Tours
Bus Tours - Wednesday 7:30 AM - Noon
1. Growing Power: Leading approaches toward Urban and Rural Sustainable Agriculture - A day of hands-on Training
An all-day visit to Growing Power, a highly successful community food center, will start with a tour of the grounds and familiarize visits with more than 50 active sustainable ag projects. Two meals will be served featuring local co-op growers. Hands-on breakout sessions include: Community Project Design, Living Biological Worm Systems, Aquaculture/Aquaponics, Marketing Solutions, Beekeeping, Sustainable Animal Care. Be sure to dress for a day of phsical activity at this unique Community Food Center in urban Milwaukee. Visit www.growingpower.org for more information.
* Extra $100 charge
2. Michael Fields Agricultural Institute: A Learning Center for Positive Change
Take the Learning Center tour featuring commercial organic vegetable production and value-added small grains at this public, nonprofit research/education facility. Visit www.michaelfieldsaginst.org for more information.
3. Brightonwoods Orchard/AEppelTreow Winery: What Johnny Appleseed Never Knew
Both these businesses have one thing in common -– apples. Brightonwoods produces them and AeppelTreow Winery features apples in some of their specialty wines. Brightonwoods Orchards was established in 1950 and has a specific focus on heirloom apples while AeppelTreow Winery started in 2002. You’ll learn about the niche markets and strategies that have led to their success as well as hear about the Wisconsin Eco Apple Project, which works with apple growers throughout the state to promote Integrated Pest Management and reduce pesticide use. On the trip back, a quick stop will be made at AppleHoller, an agritourism destination featuring an apple orchard, restaurant, theater, bakery and petting area. Visit www.aeppeltreow.com for more information.
4. Lake Geneva Country Meats/River Valley Mushroom Farm: Value Added Marketing to Increase Profitability
Lake Geneva Country Meats is a local meat processor and retail outlet. They purchase locally raised livestock and are famous for their unique Wisconsin brats, including portabella swiss, pepper cheddar, and cherry varieties. They process Wisconsin lamb from Pinn-Oak Ridge Farm for distribution in Wisconsin and Illinois. Steve and Darlene Pinnow began direct marketing in 1998 and established their own brand to market lamb raised to their specifications. Pinn-Oak Ridge lambs are pasture lambed, rotationally grazed until final finishing and are fed no antibiotics. River Valley Ranch is the oldest mushroom farm in Wisconsin and creates mushroom specialty foods in their kitchen. They also produce a variety of other vegetables. Visit www.lakegenevacountrymeats.com and www.rivervalleykitchens.com for more information.
5. Fondy’s Farmers/Milwaukee Public: Market Magic! A Look at Contrasting Markets
This tour will start with a visit to Fondy Farmers’ Market, which fills a very important niche in the neighborhood -– it replaces the non-existent grocery store. This six-day-a-week market lacks bells and whistles, but you will see a truly community based project based on the work of primarily Hmong farmers supplying the market’s produce. This tour will then move to the Milwaukee Public Market, an indoor market, which features 20 specialty food vendors, including coffee, wine, meat, fish, cheeses as well as ethnic foods. After hearing about the history of the market, participants will be let loose to explore the sights and smells of the market. Visit www.fondymarket.org and www.milwaukeepublicmarket.org for more information.
6. Fountain Prairie Inn & Farms/JenEhr Farm: Marketing to Restaurants
This tour will visit two farmers who have transformed their operations to capture the value added dollar in several ways. John and Dorothy Priske have taken their traditional cash grain farm and converted it to a pasture-based, direct-market beef operation with Scottish Highland cattle. They’ve restored their 1900 era home and have opened it as a bed and breakfast. JenEhr Farm raises over 6000 pastured meat chickens per year and markets them, as well as strawberries and vegetables through their CSA. Both farms sell their products to restaurants. Visit www.fountainprairie.com and www.wisconsingrown.com for more information.
