Think back to the last cow you sent to market. If you peeled back her hide, what would you find? Bruising? Injection site lesions? Tissue damage? Would you be proud to say that cow came from your dairy?

Carrie Mess, better known as “Dairy Carrie,” recently jump-started one group of dairy producers to tell their story, just in time for Dairy Month.

Calves will be cool, clean and comfortable this summer in a new barn at the Hansen farm near Chilton, Wisconsin. Eugene and Maggie Hansen, along with their sons Mark and Dan (pictured), moved calves from hutches into a calf barn in March. The building holds 31 individual stalls, where they raise both heifer and bull calves through weaning.

On February 20, 2010, Marvin and Patty Biese lost their big, red barn to a blaze. But from the ashes, the family found the opportunity to rebuild their dreams – bigger and better than before. That day, the Bieses were celebrating their 10-year wedding anniversary in Cozumel, Mexico. On one of very few multiple-day trips away from their 110-cow dairy near Wrightstown, Wisconsin, the couple was thousands of miles from home when they got the dreaded phone call telling them the old two-story barn where Marvin grew up milking cows and stacking bales was going up in flames.

The on-site café, retail store and creamery at the Hedrich family’s La Clare Farms is as unique as the flavors of their hand-crafted champion cheeses, thanks to one special ingredient – milk from their 600 dairy goats. Newly opened last November, the farmstead facility located along the lake front in Pipe, Wisconsin, is a dream come true for Larry and Clara Hedrich. They sought a way to add value to their product and bring multiple family members into the business, all while educating the public on where their food comes from.