My name is Klaas Reyneveld, and I’m proud to be a Florida dairy farmer. My family and I own and operate Udder Delite Dairy in Suwannee County. I’ve been a dairy farmer since birth – and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I was born in the Netherlands on a dairy farm and immigrated with my parents to Ontario, Canada, to farm when I was young. My first farm was 50 acres that I bought when I was 21. I married Grace when I was 22 and she was 19, and the following year we bought a 157-acre farm. 

Grace and I lived on that farm for nearly 16 years, and it’s where we raised our children. After deciding the Canadian supply management system was restricting our growth potential, we bought a dairy farm in Cairo, Ga., in 1993 and eventually milked 320 cows there. We sold that farm in 1998 and spent a short time leasing a 900-cow dairy in Monticello until 2003 when we bought our current facility in McAlpin. 

Today our dairy sits on 115 acres, and we milk around 250 Holsteins twice a day. We are the epitome of family owned and operated. I work alongside Grace, our son Patrick, 31, and his wife, Shannon, and their children. Aside from them, we have only one other employee.

Our family is so large that Grace and I like to joke that we have two-and-a-half dozen children. In reality, we have two sons and six daughters who are spread out across North America. 

There isn’t much time outside of dairying and family, but Grace and I are very active in our church where we sing on the Praise Team and I serve as an elder. I’ve also served on several industry boards throughout the years. I sat on the Georgia Milk Board from 1996-98, and I’m the current president of the board of directors for Premier Milk Inc., where I have been a member for the past seven years. I am also excited to have recently joined the FDF board of directors.