RVing offers a welcome respite for a hardworking farm family.
By John Johnston, Associate Editor
April 2020
We spread it on toast, plop it on baked potatoes, and place pats of it on pancakes. We melt it in a pan and pour it on popcorn. We slather it on corn-on-the-cob, lobsters, warm rolls, and countless other foods, all of which instantly become tastier.
We’re talking, of course, about butter.
And we’re talking about butter, because it is made from the milk produced by Barcellos Farms. Owners Tom and Felomena Barcellos, F440213, have devoted most of their lives to dairy farming in central California’s Tulare County, which is the highest milk-producing county in the top dairy-producing state.
Tom and Felomena Barcellos have devoted most of their lives to dairy farming in central California’s Tulare County. They enjoy RVing with their seven grandchildren, from left: Brian, Mackenzie, Thomas (on Tom’s lap), Zachary, Frank, Emily, and Kadin.
“I never considered doing anything different,” Tom said.
Both Tom and Felomena grew up in dairy families. Tom’s grandfather, Frank Barcellos, immigrated to America from the Azores in 1928 and then worked on the dairy farm of relatives until getting his own small herd of cows. In 1940 he bought the property where Tom and Felomena now live.
Tom left his family’s dairy operation to start Barcellos Farms in 1976, the year he and Felomena married. Tom later gained possession of the property once owned by his grandfather and his father, Tony Barcellos. It’s where Tom and Felomena raised three daughters, Bridget, Theresa, and Deolinda.
“At one time, we all worked on the farm,” Felomena said. She remembers a summer when she and the girls were the swathing crew, tasked with cutting the hay that would be fed to the cows. When someone remarked what nice, hardworking girls they were, Tom paid his wife an even higher compliment. “It’s their mother’s doing,” he said, “because I’m not around enough to help with that.”
Indeed, Tom has devoted untold hours to Barcellos Farms, which has earned a number of awards from the dairy industry and is truly a family operation. It includes T-Bar Dairy, which has 700 cows, and White Gold Dairy, which has 1,100. Tom started White Gold in partnership with Bridget and her husband, Matt Kidder. And until recently, the Barcellos Farms harvest crews were run by Theresa’s husband, Jason Prather, who still works part-time on the farm.
All the milk from Barcellos Farms — typically more than 14,000 gallons a day — goes to a Tulare County plant run by Land O’Lakes, a farmer-owned cooperative. “If you buy Land O’Lakes butter, there’s a good chance that it came from the Tulare plant, which includes our milk,” Tom said.
But Barcellos Farms is more than dairies. Over the years, it has expanded to include trucking, excavating, and corn chopping businesses. In addition, the farm now produces pistachios, lemons, and tangos.
Such diversification has helped Barcellos Farms to prevail during challenging times. When milk prices dropped steeply during the Great Recession, many dairies shut down. Then, just as the economy began improving, California dairy farmers were hit with a severe drought, causing more farms to fold. Changing consumer tastes and trade tensions also have contributed to dairy closures.
Tom and Felomena say they never considered quitting. “I think we just worked harder,” Felomena said.
Ah, but you know what they say about all work and no play . . .
Years ago, when their girls were little, Tom and Felomena accepted an invitation from Tom’s sister to go tent camping. It was a good experience, with one exception. “I am not very good at sharing public facilities,” Felomena said.
Soon after, they bought a small travel trailer, which they occupied while their home was remodeled in the early 2000s. They also purchased a share in an RV park in Pismo Beach, on the California coast, about three hours from home.
Then one day, Bridget and Matt bought a fifth-wheel. “We walked into that and decided we needed a fifth-wheel, too,” Tom said. They gave the travel trailer to Theresa and Jason.
Tom and Felomena enjoyed the fifth-wheel. But then Tom, who has always liked driving big trucks, suggested to Felomena that they start looking at motorhomes.
It just so happened that Felomena was in an appliance store one day and saw a picture of a motorhome on the counter. The store owner and his wife wanted to sell their low-mileage 2007 Monaco Dynasty Diamond IV.
“I had looked at brand-new (motorhomes), and they were nice, but I was more impressed with this one,” Felomena said. But when Tom got a look at the 43-foot coach, his heart sank. He knew it would be out of their price range.
Maybe what happened next was a result of good karma. Maybe the stars aligned a certain way. Really, what happened was that something clicked — in a very good way — between Felomena and the wife of the store owner, who didn’t want to sell her motorhome to just anybody.
The women bonded over a shared belief that a garage floor should be vacuumed. And that shoes should never be worn in an RV. One thing led to another, and the store owner’s wife essentially told her husband: “I want this couple to own my baby.”
The price of the coach dropped substantially. The deal was done. Since that day seven years ago, the Barcellos have taken their motorhome to the Grand Canyon; the Badlands of Montana; the Oregon coast; California’s Napa Valley; and elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Matt and Bridget, who have five children, upgraded to a larger fifth-wheel. Jason and Theresa, who have two children, bought a 36-foot Type A motorhome. The fifth-wheel that Tom and Felomena once owned now belongs to her sister.
The farming family is a full-fledged RVing family. Every year, after Christmas, they all gather at the RV park in Pismo Beach. “It’s a big party,” Felomena said.
Who milks the cows when they are away?
“The same guys that milk ’em when we’re home,” Tom said. “Our employees end up being like family.”
That’s also how Tom describes the other RVers they meet — “an awesome family.”
“No matter where we go, when we park, we get to know the people around us,” he said. “And 98 percent of the people who pull up next to you seem to be good people. Everybody’s cordial, and nobody judges by what you’re driving. Sometimes you break bread or have a cold beer together or share stories.”
Does the conversation ever turn to dairy farming?
You butter believe it.