Hello! We (Kevin and Ranae Dietzel, pictured above) are the proud farmers and cheesemakers of Lost Lake Farm. Along with our nine year old son and seven year old daughter and help from our friends and family, we produce artisan farmstead 100% grassfed cheese from our farm north and west of Jewell, Iowa. Our farm sits on the northern shore of former Lake Cairo, drained in 1895 for conversion to farm ground, therefore the name ‘Lost Lake’.
We milk around 15 to 20 cows once per day, collecting and cooling milk in a small bulk tank. Every few days when enough milk is collected for a batch of cheese, Kevin moves the milk from the bulk tank through the wall to the cheesemaking vat in our all-in-one milking and cheesemaking facility constructed in 2016. From there, Kevin works his magic, heating the milk, adding cultures, cutting curds, forming the cheese into wheels, and aging them into the delectable cheeses available for your delightful consumption. The leftover whey from the cheesemaking process is combined with ground feed and fed to our pigs. Keep an eye out for your chance to get some of our one-of-a-kind whey-fed pork!
During the growing season, cows are grazed on the pastures of the farm, given a fresh break of grass multiple times per day. During winter, cows eat hay and baleage (fermented hay) and have a bedded shed to lounge in during inclement weather. Calves are raised on their mothers until they are weaned and are grown to milking age on pasture and hay. We raise a couple of steers each year and have grassfed dairy beef available for sale at select times each year. We are committed to farming practices that enhance the quality of the soil, promote the abundance and diversity of wildlife, and enrich the health of the environment.
Our journey together started from our meeting in college at the University of Minnesota-Morris to our marriage in 2006 to a stint in New York and a move back to Iowa, all with the remarkable dream of starting our own dairy farm. We moved to our farm in 2012 and through lots of trials and tribulations started producing cheese in the Fall of 2016. We owe a lot of people thanks for their support in getting us to this point and are continually grateful for our customers.
Stay tuned to this blog for more stories about our journey, where to find our cheese, and of course pictures of cows. You can sign up here to get a weekly email with current events on the farm and special offers on our cheese. Thanks so much for being part of our community!
We milk around 15 to 20 cows once per day, collecting and cooling milk in a small bulk tank. Every few days when enough milk is collected for a batch of cheese, Kevin moves the milk from the bulk tank through the wall to the cheesemaking vat in our all-in-one milking and cheesemaking facility constructed in 2016. From there, Kevin works his magic, heating the milk, adding cultures, cutting curds, forming the cheese into wheels, and aging them into the delectable cheeses available for your delightful consumption. The leftover whey from the cheesemaking process is combined with ground feed and fed to our pigs. Keep an eye out for your chance to get some of our one-of-a-kind whey-fed pork!
During the growing season, cows are grazed on the pastures of the farm, given a fresh break of grass multiple times per day. During winter, cows eat hay and baleage (fermented hay) and have a bedded shed to lounge in during inclement weather. Calves are raised on their mothers until they are weaned and are grown to milking age on pasture and hay. We raise a couple of steers each year and have grassfed dairy beef available for sale at select times each year. We are committed to farming practices that enhance the quality of the soil, promote the abundance and diversity of wildlife, and enrich the health of the environment.
Our journey together started from our meeting in college at the University of Minnesota-Morris to our marriage in 2006 to a stint in New York and a move back to Iowa, all with the remarkable dream of starting our own dairy farm. We moved to our farm in 2012 and through lots of trials and tribulations started producing cheese in the Fall of 2016. We owe a lot of people thanks for their support in getting us to this point and are continually grateful for our customers.
Stay tuned to this blog for more stories about our journey, where to find our cheese, and of course pictures of cows. You can sign up here to get a weekly email with current events on the farm and special offers on our cheese. Thanks so much for being part of our community!