By Taylor J. Hale
Staff Writer

STEVENS POINT – Portage County is gearing up to embrace Wisconsin’s farming culture at the 40th annual June Dairy Brunch and Open Farm on June 15.
The family-friendly event, hosted by the Portage County Dairy Committee, assists in growing knowledge of the state’s dairy and agricultural industry for kids of all ages.

“Nowadays a lot of young people are just so happy to get on a farm because we are getting fewer and fewer of them,” said Dairy Committee Chairperson Donna Altmann.

The dairy-driven event first started at the Holiday Inn as a simple “Dairy Bake-off” in 1978 but grew to an expansive, educational event by 1980.

“It was June 8 of 1978. It was a Dairy Bake-off,” Altmann said. “We started to want to represent the dairy farmers and not just the bake-off. So we started on the farm.”

The committee organized the first brunch at Roth Acres and has visited dozens of area farms since. This year’s event will take place at Front-Page Holsteins, owned by the Edelburg family. Patty and Gary Edelburg bought the Amherst Junction farm in 2008 from Dean and Dale Onan.

The brunch took place on the same property in the 1980s. “The farm used to be Onan’s Pinehill Farm, and we had the event there in 1987,” Altmann explained.

The day of dairy will feature a variety of activities, including: food, hay rides, face painting, kids’ games, and a special dairy comedy show with life-sized puppets.

The 40th annual June Dairy Brunch and Open Farm will be held at 1499 County Rd. A., Amherst Junction place on June 15 from 8 a.m. – noon. For more information, visit https://portage.extension.wisc.edu/uncategorized/june_dairy_breakfast.