For Hub City Times

MARSHFIELD — The Marshfield Area Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MACCI) and the Wood County Farm Technology Days will be hosting a bus tour of Kewaunee County agriculture on Sept. 14.

The groups will be touring two dairy farms and one vineyard.

The first tour stop, Kinnard Farms, is a family-owned dairy with 3,500 cows and 7,000 acres farmed. In 2012 the family received approval of the Environmental Assessment Plan from the DNR that allowed the dairy to grow to its present size. The permit has been challenged in court by Midwest Environmental Advocates and other groups. The Kinnards will explain the unique challenges they face about managing their dairy while facing aggressive litigation, high accountability, and public scrutiny.

The second tour stop, Ebert Dairy Enterprises, host of the 2017 Farm Technology Days, currently operates with 3,000 adult cows and 3,000 heifers. The farm includes 5,500 acres of cropland with 20 percent double-cropped each season, which allows them to plant alternative forages like sorghum, peas, and oats. The farm’s continuous land base allows the farmers to utilize roadways sparingly, and they recently began group calf feeding with auto calf feeders. Randy and Renee Ebert are the sixth generation of the family to live on the farm.

The tour will conclude at Parallel 44 Winery just as grapes are prepared to be harvested. Located in eastern Wisconsin with weather moderated by Lake Michigan, the vineyard’s location on the 44th parallel places it at the same latitude as several famous wine producing regions in Europe. The vineyard tour also includes wine tasting in the sampling room.

The bus will depart from Marshfield Mall at 7 a.m., arrives at the Rapids Mall in Wisconsin Rapids at 8 a.m., and then travels to Kewaunee County for the tour. The bus will arrive back at the Rapids Mall at 7:30 p.m. and the Marshfield Mall by 8:15 p.m.

Interested participants can register through MACCI by Sept. 1. The cost is $40 per person, which includes coach bus transportation, catered lunch at Kinnard Farms, and wine tasting and a tour at Parallel 44 Winery. For more information contact Matt Lippert at the Wood County Extension office at 715-421-8440.