In the 1950s, there were over 100,000 dairy farms in Wisconsin. Today, fewer than 10,000 remain.
The Dettmann family, descendants of German immigrants, established a small dairy farm in Johnson Creek in 1902. They have succeeded for over one hundred years by expanding, modernizing, and partly relying on laborers from Mexico and Central America. Fourteen year-old Drew Dettmann is the oldest of the 6th generation of family farmers and he intends to stick with it.
The Lands We Share farming history project caught up with Dettmann at the Jefferson County Fair and at his family’s farm, where he reflected on his current and future life as a Wisconsin farmer.
