History of the Iwig Family Dairy

William and Mary Iwig moved to the farm at 3320 SE Tecumseh Rd in 1910.Here they raised seven children and, in the early years,William and Mary gardened, raised livestock, and had a small herd of dairy cows from which they sold milk to Crockers Dairy inTopeka.

In 1935, Dan Iwig and Ford Metzger bought and moved Sunkist Dairy to the Iwig farm. At that time there was neither electricity nor any running water. Milk was carried in cans, strained, and bottled raw. The farm got electricity for the first time in 1939, which quickly changed everything. In 1941 they began pasteurizing and, one year later, the Sunkist Dairy became owned by the Iwig brothers: Dan, Cliff, and Warren. Cliff was drafted and served in WWII. Dan and Warren ran the dairy and delivered to Neil Browns Grocery, the Jane C. Stormont Hospital, and Christ Hospital and later to Stormont-Vail Hospital when the two united. Their milk was known for its high quality and was well spoken of by a Stormont-Vail head dietician.

In the early 1950's, the hospital wanted homogenized milk. The Iwig brothers began selling to Boyle's Dairy and Cliff delivered from Boyle's to the hospital until 1966. Sunkist was totally discontinued in the early 1950's. The Iwig's left the milk bottle delivery business in 1966. From then until 1972, the Iwig brothers produced high-quality, grade-A milk and sold to Mid America Dairy Coop. The Iwig brothers terminated their dairy operation in 1972. The cows were sold and went to Oklahoma.
The next generation of Iwig milk production began in the 70s, as Tim Iwig milked his own 4-H cows and sold raw milk to people who came and picked up the milk and left the money in the pan on his fridge.

In 1978, he graduated from Shawnee Heights High School in Tecumseh and in 1983 he graduated from Kansas State University with a BS in Animal Science with a focus on Dairy Production. He started his current herd in January 1983 and sold bulk milk to Mid America Dairy Coop and Dairy Farmers of America.

In 2001, Tim and his wife Laurel began exploring the possibilities of taking their dairy back into bottling. Iwig Family Dairy broke ground on its new production facility on November 13, 2004 and the company bottled its first milk onOctober 26, 2005.

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