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Drive anywhere in Wisconsin and you’re likely to pass a lot of farmland. We grow all sorts of stuff here, from produce to trees to cows. But back in the 1800s, Wisconsin was known for fur trade and mining – specifically lead! The only reason farming started was that trappers, miners, and their families needed to farm to eat. Back then almost 5,000 farms were founded in Wisconsin per year! Things went well, and today Wisconsin’s top crops include corn (mostly for feed), ginseng, cranberries, snap beans, and potatoes.

The All About the Car team met up with Andy Reitz, the executive director, and Brittany Marquard, the education and programming manager for Plover’s new Food+Farm Exploration Center! Brittany grew up on her family’s farm, and she always felt a pull toward education. She fell in love with agriculture education specifically, since it’s always evolving and challenging. Andy comes from a 30-year career in the cranberry industry. He accidentally fell into this career via a 1-credit course at UWSP, and he’s hoping the work they do at the Food+Farm Exploration Center will help others find a home in one of the huge variety of careers available in agriculture.

What brought them together? Andy and Brittany agree that people these days are more separated from the source of their food than ever before. Most people are three generations away from family farms, and a lot of them don’t have a good idea of where their food comes from. They’ve even heard an argument against farming that says “Food just comes from the store, so why do we still need farms?” That’s where the Food+Farm Exploration Center comes in!

Their mission statement is “To educate current and future generations about agricultural innovation and sustainability.” They want to help people rediscover how their food is produced and bridge that disconnect between farm & table. They also want to challenge the stereotype of the farmer standing in a field with a straw hat and overalls – farming these days is technologically advanced, involving everything from seed curation and environmental impact to water table management, nutrition, crop protection and more.

Ten years in the making, the Exploration Center got the boost it needed from a 2018 fund established to support farm and agriculture education. The original plan was to visit schools with their educational programs, but since farming is such a hands-on occupation at every level, they realized it would be more beneficial to start a center where they have the expansive resources they need to really demonstrate everything that’s involved in modern agriculture.

Their Plover facility is on 24 acres of land (some of which, ironically, used to be an active farm field). When they open to the public in late October/early November 2023, the facility will feature a café, exhibits, a kitchen lab, and even an event space with an impressive view. They have a massive space to bring in full-size farm equipment for visitors to see up close. Some hands-on educational experiences include two tractor cab simulators, an exhibit on water management that features a full-size pivot irrigator, and an interactive “harvest table” where visitors can watch little fields of crops grow before driving equipment over the field to harvest everything – making sure they maintain the proper speed and drive in a straight line so they don’t ruin their crops!

In the past year and a half, the Food+Farm Center staff have visited 22 schools to hone their educational message, but once they’re open, they hope to attract more than just school field trips. The center will be available to everyone from elementary schools to technical colleges, universities, and community groups.

Everyone visiting the Food+Farm Exploration Center will notice one thing right away: the 39-foot potato masher that stands tall right in front of their facility. It is, of course, the world’s largest potato masher, made for them by Idaho Steel. The irony of their potato masher being produced in Idaho, Wisconsin’s major potato rival, is just a bonus. Visitors are encouraged not only to grab a selfie with the gigantic masher, but to tag the Exploration Center on social media. They love seeing everyone’s photos!

With so much science and technology involved in modern agriculture, they have a lot to talk about. Luckily, everyone at the center is passionate about spreading their message. They hope not only to help people reconnect with their food sources, but ideally, they’ll introduce students (and some adults) to exciting career possibilities. The Food+Farm Exploration Center will open soon, inviting future generations of Wisconsin farmers and agriculture specialists to discover everything they can about one of our favorite topics: food!

This week’s Road Trip: Farming and agriculture is a huge field (ha) to break into, but the Nekoosa Giant Pumpkin Fest focuses on one huge thing in particular: pumpkins! The event takes place on October 7 & 8 at Riverside Par in Nekoosa, and there’s something for everyone. Bryan is looking forward to it for sure - craft shows, vendors, pumpkin carving, a car show, pumpkin pie, great food…what’s not to like? The winning pumpkin in their giant pumpkin contest usually weighs in at over 1,000 pounds! The end of the festival features the legendary Giant Pumpkin Drop, where they hoist a huge 800-pound pumpkin 100 feet up on a crane and drop it with ground-shaking results. After the drop, kids rush to the carnage and scoop up some seeds so they can grow their own pumpkins! We’re sure the Food+Farm Exploration Center would be happy to help them grow the biggest pumpkins they can.