Source: Midwest Dairy Association
The Winquist family’s daily role as dairy farmers changes this week. As the South Dakota Farmers Feed US campaign launches, Josh, Lindsey and their family have the opportunity to introduce their farms to an audience of tens of thousands each time a website is viewed.
The Winquists, from Alcester, are one of eight South Dakota farmers featured on a website that offers a year’s worth of free groceries to two lucky winners. The campaign, which began its 90-day run this week, is sponsored by dairy farmers through the Midwest Dairy Association South Dakota Division, and by other commodity groups in the state.
On the website, Josh Winquist welcomes visitors and invites them to enter the sweepstakes. He also asks how many gallons of milk a single South Dakota cow produces in a year. He also offers a video tour of the dairy, where he milks about 225 cows with Lindsey and their three children.
On the tour page, Winquist offers some of his philosophy on farming. “The dairy farm is a great place to raise our family. We strive to keep our cows extremely comfortable, and provide them with a balanced diet to keep them producing high quality milk,” he says. Winquist also shares information about the farm’s history and production.
The Farmers Feed US campaign is designed to help connect consumers with the farm and ranch families that produce food, according to Roger Scheibe, Midwest Dairy’s director of industry outreach. “One of the great features of the campaign is that we open up the lines of communication with people who want to know more about how their food is produced,” he said.
Family farms—representing dairy, cattle, hogs, poultry and crops--from eight Midwestern are featured. The sweepstakes and accompanying material can be accessed at www.farmersfeedus.org, where visitors can choose the state they wish to learn more about.
Note: Midwest Dairy Association is a non-profit organization funded by dairy farmers to build demand for dairy products through integrated marketing, nutrition education and research.
