Fabulous Farm Babe comes to Prairie du Chien for farmers luncheon
By Correne Martin
Wisconsin’s Fabulous Farm Babe herself, Pam Jahnke, was in Prairie du Chien last Wednesday, Feb. 22, for the Prairie du Chien Area Chamber of Commerce’s 28th annual Farmer Appreciation Luncheon. She was the guest speaker at the luncheon, held at Huckleberry’s Restaurant, which provided an opportunity for businesses to express their thanks for area farmers’ economic contributions.
About 100 business and community representatives attended the event, sponsored by 29 chamber members who are grateful for the farmers’ support of their businesses and the community. The chamber’s agri-business committee has attempted for four years to secure the farm broadcaster as its keynote speaker, but she’s always had other obligations—until this year.
Jahnke was born in northeastern Wisconsin, in Oconto County. Raised on her family’s 200-acre dairy farm, she learned the “farm work ethic” first-hand. Her family farm, and her passion for Wisconsin agriculture, are both still going strong today.
She studied broadcast journalism and broad area agriculture at UW-River Falls, receiving a national scholarship from the National Association of Farm Broadcasting her senior year.
In October of 1990, Jahnke accepted the position of farm director in Madison. She has managed to grow her farm broadcast presence from a single station in Madison to her Wisconsin Farm Network today, which encompasses 23 radio signals across the state as well as daily reports on Madison’s CBS TV affiliate. You may have heard her on the local radio station, giving her farm report. She also maintains a strong presence on social media.
During her entertaining program Wednesday, Jahnke was as animated as she sounds on the radio. In speaking to the farmers, she focused on encouraging them to look at ways they can bring outside audiences to their farms, whether it be in person on tours or through social media.
“People who don’t know what you do are fascinated by anything they can learn,” she stated. “I commend anybody who meets with the public face-to-face on farm tours. That’s a lot of hard work. But just working together and having those conversations, telling them what you do day-to-day could really spark even more interest.”
Jahnke said the activities farmers may feel are the most mundane will even pique the curiosity of urban citizens who are hungry for a taste of the grow-your-own trend. She used the “wall of milk” at the grocery store as an example of how little the general public knows about how that milk makes it to the store. She said moms are running into the store after work, with kids in tow, trying to select from a dozen different varieties, and they have not been enlightened about how the farmer produces that milk or the stresses he experiences as milk prices go up and down.
“Do your part to educate the families who are making those choices,” Jahnke said. “Farmers are being asked to have more acres, more animals and do it all with less. I understand that. But we have lived through changes in history people have no idea about. Use the history you’ve lived on the farm and share your story.”