Broussard

Producing dairies operating in Louisiana in the 1970s went down to 150 from a high of 1,700. There were several dairy-farming families operating in and around Broussard during the late 1940s through early 1970s—Minus Breaux, Lawrence Girouard, Maxie Girouard, Frank Garber, William Menard, and Henry Langlinais. Dairy farmers belonged to a number of local producer-owner cooperatives. Dairy farmer Ralph Racca milked for a neighbor and was actively involved with Dairy Herd Improvements from 1977 to 1984. (Ralph and Sarah Racca.)

A mother of three children, Margaret “Nonie” Morvant Gondron, like most dairy farmwives during the World War II era, had to do extra chores with milking and feeding the cows. Dairy farming was a staple of life, and an assurance of providing fresh milk and cheese for families. LeeRoy Gondron, manager of Southwest Cooperative, grew corn and baled hay as feed for the cattle. (Jimmy Gondron.)

In the 1940s and1950s, women were helping hands and partners with their husbands on family dairy farms. Although milking cows become mechanized in the 21st century, not all small farms could afford the equipment. Sarah Guidry Racca juggled duties of child rearing and cooking meals while tending to the chore of milking the cows. (Ralph Racca.)

In 1943, Southwestern Cooperative members LeeRoy Gondron (manager), Alidie Tauzin (director), William Menard, and others traveled to Wisconsin to purchase the first Holstein cows (known as quantity milk producers) brought to the area, for their dairy farms. At that time, other farmers raised Jersey (a small reddish-brown breed) and Guernsey cows as milk producers. (Jimmy Gondron.)

Gaston Gondron, one of several dairy farmers in the Broussard area, had a passion for horseback riding. Every year, Gondron participated in the town’s annual Christmas parade on his prized stallion Black Beauty while carrying the American flag. (Jimmy Gondron.)

Brothers Donald “Donnie” (holding reins) and Stanley “Stan” Dutile grew up on the ancestral dairy farm of Margaret and Durel Dutile located near the city limits of Broussard. Today, Donnie conducts research for furthering animal science at the Louisiana State University field office in Jeanerette, while Stan is the county extension agent. (Jackie Dutile Theriot.)

Donnie Dutile walks a horse out on the Dutile family farm on the outskirts of Broussard. Dutile is a research farm specialist for LSU Ag Center in Jeanerette, Louisiana, and conducts studies on cattle crossbreeding for adaptability to Louisiana climate and parasite resistance. He also conducts studies on forage-fed beef, which is becoming popular. (Jackie Theriot.)

Gaston Gondron managed the Southwestern Cooperative in Broussard besides running his family farm, growing corn and baling hay to feed his grazing cattle herd. Shown here in the pasture, Gondron is training his prized bull. (Jimmy Gondron.)

Onezine Langlinais’s family dairy on Larriviere Road closed many years ago. Many old milking sheds still dot the landscape in rural areas of Broussard, a staunch testament to farming families whose livelihoods depended on dairy farming. (Author’s collection.)

Born in 1889, Onezine Langlinais is shown with his siblings at his Broussard residence as they celebrated his 87th birthday on January 18, 1976. Two of Onezine’s sisters never married and lived in the home until their deaths. (Doris Langlinais.)

Doris Langlinais Constantine, seated on her horse, was reared on Larriviere Road and to this day resides in the home her great-grandfather built. Onezine Langlinais’s family home was moved onto the property by a team of oxen before the Civil War. Doris’s parents, Guillaume and Blanche Langlinais, ran a dairy, where milking cows was a daily ritual that had to be performed at 2:00 a.m. and again at 4:00 p.m.—a task she loved doing. (Author’s collection.)

Henry Langlinais operated a dairy farm in the Long Plantation area for many years following his tour of duty in World War II, from June 1944 to 1946. As a private first class in the Army, Henry was part of a replacement battalion stationed in Germany during the Battle of the Bulge. After the war, Henry owned and operated a dairy farm until his retirement. He then decided to go back to work as a custodian at Comeaux High School for 19 years under principal Ellis Savoy. Now 94, Henry resides at Camelot of Broussard and regales visitors with stories from the past. (Author’s collection.)

An oddly shaped barn on Rose St. Julien Larrivere’s homestead is believed to be the oldest known structure in Broussard, dating back to 1784. Alexandre Barde, a tutor and news journalist who served briefly in the Civil War, is purported to have lived in the St. Julien home while writing his classic and controversial L’histoire des comités de vigilance aux Attakapas in 1861. (Author’s collection.)

Ralph Racca, a lifelong dairy farmer, became involved with dairy-herd improvement from 1971 to 1984. Ralph and Sarah Guidry Racca live on and maintain farm property belonging to the J. Maxie Girouard family, where they raise assorted fowl. Ralph also drives a school bus for the Lafayette Parish School System. Maxie and his wife, Vida, operated one of the first family dairy farms in Lafayette Parish in 1951. Maxie was a board member for Dairymen, Incorporated, which was on Highway 90; its specialty was making mascarpone cheese for the pizza market. Maxie closed the dairy in 1971. Ralph also bales bay and helps his grandson raise chickens on the property. (Both, author’s collection.)