25th Annual Dunn County Dairy Promotion Breakfast to be held in Elk Mound June 2
The 25th Annual Dunn County Dairy Promotion Breakfast will be held on Saturday, June 2nd from 7 am to 11 am at Jenson Family Farms LLC, Jenson Family, E9859 Cty Rd M, Elk Mound, Wisconsin 54739. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the breakfast, attendees will be able to enjoy a variety of dairy products – from local cheese sampling to Culver’s of Menomonie custard sundae with all the toppings!
The annual dairy breakfast is hosted by a Dunn County dairy farmer each year and is coordinated by the Dunn County Dairy Promotion Committee. The cost of the dairy breakfast meal is $6 per person and children 5 and under are free. The meal includes all you can eat Dad’s Belgian Waffles, sausage, cheese curds, pudding snacks, ice cream, milk and coffee. Activities to be featured at the dairy breakfast include a bake sale, antique model T and tractor display, petting zoo, tractor-driven wagon tours of the farm, and door prizes will be given away.
The 2018 host family is Jenson Family Farms LLC, owners Michael Sr., Phyllis, Michael Jr., and Jenny Jenson. The Jenson’s roots go back to Gabriel and Anna Jenson who picked this Dunn County land and began the dairy in 1857 after emigrating from Norway. President Abraham Lincoln signed the deed to the property and they built a log cabin just north of the current home. Gabriel and Anna raised their family on the farm until 1927 when their son John O. Jenson took ownership of the farm. In 1939 at the age of 14, John’s son Waldemar quit school to run the farm when John became ill. In 1968, Waldemar and his wife Ardell purchased the farm and would start a family of their own. Waldemar and Ardell would raise five boys on the farm. In 1991, Michael Sr. and Phyllis officially purchased the farm and raised 3 sons. In 2003 Michael Jr and his wife Jenny (and their children Michael III and Kylee) purchased cattle of their own to add to the herd. In 2013 a legal partnership was formed to begin the transition from Sr. to Jr. When the legal aspects were taken care of and Jenson Family Farms LLC was officially born, a new freestall barn to house 120 cows was built and a complete manure system including a 2.25-million-gallon storage lagoon was constructed. In 2016 the family finally had the farm in position to achieve their ultimate goal, robotic milkers. More additions and remodels were done by hired contractors as well as family contractors and in late December 2017 the two Lely Astronaut A4 robots began to milk cows.
The Dunn County Dairy Promotion Committee was formed to give the public a better understanding of dairy farming and to allow the community to spend a few hours on a dairy farm. With dairy farming being one of the most important aspects of the Dunn County economic picture, the committee wishes to show the community what a modern dairy farm operation looks and feels like. With their attendance at the dairy breakfast, the committee hopes that community members will leave with a positive feeling about how important agriculture and dairy farming is to Dunn County.
Directions to the farm from Menomonie: Travel East on US Hwy 12. Continue onto Hwy 29 for 2.2 miles. Turn North (left) onto 970th St for 2 ½ miles. Turn East (right) onto County Road M for 1 mile and the host farm will be on the left hand side. Please follow signs for parking.
Directions to the farm from Colfax: Travel South on State Hwy 40 for 5 miles. Turn East (left) onto 690th Ave for 2 ½ miles. Turn North (left) onto County Road H for ½ a mile. Turn East (right) onto County Road M for ½ a mile and the host farm will be on the left hand side. Please follow signs for parking.