Dairy Breakfast attracts thousands to Hy-View Farms
A variety of animals were on display at the farm during the dairy breakfast, both from the hosting farm and show animals raised by community members.
Tanner Kilburg, an agriculture business student at UW-River Falls, helped entertain visitors by dressing up in a cow costume for the dairy breakfast event on June 7 at Hy-View Farms near Eastman.
Crawford County Dairy Princess Ava Forde
During the early hours of June 7, the Hy-View Farms near Eastman welcomed thousands of visitors for the 43rd annual Crawford County Dairy Breakfast, which served pancakes, cheeses, and sausages — among many other items — from 6 to 10 a.m.
Hy-View, which is owned by Steve and Terri Achenbach, is a dairy and crop farm with nearly 250 cattle that has hosted the event seven times, starting in 1985.
“It’s nice to have, and it’s nice for people to see it,” said Matt Achenbach. “I’ll keep having it as many times as I can so it stays on the farm. Just so people can see where their food comes from.”
Matt operates Hy-View Farms along with his family. He said that the breakfast is one way for people to figuratively see how the sausage is made.
“I just like getting all of the people that I can to the farm so that they can see what goes on, where their food is derived from, and where their dairy is derived from. This is obviously the first step. There are many steps in between to get it from the farm to the table,” he said.
The opportunity to educate the community is important for farmers, according to Lonnie Achenbach, who grew up on the Hy-View Farms.
“Do you know how many people don’t know what a cow looks like?” he said. “The breakfast is to see what is going on and what [dairy farming] is really about. They can see the calves, go out and see the milkers and see what’s going on. Maybe they’ll appreciate where their food comes from.”
Vance Haugen, who formerly worked with the UW-Extension as an agricultural agent, suggested that the breakfast originally started as a thank you from farmers to the larger community.
“It’s the idea of increasing awareness and kind of a thank you,” he said. “You want people to be aware of the dairy farm, and it’s a way to get people to rub shoulders with one another.”
After breakfast, visitors also had an early dessert of ice cream or frozen custard courtesy of Udder Brothers and Culver’s.
Local figures chipped in to help at the event, including Michael Higgins, Jr. (Prairie du Chien Board of Education), Nick Crary (Prairie du Chien Common Council) and Owen DuCharme (Crawford County Board of Supervisors).
Other attendees included Jessica LaMere with the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office and the department’s new support dog, Apollo, as well as Travis Tranel (R-Cuba City), who represents Crawford County in the Wisconsin State Assembly.
The Master Gardeners, Crawford County 4-H, and members from the local FFA chapters manned informational booths. Events like the breakfast provide an avenue for children to get acquainted with the agriculture industry that employs and enriches the lives of so many people in their local area.
“I think it promotes the dairy industry, brings people together and also promotes 4-H. It gets young people out to interact with community members and talk about the importance of dairy for the agricultural world and for their diets,” said Amy Mitchell, UW-Extension 4-H youth development educator.
“It’s important to get out into your community and show the support that we have for agriculture. FFA is deeply rooted in agriculture, so supporting the dairy breakfasts and other things in your community definitely helps build that support and get your name out,” added Cole Chapman, Prairie du Chien School District FFA advisor.
Chapman also said that these events give kids who did not grow up on a farm the opportunity to pursue new interests.
“Looking at our FFA chapter, a lot of our kids do not come from a typical farming background,” he said. “We have a handful of families that do raise and show animals, but a lot of our kids, before they got into high school, hadn’t really worked or been around animals much. Maybe dogs and cats, but once we get into livestock, that’s where they haven’t necessarily been around a lot.”
“It’s nice to see the little kids out wandering around early in the morning,” said Crawford County Supervisor Tom Cornford. “It’s a great event.”
The 43rd Crawford County Dairy Breakfast was hosted by the Crawford County Dairy Promoters, Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin and the Achenbachs.
