Taste of the Farm hits Waseca fairgrounds

Thanks to the Waseca County Farm Bureau (WCFB), a “Taste of the Farm” event took place at the county fairgrounds the evening of Tuesday, June 9. There were animals, vendors, food, and entertainment, all at no charge to the hundreds of visitors who attended.

 

Mary Jo Schoenfeld, WCFB office assistant, described the event as “a chance to educate consumers on all things agriculture in Waseca County.” She mentioned that, except for a short break during the Covid pandemic, Taste of the Farm has been feeding and entertaining area residents for 17 years.  She shared this information from inside the 4-H stand, where she was helping serve free burgers and chips, cookies and water. Already at 5 p.m., the line was out the door with more people pulling up in cars outside.

 

Tina Schoenfeld, Promotion and Education chair for WCFB said, “We started setting up here today around noon. Anyone who shows up gets a free cheeseburger basket. There are animals and farm equipment outside to get up close to. In the dining hall we have vendors from mostly agricultural related industries.” Mary Jo added, “We had some great sponsors, Hy-Vee, Waseca Chamber, Waseca Sand and Gravel, FM Bank. I could just keep going.”

 

In the dining hall, KOWZ 100.9FM had set up a table and was providing a live broadcast, complete with music which played in the background while people dined and visited with one another. 

 

Among the vendors were Compeer Financial, part of the Farm Credit System, and Minnwest Bank. Some of the vendors were giving away candy, chip clips, pens and other gifts with their contact information. 

 

Out by the tractors and bins parked around the fairgrounds were two chickens and a cow, Kaitlyn Schoenfeld was there, from Christian Academy in Mankato. “I know one of the chickens is named Moana, but I don’t know the other chicken's name or the cow. They belong to my family.” Inside the pig barn on the fairground was Charlay Kietzman. She was carefully watching over two baby goats and three sheep. “Kids can come in here and pet them if they want. The baby goats are really cute and they keep bawling.” Kietzman is a junior this year in the Waseca school system.

 

Outside the petting area, a large firetruck was arriving. It pulled in and carefully backed into its parking spot; people began gravitating toward it almost immediately. On their way to the truck, people could stop to have a look at some tractors, threshers, combines and other large farm machinery that was also on display.