Thousands reached through tours, virtual opportunities

HUMBIRD, Wis. — Pam Selz-Pralle believes every dairy producer has the responsibility to educate consumers on some level, sharing the story of the dairy industry and the nutritional value of the product they work hard to produce.

“Milk consumption starts at a young age,” Selz-Pralle said. “We need to reach out to these kids and create a connection with them early in life before other influences misdirect them away from dairy. I want them to be able to think back and remember this day, when they learned how important it is to drink milk, and how well dairy farmers care for their cows.”

Selz-Pralle and her husband, Scott Pralle, milk 450 registered Holstein cows on their Clark County dairy farm near Humbird. Their three adult children — Ryan, Jessica (Trimner) and Nicole — all continue to be involved in the family’s farm, while working in other areas of the dairy industry.

Selz-Pralle found her niche in school tours, sharing the story of both the dairy industry and her family’s own farm.

“The first school groups I had here were my kids’ preschool and kindergarten classes,” Selz-Pralle said. “By the time our youngest daughter was in fourth grade, the teachers were asking me to host tours that worked with the Wisconsin agriculture unit that is part of the fourth-grade curriculum in the state.”

After 27 years, Selz-Pralle is hanging up her school tour hostess hat, after sharing her story with thousands of students through in-person farm tours and virtually through Discover Dairy’s Adopt-A-Cow program.

There have been over 3,000 students visit the farm and more than 34,000 who connected with the farm virtually Selz-Pralle said. Participating in the virtual program prompted several districts to start visiting annually.

Selz-Pralle said she regularly has to turn away schools because of sheer volume.

“I could do this four days a week all spring and still have to turn schools away,” Selz-Pralle said. “I have schools that are two hours away that have asked to come.”

Selz-Pralle said hosting tours can be as simple or as elaborate as a farmer wishes to make them, but she believes the value is in creating a connection and conveying information in a memorable and understandable format.

“I try to really make things at the kids’ comprehension level,” Selz-Pralle said. “My goal is to make it relatable to their everyday lives, so they can really make that connection.”

Students visiting Selz-Pralle Dairy have the opportunity to visit the calf barn, parlor and freestall barns, where they see cows up close and personal, sometimes for the first time in their lives.

Besides introducing students to the cows and their living environments, over the years, Selz-Pralle has developed a series of stations showing them how dairy touches many more aspects of their life than just their bowl of cereal.

“We have stations that talk about what a cow eats, facts about the cows, tasting dairy products and all of the things that can be made from cows in a recycling station,” Selz-Pralle said. “They really enjoy the stations and learn a lot, things like the fact that we can make electricity from cow poop, or that their footballs are made from a cowhide or that the stuff that puts fires out in fire extinguishers comes from a cow.”

Driving home the role dairy products play in a healthy diet is another mainstay of Selz-Pralle’s tours.

“Do you know that only three out of every 10 boys and two out of every 10 girls drink enough milk and get enough protein in their diets?” Selz-Pralle said. “When kids don’t get enough protein, they can’t stay awake in school, they can’t concentrate, and they can’t learn. Milk is a great way to get the protein kids like you need.”

In the parlor, Selz-Pralle said she stresses the care farmers and processors take to ensure dairy products are safe and healthy.

“No human hands ever touch the milk,” Selz-Pralle said. “We want to be 100% confident that it is clean and free of bacteria. Milk comes out of a cow at 101 degrees. We cool it down to 40 degrees in less than one minute. That keeps the milk super fresh for you.”

Selz-Pralle demonstrates that milking is gentle on the cows by having each student place a finger inside a milking unit to feel the suction and pulsation.

“The cows come into the parlor and we get them ready to milk — we clean their udders and sanitize their teats to keep the milk coming out clean,” Selz-Pralle said. “This computer tells us how much milk she gives each milking.”

In the freestall barn, Nicole Pralle told tours about the cows’ home and shared the cows’ routine.

“They love to eat the same thing at the same place, they like to lay in the same bed every day,” Pralle said. “They like to be milked at the same times every day, they even go into the parlor in almost the same order every time. Would you like to do the same things every day? Probably not — but the cows do.”

A day full of learning is broken up with fun activities meant to cement the knowledge learned. Selz-Pralle has developed a Farmers Olympics course that lets students burn off energy while getting a glimpse at jobs a farmer might do throughout a day.

Before loading the students back on the buses with an ice cream treat in hand, Selz-Pralle teaches them the catchy rhythm and repetitious phrasing of the “Wisconsin Milk Song,” which encourages students to choose a healthy glass of Wisconsin milk, rather than drinking sugar-laden beverages.

As her time hosting school tours is winding down, Selz-Pralle wants to help others find their voice to share the dairy story. She is helping train members of the Alma Center-Humbird-Merrillan FFA to create an engaging agricultural experience for younger students at their school in the future.

Selz-Pralle said if anyone is interested in hosting a similar interactive-style tour on their farm, they can contact her. She has detailed templates for stations and talking points she can share, along with hands-on help.

“We all need to find that voice and teach the truth about our dairy industry,” Selz-Pralle said. If we don’t share that story ourselves, someone else will and we might not like their narrative.”