RICKREALL, Ore. — Scant profits and hefty regulations have convinced Louie Kazemier to stop milking cows, but that doesn’t mean he regrets becoming a dairyman.

“It’s been a fantastic career. I’ve loved it every day,” he said.

Though the persistent financial pressures facing the dairy industry helped compel his exit from the business, they’re outweighed by the memories and friendships accumulated over the past three decades, Kazemier said.

“The dairy ran like clockwork. It was just a dollars-and-cents decision,” he said.

Kazemier’s family has owned the dairy farm near Rickreall, Ore., since his father-in-law, Gus Wybenga, bought the property in 1989 and brought in his dairy herd from California.

Since then, Rickreall Dairy’s infamous manure lagoon has become a fixture for travelers along state Highway 22, with Kazemier joking that people can usually smell it before they see it.

Instead of shrinking from the attention, however, he used the farm’s visibility to educate the public about dairy operations.

The 3,500-cow facility offered tours to thousands of visitors a year, showcasing its animal care practices and dispelling misconceptions about the dairy industry.

With the dairy’s closure, Kazemier said he expects that local residents will have to find another culprit to blame for any disagreeable odors that waft their way.

However, the dairy may be more remembered for such gestures as its beef, milk and potato giveaway, which supplied food to more than 400 families on its 30th anniversary during the height of the COVID pandemic.

Kazemier is selling the facility, cattle and machinery, but expects to keep the surrounding fields and lease them to neighboring farmers.

While he doesn’t nurture any bitterness over the company’s fate, Kazemier doesn’t see a bright future for family dairy farms — unless major changes occur in the industry.

The number of cows may remain stable but the number of dairy farmers is likely to continue shrinking, resulting in fewer but larger operations, he said.

“We’re headed toward 35,000-50,000 cows on each dairy, just because of the consolidation,” Kazemier said.

This discouraging trajectory is a major reason Kazemier’s son, Nate, isn’t carrying on the family business, he said. “I couldn’t in good conscience, with all the headwinds in the dairy industry, ask him to run it.”

Multiple reasons contributed to Kazemier’s decision to wind down the company, including its interactions with its dairy cooperative and the banking system.

The federal milk pricing program is also due for an overhaul, as it doesn’t adequately account for the rising costs of milk production, he said.

“It’s completely broken,” Kazemier said. “They’re still operating on 40-year-old formulas.”

These problems will soon cease weighing on Kazemier’s mind as he spends more time traveling, staying active in several Christian ministries and spending time with grandchildren in retirement.

Much as he doesn’t rue his choice of career, Kazemier also doesn’t grieve leaving it behind.

“This was a godsend to get it done this way,” he said.