This week Brown County prepares for the long-awaited Breakfast on the Farm at Collins Dairy in Greenleaf (3489 Hill Road, Greenleaf, WI 54126). Due to the pandemic, the annual dairy breakfast had been postponed last summer and pushed to 2021. The breakfast will take place June 6th starting at 8 am and going until noon, with a church service held prior to the event at 7 am across the road from the farm.
Kevin and Lisa Collins bought the farm back in 1993 with 40 cows and 200 acres of land, which has grown into 1,400 dairy cattle and 3,000 acres. Both Kevin and Lisa grew up on dairy farms and ended up meeting through Short Course at UW-Madison and were married a year later. The couple raised five children while continuing to grow the farm to what it is today. At the beginning of this year, the couple’s daughter Brittany VanderKinter became a partner in the dairy as well as Luke Hopkins.
Kevin explained that the biggest reason they wanted to host the breakfast was to share what true farming is about. Large or small, dairy farmers work hard to keep food on our tables every day. “Big or small, you have all of the same challenges. I think everybody takes pride in farming,” Kevin said. He mentioned that he hopes people understand how much dairy farmers care for their animals and what it takes to produce a gallon of milk or to make a pound of cheese.
He said that one misconception is that larger dairy farms are now “factory farms” and have gotten away from the family aspect of it. “I think people think factory farming because it’s huge, but most farms are owned by families, even though they’ve grown,” he went on to say, “the days of carrying buckets and using a lot of hand labor has changed, so in order to stay profitable you needed to grow.”
This year’s breakfast is a little bit different than in previous years. Due to the uncertainty of where things would be at with the pandemic by the time June Dairy Month came around, the decision was made back in the spring to make the event a drive-thru. What will happen is vehicles will be able to tune in to a specific radio station to hear information about the farm while driving through the dairy and then proceed to get their breakfast. After being handed the breakfast, attendees are welcome to go across the road and participate in various activities outside of the vehicle. For example, there will be baby pigs, a calf, a straw maze, and experts ready to answer any agriculture questions you may have.
This way if people aren’t comfortable being in a crowd yet, they do have the option to stay socially distanced in their vehicles also. The breakfast will also have a tram for bikers so they’re able to take the full tour also. Once again, the Brown County Breakfast on the Farm will be hosted by Collins Dairy in Greenleaf, this Sunday (June 6th), from 8 am to noon with a church service held at 7 am. You can listen to the full interview with Kevin on our podcast page. You can see the full lineup of dairy events for June here.
Event address: 3489 Hill Road, Greenleaf, WI 54126
