If you’ve drunk any milk in the past eight years, there’s a good chance Austin Bailey brought it to you, or, at least, supplied it for you.
Bailey, a driver for Prairie Farms Dairy, brings regular milk deliveries to more than 40 grocery stores, convenience stores and schools in Clay, Lowndes and Oktibbeha counties.
An Amory native, Bailey grew up in Columbus before moving to Caledonia and, eventually, Starkville, where he now lives with his wife of 15 years, Jessica, and their son, Cruz, 7. He has driven just about everything with wheels. After graduating from Caledonia High School in 2004, Bailey spent a year doing odd jobs, “trying to find his way.”
“I figured, after 12 years of school, I’m going to do what I want to do,” Bailey told The Dispatch. “And then I decided enlisting would probably be the best thing for me.”
Bailey enlisted in the Army National Guard in 2005 and served eight years with the 858th Engineer Company out of Calhoun City, including a tour in Iraq from 2009-2010. There, he worked as a heavy equipment operator building parking lots and fuel depots and learned to drive graders, scrapers, front-end loaders and bulldozers. While serving in the National Guard, Bailey also worked for the Mississippi Forestry Commission, running bulldozers and cutting fire lanes and clearing overgrowth.
“When I got done with basic training in early December 2005, I figured I needed to get a job that would be beneficial to me, seeing how I was in the military,” Bailey said.
After state budget cuts cost him his forestry commission job in 2016, Bailey drove for Better Brands, distributing Red Bull. A chance encounter on one of his daily deliveries in 2017 led him to Prairie Farms. While waiting to unload a delivery of the energy drinks, a man approached and asked if Bailey had ever considered a career change.
“I looked at him and said, ‘If the money’s right, I would,’” Bailey said. “He kind of spitballed a figure out there, and I was like, ‘Well, if that’s true, I’m interested.’”
Throughout his adult life, Bailey has been one of those millions of Americans whose job goes unnoticed but whose work never does. Troops can’t fight without logistical support, forests don’t flourish without upkeep, and schools can’t provide nutritious meals without milk. And while his work happens behind the scenes, in stock rooms, loading docks and refrigerated cases, you’ve likely seen Bailey on his route. And if you’ve ever been behind him, you’ve definitely noticed. His truck, a 20-foot refrigerated unit, sports a larger-than-life picture of a cow on its rear doors.
Photo by Aaron Lampley/Special to The Dispatch
And what about those schools, who drinks the most milk?
“That’s a toss up between Columbus Middle School and Caledonia Elementary,” Bailey said.
Milk delivery has a unique place in American memory. From Norman Rockwell paintings, to Broadway musicals (“The Fiddler on the Roof”) and Hollywood films (“The Milkman,”) the classic image of a man in white coveralls bringing metal jugs or individual glass bottles of milk to suburban homes is indelible. Up until the first half of the 19th century, most rural families had their own cows and therefore their own supply of fresh milk and dairy products. But, as the country began to industrialize at the end of the Civil War, people living in increasingly urbanized environments no longer had room for cows or the time to tend to them. Dairy farms sprang up all over the country, and at-home milk delivery began.
At-home delivery remained the way most Americans got their milk until the 1950s, when pasteurization, the ubiquity of automobiles and the rise of grocery stores made the service expendable.
Still, the historical significance of the service he provides is not lost on Bailey.
“I’ve thought about it,” Bailey said. “I think I like it (better) now – I don’t think I would do as well then, walking from house to house, dropping everything off. But really, it’s the same, except I’m not going to houses.”
Philip Poe is sports editor.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 30 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
