News

Wisconsin’s Alice sees value in State Fair agriculture demonstrations

Wisconsin’s Alice in Dairyland says she enjoys answering questions from State Fair goers about milking cows. Julia Nunes tells Brownfield, “Some of these people have never seen a cow before or seen a cow be milked, and I really encourage people to ask questions.”

Nunes grew up milking cows near Chippewa Falls, and she says many of the people she interacts with at the fair are from the Milwaukee area and have never been on a farm before. “Not many people understand all of the work that farmers do, or what cows eat, or how much milk a cow gives, so when those questions come out, I enjoy them. I love to share that information and I really just want everyone to know about agriculture and the work that dairy farmers do.”

Nunes says many of the audience questions during the State Fair milking demonstration are about things farmers take for granted, like what do the cows eat, or how often do they get milked, and that’s why Nunes says it’s important to bring demonstrations to the fair. “Hopefully, they make that connection between, oh, the cow’s milk is the cheese I had on my hamburger or the cheese curds I eat down on the midway, so hopefully they’re able to kind of make that farm to table connection.”

Before serving as Alice in Dairyland, Nunes was a junior dairy exhibitor who brought cows to compete at the Wisconsin State Fair for eight years.