Planting seeds of knowledge

GROVE CITY, Minn. — Fourteen years ago, the Jans family agreed to have the fifth-grade class from Willmar Public Schools come to their farm for a tour. Today, that partnership still stands, and many others have followed suit to tour CoJo Dairy.

“When we started with Willmar, most of the kids had never seen a cow before,” Joe Jans said. “It is important for us to teach them where their milk comes from, so they give us support as they grow up.”

Joe farms with his dad, Greg; nephews, Taylor Fester and Eric Fester; and cousin, Seth Beckstand. They milk 1,000 cows in a variety of colors in a double-18 parlor near Grove City. The Jans family and herdswoman, Janessa Thompson, have continued to host Willmar school as well as other school districts, senior care facilities and church groups over the years.

“For me, it’s because these kids are the next generation,” Greg said. “If they get this exposure early on, they can say, ‘Hey, I have been to a dairy farm that wasn’t such a bad place.’ We need to plant that seed early on.”

For each school tour, CoJo Dairy sets up three stations around the farm, then breaks the group into three sections to visit each stop on a rotation. All the students visit the machine shop, where Joe informs the group about cow health and what they eat. A second stop is in the parlor, where students can see the cows being milked and the bulk tanks holding the milk. The third station is a wagon ride on a people mover, through the freestall barn, by the sand separation pile and silage piles.

“It is important, especially for the young kids, to get them out here since most of them have never had a farm animal experience before,” Joe said.

The week of May 11, CoJo Dairy hosted just shy of 200 fifth graders from Willmar and Litchfield school districts.

The dairy also hosts students from Atwater Cosmos Grove City School each fall. Jacob Wandersee, fifth-grade teacher at Litchfield, was one of the teachers attending the dairy farm tour.

“It’s important to learn where your food comes from,” Wandersee said. “At first, we weren’t very sure if the kids were going to like it, but they loved it. The family does such a great job running the show.”

The Jans family said organizations and groups reached out to them about visiting their dairy and they do what they can to make it work. Organizations such as Willmar Chamber of Commerce and the Meeker County Farm Bureau help sponsor the event to provide busing and a goodie bag from Midwest Dairy with cow hats, bracelets and temporary tattoos, and the Jans family sponsors ice cream treats for all attendees to make the event memorable.

Joe said the reaction and questions from the children show that taking the time to host these events is worth it.

“Usually, the first group is pretty quiet, but by the second and third rotation, they have warmed up to being on the farm and are asking lots of questions,” he said. “You never know what kind of questions you are going to get. Some ask where the chocolate cows are and where does chocolate milk comes from; (they) are serious about it.”

After taking over from his dad, Joe is the third generation at the Meeker County farm, with his Fester nephews being the fourth to farm full time at the dairy.

“My parents started this farm in 1959, with two cows that were gifted to them by Mom’s parents when they got married,” Greg said.

In 1968, a 40-cow tiestall barn was built onsite, and by 1976, the family added 40 more cows. Greg took over the farm in 1995, and in doing so, built a double-6 parlor and increased the herd to 200 cows. In 2009, Joe joined the operation full time and the family once again increased the herd; this time, they also included sand-separating lanes. Since then, the family has steadily increased the herd size to incorporate more family members into the operation.

“Working with family is great,” Joe said. “We wouldn’t be where we are without everyone being so supportive.”