This Sunday, June 13th, Alsteen Farms LLC in Lena will be hosting the 2021 Oconto County Breakfast on the Farm, which they also hosted in 2009. The farm will be doing self-guided tours of the operation with plenty of people along the way in case of questions. The day kicks off with Sunday Mass at seven in the morning and the breakfast to follow with the farm being open until 1 pm.
Carolyn, the daughter of Mike and Pam Alsteen explained that her grandparents Harvey and Marian Alsteen bought the farm in 1959, but it was established in 1900. After that, Mike and Pam made the decision to buy the farm from Mike’s parents in 1993. The couple started off with 85 cows and have grown to what the dairy is today with 520 cows and working 2,000 acres. “I enjoy watching all of the crops and cows grow to see the end result,” Carolyn said.
She explained that the plan was for the family to host the breakfast in 2020, but due to the pandemic, they had to cancel and wait until this year. She admits that she’s the one who volunteered the farm to host both years and jokes that her parents question why she made that decision. All jokes aside, she explained how much they really did want to do it. “In the end, it’s definitely worth it. We enjoy opening our farm up to the community and to others who maybe don’t know what’s going on in the ag world.” Carolyn said that the main goal is to show the public what farms are all about and how much care and hard work go into a dairy farm. For example, the cow’s pens are cleaned three times per day, they have sprinklers to keep them cool, and the animals get fresh bedding frequently.
She especially wanted to clear one thing up about milking cows for those who may not have ever been on a dairy farm before. “I think one is that they think cows are milked 24/7, always hooked up to a milker and that is definitely not the case.” She explained that the family milks three times a day, but it only takes a cow about eight minutes to be milked each time, so about 24 minutes out of their day they’re being milked.
Walking around the dairy Carolyn also mentioned how she knows most of the cows, she said it’s just like how a teacher knows all of her students. That right there shows how much care is put into providing for these animals every day.
You can listen to the full interview with Carolyn Alsteen on our podcast page.
The dairy will open its doors to the public Sunday, June 13th, from 8 am – 1 pm with a church service at 7 am.
Alsteen Farms LLC: 9399 Belgian Road, Lena, WI 54139
