Promotion, education, a bit of fun

THORP, Wis. — As dairy farmers, Paul and Sara Fischer take dairy promotion seriously. That is why they became involved with the Clark County Dairy Promotion Committee more than five years ago, overseeing dairy promotion efforts at the Clark County Fair.

“We wanted to be more involved with where our checkoff dollars go,” said Sara Fischer. “We wanted to help educate the consumer about how important dairy is for their dietsand how much the dairy industry means for our economy.”

The Fischers, along with their children, Matthew and Jacob, operate Henar Acres near Owen, where they milk 90 head of Holsteins and Jerseys.

The Clark County Dairy Promotion Committee’s largest effort takes place each year on the Saturday of the Clark County Fair in Neillsville. At that time, they announce the winners of their Saw Cow contest and host the Little Britches show. The two contests have been a mainstay of the fair for more than 30 years.

The Saw Cow contest allows youth groups to promote the dairy industry by turning a construction sawhorse into a cow using the theme provided by the committee each year. “Say yes to dairy!” served as this year’s theme.

“The theme is always dairy-related, to encourage more promotion,” Fischer said. “The kids do a great job with the cows; it’s always fun to see their creativity shine.”

The saw cows are displayed during the fair and judged by a panel on a variety of criteria, including adherence to the theme, construction and overall dairy promotion. The top cow — the grand marshal of the fair’s own cow parade — wins a prize of $75 for their club, runner-up recieves $50 and every club that creates a cow gets $35.

“It at least helps pay for their supplies,” Sara said. “Most of the clubs have a saw cow they use each year; they just retool her each year in line with our theme.”

This year nearly 50 budding dairy enthusiasts took their turn, leading a calf through the showring in front of a standing room-only crowd.

“We revamped the Little Britches show a few years ago,” Sara said. “At that point we were having around 30 kids participating. Now we are right around 50 each year.”

Registration for the event, limited to Clark County residents, is capped at 50 participants. Another recent change is dividing exhibitors into four age groups.
Each child is given a shirt that follows the same theme as the Saw Cow contest.

“By dividing them up, it allows for calves to be shared,” Sara said. “It was hard, too, for the youngest ones to be in the ring that long.”

Participation is usually evenly divided between families actively involved in dairy farming and those who borrow calves from family, friends or neighbors.

“It doesn’t matter to us if they live on a farm or not,” Sara said. “Our goal is to put dairy in the spotlight and make people actively think about the value it brings.”

The young leads people bring their calves into the ring and spend a minute or two chatting with the emcee. This year, Paul Fischer served in that capacity. Paul also volleys trivia questions to those in the crowd before the event begins and between groups of exhibitors, with prizes given out for correct answers.

“It’s quite entertaining, talking to all the kids,” Paul said. “You never know what they might say about their calves or the experience of doing Little Britches. It’s a positive, refreshing activity for the dairy community that people enjoy watching.”

After their time in the center of the ring, each exhibitor has their photo taken and gets a goody-bag as they leave. The goody-bag includes a photo frame to put their photo in, which is mailed to them after the fair.

The committee relies on promotion funds from Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin along with local sponsors to provide the shirts and goody-bags.

“We try to put some really neat dairy and cow-related items in them,” Sara said. “They always get coupons for two ice cream cones — one from the ice cream stand at the fair and one from the local A&W. This year their bags had butter erasers, cow squishies, a cow hat, a bottle of bubbles with cows on them and a coloring book from Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin. Every year the bags are a little different.”

In addition to the activities at the fair, the Clark County Dairy Promotion Committee donates cheese and milk for parades and events around the county. Sara, Matthew and Jacob work with the Owen-Withee School District’s summer school program, bringing calves to the school one day during the “Down on the Farm” class.

Like most volunteer efforts, Sara said they are always looking for more help to expand their promotions. Sara has been serving as the committee’s secretary while Matthew is the group’s president and Cheryl Schuette is the treasurer.

The Fischers believe that every contact they can make, promoting dairy products and educating the consumer, no matter how large or small the effort is, is valuable.

“We just want to help the general public understand a little more about the dairy industry, and about agriculture,” Sara said. “We want to show them how we care for our animals and land, and how hard we work to create a healthy and wholesome product. We want to make sure they know how important dairy farmers are to all the small communities that make up Clark County.”