raised crops to feed the livestock. They also kept other livestock, including chickens. They made butter and would send butter and eggs by train to Harvey's brother Fred in Detroit, who marketed them there.Harvey passed away in 1937, followed by Ella in 1942, when the farm was left to their two adult children, Howard and Majel. Majel sold her share of the farm to Howard and his wife, Mabel.
Howard and Mabel worked the farm and milked cows while Howard also worked for the Clinton County Road Commission until he retired in 1967. Howard and Mabel’s son, Robert, took over the operation of the farm after graduation. Howard passed away in 1989, and Mabel in 1991.Robert married Marilyn in 1958, and raised five children: David, Karen, Kendra, Kevin, and Julie.
Robert milked about 50 cows in the stanchion barn until building a free-stall barn in 1967 and a milking parlor in 1973. Two upright silos were added in 1968 and 1973 for feed storage. Robert continued to grow the farming operation with the purchase of an additional 260 acres, where he raised corn, soybeans, wheat and alfalfa. In 1994, Robert and his youngest son Kevin formed a partnership, Dennis Dairy Farms, LLC.
That same year they built a 160-cow free-stall barn and expanded the herd. Kevin married Jennifer in 1994. Kevin and Jennifer continued the farming tradition two years later upon the deaths of Robert and Marilyn in 1996. Kevin and Jennifer continued to operate the farm and improve the dairy herd. They purchased an additional 150 acres where they raised corn, soybeans, wheat and alfalfa.
In 2008 they sold the dairy herd to pursue jobs overseas in the dairy industry.Today, Kevin and Jennifer are excited to be back home on the farm and provide you with farm to table goods