Biography
Herman Grabow (1898-1993) was a cow tester, dairyman, radio personality, journalist and lobbyist for the California Grange. Trained as a cow tester at the University of Minnesota, Grabow came to California in 1923, where he found work as a tester in Ventura County. After losing his dairy in the midst of the Great Depression, Grabow came to San Joaquin County where he acquired a spread that was being sold for back taxes. With financial help from Roosevelt's New Deal, Grabow bought alfalfa seed and twenty cows. By the late 1930s he was well-established and had became Director of the local artificial insemination association. From the 1940s, Grabow also became a farmers' advocate. He worked for forty years to advance the cause of the California dairy industry through legislation and advertising as President of the California Dairymen, Inc. and as a lobbyist for the California State Grange. Grabow also published a regular column on dairy-related topics in the California Farmer during the 1960s. He will be well- remembered among dairymen in particular for his contributions to the passage of the California Milk Pooling Act (1969), which gave independent dairymen greater protection from milk price fluctuations.
From the guide to the Grabow (Herman G.) Collection, 1922-1987, (San Joaquin County Museum.)
