More than 1,300 eat breakfast at Stan and Bev Meyer's farm
By Janet Kubat Willette
jkubat@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 07/01/2010 9:13 AM
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EITZEN, Minn. — Houston County celebrated its 20th annual Breakfast on the Farm with pancakes, pedal tractors and princesses.
Stan and Bev Meyer hosted the event on their farmstead just north of Eitzen. Stan left an alfalfa field in front of the place just for parking.
The field was filled with vehicles most of the morning, with people lined up at 7 a.m. when Chris Cakes began serving pancakes. Sausage, yogurt, cheese, crackers and milk were also on the menu.
About 1,350 were served, said Karyl Diersen of the Houston County American Dairy Association, which organizes the event. The ADA gets help from 4-H clubs, the Houston County Cattlemen, FFAs and the banks, among others.
"We just have so many people who do so many great things for us," she said. "We can't do it without them."
The goal is for the breakfast to be both fun and educational, Diersen said.
Their goal is "to promote our good product and how hard we work and how good we take care of our animals," she said.
They want to attract both city and country folks. There's a dairy quiz bowl, clergy milking contest, bale throwing contest, kids pedal pull and princess and father obstacle course.
Members of the ADA set up at the Meyer's place on Thursday night and arrived at 5 a.m. Saturday to take care of last minute details.
The Meyers were busy doing chores then, rising early to begin milking their 115 cows at 3:45 a.m. so they'd be done with chores by the time guests began arriving. They usually milk around 5:15 a.m., Bev said.
They spruced up the farm in preparation for guests, but really had no idea what to expect.
"It was a lot of work, but I don't regret it at all," she said. "Today is our day to enjoy."
Her biggest worry was the weather, which cooperated during the breakfast that wrapped up around 11:30 a.m.
Bev said she agreed to host the breakfast because she wanted to show that a dairy farmer can still make a living milking cows is a stanchion barn. She and Stan have made several improvements to the farm they purchased in 1989, but not all at once. Updates have been gradual, Bev said.
Stan said he wanted to promote their industry and their product.
Looking around the crowd of people on their lawn, Bev said there were people she knew and people she didn't.
"There's a tremendous amount of people here who are strangers," she said. "To see this crowd is an accomplishment."
She credited the ADA for drawing the crowd and making sure everything went off without a hitch.
"They are totally organized," she said. "I am so impressed."
Among those in the crowd were four generations of the Beneke family. Two-year-old Emily Beneke pedaled a tractor on one side of the shed while her 86-year-old great-grandfather Walter enjoyed ice cream on the other side.
Walter sold the farm north of Eitzen to the Meyers in 1989. The Beneke family came to the breakfast because it was great-grandpa's farm. Emily saw all the animals, went on a hay ride and ate pancakes.
Walter and his wife, Margaret, bought the farm in 1957 and raised three children there. They milked cows and hired Stan to help. Later, they retired to Caledonia and sold the farm to Stan and Bev.
"He's doing a good job," Walter said. "I'm not ashamed to come back to this place at all. He's a helluva worker.