Throughout the year, you’ll hear more than 140 Holsteins mooing in the Daluge Farm dairy barn — you’ll also hear delightful squeals as kids make ice cream and name calves.
Fifth generation on the family farm Erin Grawe (right), is the Ag Ambassador for the Ag Business Council of Rock County. She reaches elementary classrooms across the county teaching students about Wisconsin food, fiber and fuel. Both agriculture and non-ag organizations sponsor the program, recognizing that more generations are becoming more removed from the farm.
Grawe and her sister Megan Daluge (left) engage students by doing hands-on projects — making soybean lip balm or mint toothpaste for example — to teach kids about the products that come from Rock County. This past year, she used her family’s farm to do virtual tours with students via Zoom. With the virtual format, parents also attended, some even asking for repeat presentations.
When Grawe is not in the classroom, the farm becomes the classroom. The Daluge Farm hosts farm camps and tours in the summer for kids and their families.
The farm camp is when students come out for a couple hours every day for a full week. Grawe says it has diversified the market for the farm and will keep the dairy farm operating. In 2019, they hosted 14 kids per week. This summer, they hosted 20 kids per week, and have accumulated a waiting list.
