The farm has been passed down for five generations. Ken Feltz never wanted to pressure his kids to become dairy farmers because he wanted to make sure they had jobs they were passionate about.
«I never held out hope that any of them would come back because I didn’t want to be disappointed,» Ken Feltz said.
Four of his five kids decided their passion was the dairy industry and now work on the family farm. It’s their participation that keeps him motivated.
«If you didn’t have kids to pass it down to, you wouldn’t work as hard, you wouldn’t do the things you did,» Ken Feltz said.
Ken’s son Jared is proud to be a Wisconsin dairy farmer and wants to educate people about how vital the industry is to the local economy.
«I think it’s part of our job as dairy producers to show people what we do and be proud of what we do,» Jared Feltz said.
Jared Feltz sees the dairy industry as more of a collaborative community.
«We all rely on each other. We could make all kinds of milk, but if we didn’t have a place to go with it, you know, it would be for nothing,» Jared Feltz said.
From processors to packagers to the people designing logos, the dairy state’s success reaches far beyond the farm.
According to the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, the dairy industry employs almost 80,000 people in Wisconsin and contributes more than $43 billion to the state’s economy.
Ben Brancel the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection says that Wisconsin is selling a wider variety of dairy products than ever before. Brancel believes that has solidified Wisconsin’s title of «The Dairy State.»
Source: WSAW
Link: http://www.wsaw.com/content/news/Stevens-Point-farm–426610681.html
