Green County 2020 Guide

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ON THE FARM – WITH DAN & ASHLEY WEGMUELLER Everyone get enough to eat today?

THE DAIRY at the

conveyor belt of misinformation about farming is any indication, probably a lot of those people have the wrong impression about what happens, and more importantly what is happening, on the very farms that provide them with their food. So, we decided to invite them over. In September of 2018, Ashley and I opened the first dairy farmstay experience in Green County, at a time when all of agriculture was experiencing breakeven or below pricing. It’s no joke - our farm’s breakeven point has nearly doubled, to $18 milk. Wisconsin set records for the number of dairy farms it lost, and farmers began killing themselves at the same atrocious rate as military combat veterans. In 2018, Ashley and I sold 90 acres off the farm in order to restructure debt just so that we could stay in business. Almost immediately, the farmstay concept began to receive guests. The guests came to support agriculture from all over. Many came from Chicago, but The Dairy has hosted groups from New York, New Jersey, California, Washington D.C., Great Britain, Switzerland, Ecuador, India, Australia, and Rwanda. The guests came from all over, and of all ages. They came to see cows on grass. They came to see cows being milked. They came so that they could feed a baby calf, bond with a horse, scratch a donkey, or just enjoy the peace, tranquility, sustainability, and hum of consistent productivity that defines my profession. They asked questions. They learned about farming. Some of the kids played ball in the front yard and built forts in the pine trees - despite our excellent Wi-Fi. They came to the farm to connect.

Here’s why what is happening in the farming world matters: I began to farm in earnest when I was just out of college. At that point, my dad and I worked together as a team. We even looked at expanding the herd and building a freestall and brand-spanking new parlor. After all, that’s what you did when a son came back to the farm – you leverage and therefore risk what you’ve built so that you can produce more. That’s what you do. That’s what everyone does. We nearly did exactly that, and for the princely sum of one million dollars. I decided not to expand. I decided to not start my career one million dollars in the hole. Instead, Dad and I spent a measly $30,000 renovating and updating the existing barn. Our improvement, although not industry-standard, paid for itself within a year. I kept the herd at 50 or so head. I was in the business of milking cows, and my breakeven point was $10 milk. I could afford to fly. Dad passed suddenly in early 2014. In 2016, my wife Ashley and I purchased the farm from my mother, making us the fourth- generation owners of my family’s 440-acre, grass-based Brown Swiss dairy farm. Then, in early 2017, a double-whammy – my mother unexpectedly passed, and it became apparent that economic times were about to get tough. Dairy farming was about to take a massive hit. In April of 2017, Ashley and I decided to take our farm in a different direction. Statistically speaking, some 98 percent of Americans, by profession, do not farm. And if the never-ending

Experience life on an active 4th-generation Brown Swiss dairy farm located in the rolling hills of Green County! Feed a baby calf, milk a cow, bond with a horse, or just enjoy the relaxing and peaceful serenity of rural Wisconsin farm life.

FARM STAY DETAILS: • 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, sleeps up to 11 - perfect

for families or groups • Located less than ve miles fromMonroe, WI

FOLLOWUS! Wegmueller Dairy Farm @wegmueller_dairy farmforthought.org

https://airbnb.com/h/the-dairy-farm-stay-in-cheese-country

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