7. Crawfish River Watershed: Conservation Security Program
The Conservation Security Program represents a brand-new approach to federal farm programs. With payments based on already-in-place conservation practices, the program rewards the farmers who have taken the initiative to ‘do the right thing’ on their own. This tour will visit 2 or 3 very different types of operations and explore the successes and challenges of this promising program.
8. Troy and F.H. King Gardens: Farming in the Community
The 1/2 acre University of Wisconsin-Madison Student Organic Garden is entirely student-run by F.H. King Students of Sustainable Agriculture, an organization focused on education, both for participating students and for the community. Troy Gardens is an urban development incorporating affordable housing with agriculture and open space. The project includes an organic CSA farm, 340 community garden plots, and experiential learning opportunities for a diverse group of urban youth. Visit www.troygardens.org and www.fhkingstudentfarm.com for more information.
9. Standard Processing: Whole Foods Supplements Hauser Farm: Grass Fed Livestock
Standard Process is a certified organic farm and whole food supplements business that uses a variety of ingredients directly from their farm in the supplements they produce. Visit www.standardprocess.com for more information. Prairie Hill Farms is a small, family-owned operation dedicated to clean food and sustainable agriculture. They feature 100% grass-fed beef that is delicious and healthy. The farm features Murray Grey cattle that are known for their ability to finish on grass and excel in both marbling and tenderness. Prairie Hill Farms takes pride in providing high-quality meats and works hard to do what is best for the environment, the cattle and the consumer.
10. Kikkoman/Rushing Waters Aquaculture: The Big Business Approach
Kikkoman, the world's largest soy sauce manufacturer produces its "all-natural" product to exacting standards at manufacturing plants throughout the world. Their naturally brewed "shoyu" soy sauce is produced by the action of special strains of microorganisms on soybeans and wheat during fermentation. Kikkoman offers a fascinating tour of a plant that provides a huge boost to the local economy and plays an important role as watchdog for local groundwater quality. Rushing Waters Fisheries, Wisconsin's largest trout farm, lies nestled on 80 acres of pristine forest and valleys. Artesian springs feed pure clean water through the farm's 56 ponds and raceways. Organic farm practices (no chemicals or antibiotics) produce the highest quality trout on the market. Rushing Waters also produces award-winning smoked fish, trout and salmon, using a recipe of herbs, fruits, sugars and spices in special ovens fired with northern hardwoods. Its delicious aroma and flavor come without chemicals or artificial preservatives. Visit www.kikkoman.com and www.rushingwaters.net for more information.
11. Franks Feed/Wisconsin Organic: Marketing Alliance
Currently, there is a shortage of organic grains and oil seeds. On this tour, we'll visit an organic cash grain producer and learn about local, state level and regional marketing efforts. Frank's Feedmill is a certified organic mill in Jefferson, WI, that helps link buyers and sellers of organic grains. The Wisconsin Organic Marketing Alliance seeks to do the same thing at the state level, while the Organic Farmer's Agency for Relationship Marketing (OFARM) is working at the regional level to achieve this goal. We will hear from all three of these organizations during this tour.
12. Crave Bros/Miller Dairy: Value Added Dairy
Handcrafted cheeses make the most of homegrown, pampered Holsteins at Crave’s family dairy. The multi-generation Miller family has a 350-cow organic dairy employing one of the few rotary milking parlors in Wisconsin . Visit www.cravecheese.com for more information.
13. Krusen Grass Farms/Zinnicker Farm: MIRG Organic and BioDynamic Farming
Krusen Grass farm is a seasonal, organic, grass based dairy in operation since 1990. The Krusenbaums sell milk to Organic Valley and sell grass finished beef. Altfrid and Sue were named Agri-Communicators of the year by the board of Grassworks for their roles as grazing ambassadors in Wisconsin. They emphasize the sustainability of management intensive rotational grazing economically, environmentally, and in providing the quality of life they value.
