Driving in and around the tri-state area is a feast for the eyes. Although you won’t be ogling towering mountains here, the rolling hills filled with farmland and dairies offers a scenery only the heartland of Amerian can provide. Sometimes you cruise along the county roads for miles without meeting another car – there is no traffic here. Wisconsin’s picturesque dairy farms, pastures and rolling hills lured me to get out and snap some pictures. Caution: multiple images of farmland ahead!
Wisconsin is known as America’s Dairyland for good reason. It’s home to 1,271,000 dairy cows, each one producing about 7 gallons of milk per per day and generating $21,000 per year in economic activity (Source: Wisconsin Agricultural Statistics Service (WASS), August 1, 2014).
Holsteins, the cows with black and white markings, account for 90% of the dairy cattle population, for they produce more milk than other breeds. Not surprisingly, Wisconsin’s #1 agricultural product is cheese, with milk production coming in #2.
The picturesque dairy farms are still 99% family-owned, many operated by descendants of the families who began raising dairy cows six generations ago. There are about 10,200 licensed herds as of August, 2014 (Source: Wisconsin Agricultural Statistics Service (WASS), August 1, 2014).
Along with 11 other states, Wisconsin is in the “corn belt,” a region of the U.S. where corn is a predominant crop. Much of it is grown for grain and silage as livestock feed.
Some of these farmers have a sense of humor – this one allows dinosaurs to graze on his land…
…and this one is friendly enough to allow aliens to camp out on his. It doesn’t look like he provides water or power, though.
After taking a long drive to enjoy the beautiful countryside, the sun made a welcome appearance. It was finally nice enough out that we could start a campfire and wind down for the rest of the day.
Lowes Travels 
Very pretty! Farming country is gorgeous…and those dinos and aliens were a fun find!
Love your campsite with that cute chapel in the background. My nephew will graduate from Platteville with a degree in Business Agriculture. He already has a job waiting with a fertilizer company and it won’t take him long to get into six figures. There is a shortage of young folks entering agriculture. Your photos have been making me a little ‘home’ sick.
Moo! Interesting post and photos… Steve is a very patient man to drive you all over for photos! I envy you… I have to be careful how many times I ask John to pull over!
Beautiful! Love all those beautiful green fields! Have you visited the Field of Dreams Movie Site in Dyersville, Iowa yet? A great day trip from our campsite in Petosi, Wisconsin was going to the movie site.
Those gently rolling green hills and farms make for a peaceful landscape. No traffic means you didn’t have any troubles getting Steve to pull over for photos, right? 🙂
I love looking at farm land. My dad grew up on a farm and most of my relatives on my dad’s side still live on farms. There is so much beauty in the earth.
Your pictures are gorgeous. Those farms look so bucolic. But having lived on a farm for 30+ years I know it is a mighty lot of work. I was really happy to hear that 99% of the dairy farms are still family owned. I worry about the farmers who have spent so much on land and equipment and work so hard to be able to live that life and provide for their families. I want them to keep their farms. It’s wonderful to hear that perhaps all our farms aren’t agri-business. Love the nose ring. LOL!
We really enjoyed our time in Wisconsin. Of course, I am a cheese fanatic so this was home to me:) Isn’t it great to see how many different places there are in this country. We love every state we have been through. I love the farms and those dairy cows are so cute. Glad to see Steve got to rest after driving his adorable wife around the countryside:)
Hey, MonaLiza, your Wisconsin countryside photos are beautiful. I think we may be crossing paths. We are currently in Beaver Dam, just north of Madison, Wisconsin. Today (Wednesday) we will be at House on the Rock in Spring Green and Thursday we plan to do Madison Capitol walk and visit Watertown and Chilton to see Karen and Steve. Where are you?
Hey there, Looks like an awesome place to visit. My neighboring camp here at Cheyenne State Park, Colorado Springs, Colorado lives in Wisconsin. They are a nice couple who recommended that some day I drive through “Door County” indicating the beautiful scenery there is worth the drive. Hopefully you have nice weather as you travel up there.
There is something very relaxing about driving down quiet country roads. We loved our time in Wisconsin and have learned about a few mores places thanks to your posts MonaLiza.
You sure are having fun! Love the photos!
Love the farm pictures! I’m thoroughly fascinated by farms for some reason. I don’t know much about them and always try to imagine the day-to-day life.