Norman Jordan Jr. is the third-generation owner of Brush Creek Swiss Farms, a dairy farm in Siler City. Although started by his grandfather, the exact origin of when the farm began milking cows commercially is unknown among relatives. The Jordan family decided to establish 1927, the birth year of Norman Jordan Sr., as the start of the operations.
In 1956, Norman Sr. bought his first Brown Swiss cow, then officially became an all-registered Brown Swiss herd in 1964. The farm has been raising the same cattle breed ever since. Brush Creek currently has 180-200 cows, which makes them one of the smaller herds in North Carolina. Ninety of them are in milk and the remaining are mature cows, calves or replacements.
Norman Jr. started working on the dairy farm once he was big enough to lend a hand. His dad also got him involved in showing Brown Swiss at county, district and N.C. State Fair youth shows. Norman was connected with his local 4-H and the Brown Swiss Association where he would be asked to report on the youth activities he participated in. Those experiences helped him become a more confident speaker.
Norman also spoke highly of his experience judging dairy cattle growing up.
“You were trained in what you were looking for in dairy cattle. You’re taking four animals in a class that are about the same age and determining how they should be ranked,” he said. “It teaches you how to make decisions, verbally defend them to the judge, answer questions about the animals you’ve seen and prove your knowledge of them.”
The skills Norman developed by showing livestock are all qualities that have come in handy as the current owner of Brush Creek.
Norman took a brief break from his farm duties when he went to study animal science at N.C. State University, his dad’s alma mater. Following graduation in 1978, he returned to Brush Creek.
Milking and feeding are the two main chores that must be completed on the farm. The team consists of Norman, his wife Karen who is also a large animal veterinarian, his nephew Cory Robbins and long-time herdsman Alison Sturgill. Alison was hired part-time a year ago and the Jordans are grateful for her help.
Milking begins at 6:30 a.m. and lasts a few hours. The process is repeated again later in the day. Cory is largely responsible for feeding the Brown Swiss, with additional help from Norman with the mature cows. Karen and Alison mainly handle the calves. All are responsible for the daily milking and milk harvest of the cows. Norman and Karen have no children, but Cory has a special interest in dairying and one day continuing the family business.
Norman is active in the dairy industry off the farm, too, serving with dairy organizations on the state and regional level. He and his wife competed in the Young Dairymen contest with their milk marketing cooperative. This allowed them to network and get additional training in dairying.
“Surrounding yourself with mentors is crucial to those navigating the dairy industry,” Norman said. “This includes anyone who will set positive examples. It doesn’t matter how old they are.”
Norman has served on the board of the American Dairy Association of North Carolina, the N.C. Farm Bureau Dairy Advisory Committee and the N.C. Cooperative Council, for which he was also chairman. Norman was president of the N.C. Dairy Foundation for a term and even contributed to the formation of the N.C. Dairy Youth Foundation, which provides funding for local dairy youth activities. Most impressively he helped with the founding of a dairy commodity group, the N.C. Dairy Producers Association, serving as its president for nearly 20 years.
Norman, Karen, Norman’s dad and sister Sheila Jordan are all members of the Livestock Hall of Fame.
“To have your work acknowledged by your peers is the greatest honor,” said Norman. “You’re overjoyed to join ranks with people you’ve grown up admiring and watching.”
Being a Century Farm and still standing strong in the dairy business means the world to the Jordans. The Century Farm Program is the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ way of recognizing North Carolina families that maintain continual family ownership of their farm for 100 years or more.
“When my dad returned to Brush Creek in 1952, I would venture to guess there were over 3,000 dairy farms in North Carolina. Dairy farming became much more difficult as time continued,” said Norman. “When I came back in 1978, there were probably around 1,500. Things changed, your margin of error became significantly smaller and now there’s somewhere around 120 dairy farms left in North Carolina.”
Brush Creek is always working to improve its herd.
“The cows need to express their genetic potential for milk production,” said Norman. “We meet their needs by building an environment that allows this — a nutritious supply of food, a balanced diet and an overall comfortable place to reside.”
They’ve also adopted several technologies to grow the farm’s efficiency including a cow monitoring system that tracks the cows’ every move, alerting the Jordans whenever they aren’t acting normally, and genomics to help with management decisions.
Brush Creek has used data from the Dairy Herd Improvement Association since the 1960s, a national association that collects production records and other information on dairy cows. This assists them in choosing cow pairings for mating that will promote longevity within the herd, or deciding when a cow has stopped performing well and needs to leave the farm. Norman’s goal is to continue taking advantage of technology and move to a robotic system for milking.
He anticipates growing the herd’s numbers, but not on such a scale that Brush Creek will be considered a large dairy.
“Where we’re located in Siler City, we’re beginning to feel a lot more pressure over the last seven years from competing neighboring companies like Wolfspeed and Toyota,” said Norman. “With that demand for land, the price has gone too high to expand.”
Norman instead wants to pursue agrotourism and on-farm processing and selling, opening Brush Creek to the public. He and Karen have already dabbled in this idea, having brought in over 20 young people throughout the years to work with them on showing dairy cows.
The Jordan family has without a doubt left a lasting impression on the livestock and dairy industries through their service and commitment to continuing their farming legacy. They are immensely proud of their achievements and can’t wait to see what the future holds for Brush Creek Swiss Farms.
