June seems to be a popular month not just for dairy, but it’s also known as wedding month, graduation month and now it seems Breakfast on the Farm is taking over this middle-of-the-year month.

I recently drove to a neighboring farm in southern Michigan to cover the event for a story. Every time I attend one of these events, a couple of things amaze me: that a farmer would tolerate 3,000 people milling around his farm and seeing every crack and crevice of the operation, and that people are willing to stand in long lines for long periods of time in the hot sun just to get a free breakfast and see how cows are milked.

The cars were lined up for a couple of miles to get on the farm and the people line seemed even longer. I took my two kids to the forever-long breakfast line while I went to snap pictures and talk to people.

As I walked around the farm, I continued to be amazed at the mass of people who were diligently putting on shoe coverings and standing in the hot sun to listen to a man talk about what a cow eats, how she is milked and what happens to the milk after it leaves the farm. The crowds perused the milking parlor, walked through the feed alley, pointed, gawked, talked and tried to touch the cows as they ate their TMR.

Parents were learning right along with their children about what happens on the farm, and were just as amazed when they saw a cow defecate. With professionals at every turn, by the time the people left they were exposed, if not educated, to every part of a dairy farm.

Baffled by the crowds, I was even more in awe of a farmer who would expose his operation to benefit the public. Preparation for this kind of an event is enormous. Having to mow and trim in places that would otherwise be overgrown with quack grass, making sure the manure is hauled, the scrap metal pile is cleared out and to watch his beautiful alfalfa field become a parking lot for 1,000 cars takes a lot of preparation and courage for a dairy farmer who is more interested in making sure his cows are milked and fed, and that crops get rain.

My hat is off to those farmers who are willing to meet this challenge and I thank them for their willingness to host the public on their farm for breakfast. And, I give kudos to the zillions of volunteers who are also farmers, neighbors and industry professionals, who converge on the farm to help, guide and educate the consumer.

While it may not seem worth the trouble beforehand, one look at a wide-eye child who marvels at a cow’s tongue or giggles when they feed a calf for the first time makes every salty drop of sweat worth it!

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Melissa Hart may write to her in care of this publication.