Former Ontario dairy owner receives state recognition

George te Velde, his father, started his dairy in the early 1930s in what is now known as Bellflower.

Four of his brothers have dairies in the San Joaquin Valley and a sister has interest in a dairy she once owned, he said.

After more than 30 years of service to agriculture in San Bernardino County and statewide, the Ontario resident was recognized with the California Farm Bureau Federation Distinguished Service Award during the Farm Bureau annual meeting in December.

The bureau is a non-profit organization that assists farmers, ranchers, and growers on issues that affect the farming community.

"I

Longtime dairyman Ralph te Velde of Ontario has been awarded the California Farm Bureau Federation's Distinguished Service Award. His TeVe Dairy was founded in 1969. (Jennifer Cappuccio-Maher/Staff Photographer)

Starting the business

At first te Velde said he wasn't too keen on following the family tradition.

Following his senior year in high school, te Velde spent 1951-1955 in the Navy and then worked with North American Aviation for 12 years.

He left the aviation industry to get into the more profitable dairy industry, he said.

TeVe Dairy came into existence in 1969 with 300 cows on a couple of acres near Mountain and Schaffer avenues in what is now south Ontario.

Soon he added nearby acreage including 80 acres rented from his father.

"We were expanding, adding cows and modernizing the facility," he said.

As he sat in his living room, te Velde reminisced about an industry that operated much differently than today, and changes that ultimately led him to leave.

"We didn't have all the regulation impediments that we now have," 78-year-old said. "It got to the point that you'd go to your mailbox, and you'd get some mail from government agency with new regulations."

The regulations would vary from new air quality standards to making sure water carrying manure did not run off the property, he said.

In 2006, te Velde said closed the south Ontario Dairy and enter into a partnership with his son, Ken, and move the business to Hobbs, N.M.

"We miss our family and friends but we don't have to deal with the regulation system," Ken said.

All the regulations that were being imposed, te Velde said, were due in part to the new housing popping up in the area.

"That's progress," te Velde said as he shrugged.

At Archibald and Edison avenues, there little left of teVe Dairy. The barn has been leveled and only the front of his home remains.

For 26 years, te Velde and his wife Carol raised their six children, all of whom grew up working on the farm and milking cows.

Owning your own dairy meant "you're kind of your own boss," but it also meant supervising a staff of about 14 to make sure things got done, he said.

The day for te Velde ran from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., with some longer than others.

By the time teVe Dairy left Ontario, the operation had grown to 1,750 cows generating about 8,000 gallons a day.

Devoting time to the bureau

Early into his career, he realized the importance of the Farm Bureau.

"We tried to influence legislation away from damaging farming," he said. "The Farm Bureau does not use a lot of cash to do that, it uses volunteers."

While the issues they tackled weren't huge, they were issues that impacted the industry, he said.

Just like a proposed tree cutting ordinance that first sparked his interest. The county was proposing five pages worth of new regulations on cutting down a tree on private property, te Velde said.

He, and other dairy owners worked against it and "that ordinance never made it off the ground," te Velde said proudly.

And from there, his involvement with the organization grew. It started with monthly meetings and then into joining committees and soon he was serving on different boards.

Dedication to the bureau

In his 30 years of volunteering with the Farm Bureau, te Velde has twice served as president of the San Bernardino County Farm Bureau.

Despite his recent bout with cancer, Te Velde continues to serve as secretary/treasurer of the organization, said Learned.

In the last six months since his cancer diagnosis te Velde has only missed two meetings, she said.

At the state level, he has had a role in determining Farm Bureau policy through his involvement in commodity advisory committees, she said.

During the 1990s, te Velde was a director on the California Farm Bureau Federation board, representing Riverside, San Bernardino and Inyo-Mono counties, Learned said.

Despite his countless hours of commitment, te Velde doesn't understand why he received the Distinguished Service Award, which is the highest honor bestowed by the California Farm Bureau.

"I'm just an everyday person," he said. "I go and do my thing and go to the meetings I'm suppose to."

Just then, his wife Carol chimes in, "it's because you are so dedicated to it."

Carol would know firsthand the work te Velde has put into the bureau, like the days her husband would fly to Sacramento for one-day meetings.

Or most recently when, the chemo had left him weak and unable to drive, and she would take him to the meetings and sit in the back and wait.

"I was very proud, he worked very hard for it," she said of the award. "Although he was just doing his thing, the reward he got was for his dedication."

But Carol said she understands why her husband remained so involved with the bureau through the years.

"He never got a paycheck but he started to make things better for farmers. He wasn't in there for money and glory," Carol said. "He's been working hard for the industry that we were in."

But it's his work with the Rural Health and Safety Committee that te Velde said he has taken the most pride.

Through the years, his involvement and contacts with the committee has led to San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department assigning a rural officer.

It's an accomplishment but also a benefit to the agricultural industry, he said.

"He's not a quitter, he's a very tough man," Learned said. "He doesn't make any money but he has had the heart and soul to save agriculture in the state."