WATERTOWN, Wis. — Ashley Schlender and Olivia Peter are combining talents to educate and entertain members of their community. With a dose of creativity and a dash of imagination, the pair is zeroing in on camps and crafts, welcoming children through adults to Never Rest Dairy LLC.
“We’re in ag, we love ag, but sometimes ag can be hard,” Schlender said. “There’s a lot of volatility. This is something positive to focus on, and it’s neat to see the farm through other people’s eyes.”
Peter agreed.
“This helps us share the fun aspects of farming,” she said. “It reminds us of those aspects and allows us to share it with the community.”
Schlender and her husband, Troy, and their sons, Trent and Duke, milk between 230-240 cows with four DeLaval robots and farm 365 acres near Watertown while also operating a custom harvesting business. Peter is the herd manager and has been part of the team for over five years.
Looking for ways to diversify is a constant at Never Rest Dairy. After attending a University of Wisconsin-Extension women’s conference a year ago and listening to speakers talk about diversification, Schlender and Peter put their heads together and brainstormed possibilities.
“We came back with lots of ideas,” Schlender said.
It did not take long to put their ideas into action. Last summer, Never Rest Dairy offered its first farm camps. The one-day camp held from 8 a.m. — 2 p.m. provided an opportunity to show kids where food comes from, learn the daily operations of a dairy, play games and make food, such as ice cream.
“I was super pleased with the first camp we had,” Schlender said. “It was great.”
The community got behind their endeavor, and the farm received support in the form of sponsorships.
“We had significant support from area businesses, including those we work with day in and day out,” Schlender said. “We need to educate youth. It’s so important. And hopefully, the kids go back and teach their parents too.”
The camp is targeted at children in third to fifth grade and designed to accommodate 15 kids.
“This is a robotic dairy, which is interesting for them to see,” Peter said. “I think robots are going to pull a slightly different crowd. It’s a little niche we have for our farm camp.”
One of the camp events is the Farmer for a Day Relay in which each camper pretends to milk a cow, water a calf and cover a pretend bunker.
“Everyone loves the calves,” Peter said. “We try to let them feed a calf and see what we do on a daily basis. We harvest our own crops, so we also have equipment for the kids to climb on, and we let them honk the horn — they love that.”
Campers go home with a goody bag that includes recipes for making butter and ice cream and a trail mix labeled “TMR mix.” Part of the camp involves showing kids the different ingredients in a total mixed ration and explaining how feed is measured.
Schlender and Peter are looking to expand camp offerings next year. A family farm camp that allows parents to stay and learn with their children is an addition they would like to make.
“A lot of parents said they were interested in staying,” Peter said.
Last summer, they hosted two camps in July and August with some of the same kids attending both camps. Schlender and Peter also worked in partnership with their local 4-H and did a bonus half-day Cloverbud camp for younger kids in kindergarten to second grade.
“We try to do different things at each camp so if someone wants to return, there will be new things to do,” Peter said.
Camp headquarters are located in a meeting and event space upstairs in the robot barn. Kids eat lunch there but spend most of their time doing activities around the farm.
“The kids like taking turns looking out the viewing window,” Peter said. “It’s very popular. It’s fun to see a bird’s-eye view of the cows.”
This year, all camps were held during the week, but next year, Schlender and Peter would like to host one camp on a weekend day as well. They are hoping to double the number of camps held in 2025 and offer a total of four or five.
Schlender said they advertise on Facebook and have found social media and word of mouth to be the best promoters of their camps. Kids traveled from up to an hour away to attend camp, and there was also a child in attendance who was visiting from Florida.
In addition to farm camp, Schlender and Peter also started Cows and Crafts. These on-farm workshops are focused on craft projects, such as making greeting cards. Schlender held her first card making workshop last November where attendees made truck-themed and coffee-themed cards using stamping products.
“I offer the class and a simple meal,” Schlender said. “I’ve done these classes for a while out of my house, but it’s hard because there’s no separate space. This has been great having a setup in the barn.”
Schlender’s next workshop is scheduled for Jan. 25 where the focus will be on making greeting cards that feature cows. In the future, Schlender hopes to offer other workshops for hat burning and rustic sign making.
“Hat burning is super popular, and I’m working on leads for having guest people host workshops here,” she said.
Schlender would also like to rent the space for parties.
“We hosted a kid’s birthday party here,” she said. “I led a craft project, and they toured the farm. I also have a bachelorette party idea to do a craft, drink wine and see the cows.”
Schlender said the craft classes and camps are about exposure and getting people on a farm.
“It’s nice to know we’re having an impact in the community,” she said. “This is some-what financially driven, but it will take time to build. Meanwhile, we’re creating steppingstones for profitability in the future.”
Schlender’s husband has ideas too and would like to open an on-farm store this year to sell beef and pork. Furthermore, Schlender and Peter would like to host more on-farm events, such as “Cookies and Cows” at Christmastime. The ladies envision inviting families to decorate sugar cookies and take pictures with the cows.
“I want to host activities that engage the whole family,” Schlender said.
Farm and fun collide at Never Rest Dairy where the team continually looks to add value to their operation as they share it with others.
“We are proud of what we accomplished in one year,” Schlender said.
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