Wisconsin Dairy Oral History Project

The Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service, partnering with the Wisconsin Dairy History Project and Wisconsin Public Radio, undertook a oral interviewing project at Wisconsin Farm Technology Days, held July 12, 13, 2011 in Marshfield at the Seehafer Acres Dairy. The goal of the oral interview activities was to record stories of dairy farmers, and of related industry workers, including cheese makers, bankers, farm equipment salespeople, and others.

According to Edward Janus, the author of Creating Dairyland: How caring for cows saved our soil, created our landscape, brought prosperity to our state and still shapes our way of life in Wisconsin: “Generations of Wisconsin dairy farmers, cheesemakers, and others who shaped the dairy industry have come and gone. Sadly, for us, they left little record of their lives and today they are mostly forgotten. This is our loss.”

Interviews constructed by the Wisconsin Dairy History Project, and conducted by trained historians, recorded the voices of today’s generation of dairy men and women to ensure their stories will not be lost. “This is something we really must do if we are to remember who we are in the future,” said Janus.

According to Eric Giordano, Director of the Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service:

“Older farmers and others in the dairy industry are leaving us every day, and with their departure, Wisconsin is losing some of its most cherished and important history. Think of the stories we might hear in a rural coffee shop or the ones that children and grandchildren meant to record but did not. Many men and women at Farm Technology Days have stories to tell and we hope they will share them and preserve a key piece of Wisconsin history.”

This dairy story project is the first event in a long-term project to create a regional and statewide learning community that will enlist farmers, dairy people, retired people, students and historians to begin to tell the story of the Wisconsin dairy industry and its people.

Link to Farm Tech Days: http://www.wifarmtechnologydays.com/