October 25, 2019
Like many others, dairy farming is a cherished way of life for the Kuehnert family in northern Indiana. Caring for their 360 head of registered Holsteins, they have a passion for milk production as well as connecting with consumers. They welcome thousands of guests to their annual Kuehnert Dairy Farm Fall Festival near Ft. Wayne, Indiana.
“Our Fall Festival is a seven-week event where we open the farm up to the public, and we’ve been doing it for six years now. In the first year, we were just under 10,000 people. Last year, we were over 26,000 people. So we continue to grow,” stated Sarah Kuehnert.
“We welcome the public to the festival, show them our dairy farm, show them what we do on a daily basis – how we take care of the cows, and just provide a unique experience for families to see where their milk comes from,” replied Nathan Kuehnert, part of the sixth generation on the family farm.
An event of this scale is truly a team effort, and requires year-around attention to detail and keeping facilities in top shape. The opportunity to tell a positive story of dairy farming is not a responsibility the family takes lightly.
“It’s absolutely a lot of fun; most definitely it is a lot of work, as well. We have to make sure we are prim and proper, because we are going to have 26,000 sets of eyes on our farm. We want to make sure we are giving people the correct image of who we truly are and what we do – and why we do that,” said Sarah Kuehnert.
For others considering hosting an event at their farm, Sarah advises them to invite a small group of friends or family members not as familiar with dairy farming and ask them their honest feedback on what they see. Encourage them to ask questions and help you prepare thoughtful responses to consumer questions about milk production.
“We hope that people have a little different appreciation for milk, what it takes to produce it, and the amount of steps we take to make sure it is clean and pure,” said Nathan. “We want people to see that.”
And most of all, it’s important to create opportunities where families can enjoy time together. Sarah explained, “One of our main goals is, – yes, we want to educate, we want to share our story, we want to build a relationship – but all of that tying together is that we want you to create your own memories, with your family, here on this farm.”