There’s a special energy the fall season brings to both farming and football. You can feel a buzz in the air that fills both the fields and the stands as farmers and players alike dig deep to push through a season driven by long hours, hard work, determination and commitment.
While it might seem like football players and dairy farmers come from different worlds, they share more similarities than what meets the eye. Just ask the crew at Virhada Holsteins LLC. in Mount Horeb, Wis., who recently hosted part of the Wisconsin Badgers football team to their dairy operation.
The Kickoff Moment
In early March, Virgil Haag, part-owner of Virhada Holsteins, along with his wife, Dawn, attended a Top Chef watch party, hosted by Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin. During the event, the duo had the opportunity to meet Travis Beckham, a previous tight end for the New York Giants and a former University of Wisconsin-Madison football player.
“Travis mentioned that he had never visited a dairy or had even been close to a cow before,” Dawn said. “So, we wanted to give him an opportunity to see what dairy farming was like.”
Plans were drawn up to have Beckham visit the family’s 70-year-old, 240-cow robotic operation in June. During his visit, Beckham got to see the robots in action and even experienced what it was like to milk a cow with a portable milker.
“He wanted the full experience,” said Karsen Bentley, Virgil and Dawn’s daughter and herd manager and part-owner of Virhada Holsteins. “He understood that farming isn’t easy and he really seemed to enjoy learning the ins and outs of what we do.”
After a full day of farming, Beckham, who now works as a manager of business development for Badger Sports Properties at the University of Wisconsin, told Karsen and Dawn, along with Virgil and Kody, Karsen’s brother, that he wanted some of the UW-Badger football players to share his experience.
“A lot of the football players come from different states,” Dawn said. “So, part of Travis’ goal to bring the Badgers out here was to make this an educational experience for them so they can learn a little more about the state they’re playing for. And obviously dairy is a huge part of what drives Wisconsin.”
Game Day on the Farm
In partnership with Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, Beckham and his team, along with the Haag family, coordinated a special visit for members of the UW-Football team to come see their farm in July.
“I’ll never forget watching that ‘Wisconsin’ bus drive up the driveway,” Dawn said. “I think we all just got this sense of pride of showing off our farm. The Badgers are a really big part of Wisconsin culture, so getting to know some of the players and showing them what Wisconsin’s dairy farmers can do was such a neat experience.”
In total, 30 football players made their way to Virhada Holsteins where they got an up-close look at the cows and calves, robotic milking systems, TMR wagons, and nearly every aspect of farm life. Throughout the day the Haag family enjoyed highlighting their day-to-day tasks and having conversations with the athletes about where their food comes from.
“We had to remember that only one of the players had ever been on a dairy farm before, and that was in Arizona. So, we really had to go back to the basics,” Dawn said. “It was so fun answering their questions and just seeing our dairy through their eyes.”
One of the standout moments for Karsen, along with many of the football players, was when she brought out her five-year-old show cow, Cheers, to greet the team.
“I’ve had Cheers since she was a December calf and she’s just a big puppy dog,” Karsen said with a laugh. “She makes me look tiny. But when the guys stood next to her, they made her look small! It was great getting to watch them interact and take pictures with her.”
Conversations on the Sidelines
Along with teaching the players about the facets of farming, the Haag family also had the chance to dive into deeper conversations about the nutritional aspects of dairy products. Dawn recalls having a chat with one of the players about the yogurt their farm helps produce.
“Our milk plant provided some yogurt for us to pass out to players while they were touring the farm,” Dawn recalls. “One of the guys saw the brand, Odyssey, and said, ‘Hey! That’s the yogurt we eat all the time after practice. That’s good stuff!’ I then told him that the milk from our cows goes into tanker trucks, which go to the plants that make the yogurt. You could just see the lightbulb go off for him. He was fascinated.”
While the Haag family relished the opportunity to showcase their operation, they equally enjoyed learning more about the football players themselves.
“These guys come from all over the country to play football here in Wisconsin,” Karsen said. “They were such a diverse group, and they were just getting to know each other, too. Football is just like farming – it takes teamwork to get the job done. So, this was a great team building opportunity for the guys. And it just so happened to include cows.”
By bringing the team to the farm, the Haag family was able to highlight just how much these seemingly different worlds have in common. From the shared values of hard work and dedication to the camaraderie needed to achieve a common goal, both farmers are football players are driven by passion – whether it’s for the game or for the farm – and rely on a strong foundation of resilience and determination to overcome challenges. And, at their core, football players and dairy farmers are united by their shared commitment to a purpose greater than themselves - whether it’s winning a game or feeding a community.
