This spring has been a busy one here at the farm and as we get further into our growing season, there are no signs of it slowing down. I thought I would share an update on some of the Spring 2022 activities here at Majestic Crossing.
Majestic Crossing Maple Syrup-
This spring was unique. Going into this year we were excited to try out our new setup. Last year we built out an old refrigerated semi-trailer into our syrup production facility. We added a reverse osmosis filter to help us process more sap and we were ready for amping up production. However, it was a slow season and in early March we really thought we would only have one boil for the season. Fortunately, the weather came around and it got cold again, so we ended up getting more sap. We ended the year with 30 gallons of finished syrup which was double what we’ve made in years past.
Dairy Challenge Tour Stop-
At the end of March we hosted the North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge. Teams from across the US and Canada came here to put their dairy farm management knowledge to the test. We welcomed the Dairy Challenge teams to tour our farm as part of their experience here in Wisconsin. Originally this tour was supposed to happen in 2020, but with COVID we had to wait, so we were excited to finally be able to host the group here at the farm.
Elementary School Tours-
In early May along with the Sheboygan County Farm Bureau, and many local volunteers we had almost 900 kindergartners visit the farm over 2 days. We had several stations with veterinarians, cow nutritionists, our local equipment dealership, and many other local ag businesses for the kids to visit and learn more about farming.
Then we did it all again the next week! Together with the Sheboygan Falls FFA members we welcomed over 450 1st and 2nd grade students from the Sheboygan Falls school district. This time the students toured our Highland site, where we have our milking parlor.
Spanish Class Tours-
Several months ago we introduced you all to Hector on our blog. Mrs. Syverson the Spanish teacher at Sheboygan Falls saw that post and reached out to us to set up a tour for her high school Spanish class students. She thought, and we agreed that a tour here was a great way to show that having Spanish skills was important in many different careers. Back in the 90’s I took 3 years of Spanish, pretty much because it was required. But now I see how important of a skill it is and it was great to host this class.
The tour was led by Pancho and Hector and the tour was in Spanish (except for the part about manure that I shared). As fun as it was to share how important having a second language was, my favorite part of the tour was when the students looked around our barn and decided that the cows were living the good life. They were really surprised to see that they had water beds and back scratchers. It is always a successful tour when the negative perceptions people have of farming are quickly blown out of the water by seeing the truth firsthand.
Planting and Crop Update-
We have been busy in the fields and thankfully the weather has mostly cooperated. We started planting just a little later than we usually would have but we are getting it done. We’ve got our manure hauled out already. And now we are starting to get set up for chopping hay.
Spring is always a busy season here at the farm, sometimes it’s difficult to take the time to open our farm to the public. However, we are glad to be back to having in-person tours and events. We know that if we don’t share the story of our farm and agriculture someone else will tell a different version. Sharing our farm and story is important to us and we are glad to host these groups and open opportunities to have more conversations about dairy farming and agriculture.