More than 1,000 people attended the seventh annual Breakfast on the Dairy Farm open farm event, held this year at VandenBroke Dairy east of Olds.
“It was 8:30 a.m. and all we could see was a long line of cars coming in off the road. It made all the hours of organizing worth it. About 1,200 visitors joined us this year,” said Miranda Verhoef, one of the organizers and local dairy farmer.
Breakfast on the Dairy Farm is an annual event to help celebrate Dairy Month.
During the June 22 event, visitors were served a complimentary breakfast and were given a behind-the-scenes look at what happens on a dairy farm and what goes into producing Canadian dairy products. Guests also get to meet and visit with farm families.
Events at the VandenBroke dairy included barn tours, cow milking, face painting and calf sketching, and an up-close look at a milk truck on site.
Twenty per cent of all Alberta’s dairy farmers reside in Central Alberta.
“It’s so important that people know more about where their food comes from,” she said. “In our community, your dairy comes from family farms like mine.
“We want to show people how much pride we take in what we do and how much we care about our animals and producing a quality product. We hope to continue to earn that trust from our community by continuing to host this event.”
More than 8,000 people have visited Breakfast on the Dairy Farm participating farms since 2013.
The program received the Alberta Farm Animal Care award for communication in 2018.
The award honours those that take an active role in effectively getting the message out about livestock issues and informing the public and agri-food industry about farm animal care in a factual and honest way, to build trust and credibility, she said.
