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| The 44th Dane Co Breakfast. 6/10/23 dwm |
Since returning to Wisconsin we've tried to get to the Breakfast on the Farm during June. It's sometimes called the Dairy Breakfast but with fewer dairy farms it makes sense to include operations that focus on crops or other types of livestock.
This year's farm was in the southwest corner of Dane County so it made sense to combine my Saturday ride with breakfast.
I chose to take the roads most traveled, leaving the back roads for another trip. From Verona I took Wisconsin 69 south to County PB to County A which took me to the farm.
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| View of farm and land from WI 69. 6/10/23 dwm |
For the first time there was no wind on the ride, or very little because I maintained the highest average speed this year, 16.2 mph on a 30-mile round trip. That felt good.
The roads leading to the Kahl family farm were smooth and lightly traveled while I was riding.
The breakfast lived up to its standard of excellence in both quantity and quality.
The cheesy scrambled eggs, pancakes, sausages, yogurt, cheese, milk, and ice cream makes for a fortifying meal.The ice cream came from the Sassy Cow Dairy, I enjoyed a bowl salted carmel.
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| Jones Farms' Pork Chop Jones greets guests. |
The breakfast is an opportunity for city folks like me to see a working farm up close and learn what agriculture means to Wisconsin.
Dozens of picnic tables in and out of the tents provided a lot of space to enjoy the outdoor setting and meet new people. I had a nice conversation with a couple attending the breakfast for the first time.
I met a member of the Kahl family when getting ready to leave, he was happy to see people biking to the event. As we talked, four more bikes were coming up the driveway.
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| Families arrive for breakfast. dwm |
According to information provided by the Dane County Dairy Promotion Committee, Gary and Suzanne Kahl bought this farm in 1959.
It was one of thousands of dairy farms in Wisconsin but as farming change so did they, selling off the last of their dairy herd in the 1990s. Since then they raise corn and beans on 300 acres.
Hosting a breakfast is a big deal for the farm, requiring preparation months in advance to be ready for a couple thousand visitors. To help, 200 volunteers turned out to make and serve the food, plus help guests find their way.
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| Pancake? Yes, he has gloves on. |
It's a good deal, $10 serves guests 12 and older. In addition to the ice cream, I had two cartons of chocolate milk, strawberry yogurt, 2 links of sausages, and two pancakes. It filled me up!
After spending an hour at the farm, it was time to head out. I put some take-home treats in the bike bag along with my camera and walked the bike down the gravel driveway to County Road A.
There was a steady stream of traffic heading to the farm as I made my way east on A trying to burn some of the calories I picked up at breakfast. The fuel helped me climb the rolling hills in western parts of Dane County.
I also took with me some fun food facts:
*The average American eats nearly 37 pounds of cheese and 14 pounds of yogurt annually.
*48% of all specialty cheeses made in America come from Wisconsin.
*It takes 21.2 pounds of whole milk to make a pound of butter, 13 pounds (1.5 gallons) to make a gallon of ice cream, and 10 pounds to make a pound of cheese.
Next year's Breakfast on the Farm in Dane County is already scheduled for June 8, 2024.
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| The sun peeks through a spinning windmill on the Kahl farm. All photos 6/10/2023 dwm |
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