June marches on, and another dairy breakfast is right around the corner.
Next Saturday, June 22, the Vernon County Dairy Breakfast will take place at the Goede Acres farm at S3787 Wire Hollow Rd., Viroqua, WI. The farm is owned by Joel and Jenny Goede. Goede Acres is in it’s fourth generation now, with Joel and Jenny Goede at the helm. They have four children, the eldest being Georgia, who is a junior in high school and serves as the 2023-24 Vernon County Dairy Princess.
Cashton Middle School social studies teacher Joshua Goede grew up on the farm and is the eldest brother of Joel. “It was a small family farm and a great way to grow up,” said Joshua. Goede Acres is a certified centennial farm, purchased in 1914 by Joel and Joshua’s great great grandfather. In 1999, a fire destroyed the barn which effectively ended milk production when patriach and third generation owner Lorn Goede decided to seek employment in town.
Goede Acres has been a part of Organic Valley since 2004, supplying eggs and pork. After a 20 year hiatus from dairy, The Goedes went back to milking cows in 2019. At first, they started with a herd of 60. Currently, they milk 110 cows – Jerseys and Holsteins. Their farm is still organic, which adds additional hurdles when dealing with cows.
“It is important for the farm to focus on the health and mastitis of their cows to prevent any sickness because some medicines are off the table due to the farm being organic,” said an article about Goede Acres from the Jersey Journal.
Goede Acres is located in Newton Valley, which is east of Genoa, and north of Hwy 56 and Romance.
Breakfast begins at 7 a.m. and will be served through 11 a.m. On the menu are pancakes, steak, eggs, sausage, cheese curds, cottage cheese, milk, juice, and coffee. The annual event will feature live music, kids activities, petting zoo, farm education, and a kids pedal pull.
There is free parking across the road from the farm.
The event is sponsored by Vernon County Dairy Promotions, with help from River City Ready Mix, Preston Dairy Equipment, NL Trucking, Organic Prairie, Driftless Provisions, CFS Specialties, Jason Fortney Trucking, MOSA, Westby Creamery, Kwik Trip, Compeer Financial, Organic Valley, Dairy Farms of Wisconsin, Vernon County Cattlemen’s Association, Nelson Agri-Center, and Chaseburg Co-op.
