Fieser Dairy

When Volusia County dairyman Gerald Fieser drives to work, he knows he’s not in Kansas anymore. His family’s farm, Fieser Dairy, borders Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge, a 21,500-acre preserve that provides a habitat for 215 species of birds, including bald eagles, whooping cranes and wood storks.

“We choose to preserve 20 percent of our land as a wildlife corridor,” says Gerald, a full-time dairy farmer since 1980 and a member of the Florida Dairy Farmers board of directors. “Our farm is situated next to a wildlife refuge, and we take the responsibility of caring for and fitting in with the natural habitat very seriously. We’re working with what Mother Nature gave us.”

He’s always been around dairy cows, first in Kansas and then in Deland when his father moved the family to Central Florida when young Gerald was 5.

Today he works alongside brother Karl and their sister’s two sons. The only remaining dairy farm in Volusia County and east Central Florida, Fieser Dairy maintains nearly 700 cows in DeLeon Springs.

Their cows visit the milking parlors twice a day, providing a fresh supply of wholesome, safe food for consumers. That immediacy from the farm to the fridge is not lost on Gerald. “Our milk is fresh, local and sustainable,” he notes. “What we produce today will be available for consumption within two days. Very few foods are that fresh and available everywhere.”