Wisco Farm Getaways

by Hannah Wente

Today’s farm families are constantly innovating and finding ways to stay in business while emboldening connections between people, animals and the land. At these working farms across southern Wisconsin, you’ll get the opportunity to rest and relax while also getting a taste of life on the farm.

farm. The tour includes the history of the farm and offers a chance to feed calves and milk a cow using the same methods Dan’s family has used for generations. Dan’s mother had a horse she rode throughout the property when he was a kid. As an homage to his mother, the Wegmuellers offer trail-riding and will offer equine-assisted therapy in the near future.

“Our goal is to save farms and farmers,” Dan says. “It [agritourism] deserves to be applied on a much larger scale.”

Keewaydin Farms

Viola keewaydinfarms.com

Over the past 19 years, Rufus Haucke and his partner Joy Miller, have tried all kinds of agricultural endeavors, from pitching hayfields in 90-degree weather to running a successful vegetable and egg CSA to selling to the Madison Metropolitan School District and restaurants. Haucke's true passion is growing and selling market vegetables, a pursuit that uses only a few acres of their 200-acre farm. In 2021, Haucke and Miller started Driftless Curiosity, a nonprofit that invites people to their land to observe grassland birds and other wildlife.

The Dairy at Wegmueller Farm

Monroe wegmuellerfarm.com/the-dairy

One of Dan Wegmueller’s earliest memories on his farm is playing in the barn while his parents milked cows. After high school, he spent several years in Switzerland and Australia learning rotational grazing and the importance of connecting directly with community members.

“The lesson we should have learned during COVID is that we need investments in local infrastructure and local supply sources,” says Dan. “In Wisconsin, it’s easier to get raw sushi than go to a farm to get milk.”

Knowing farm families now need diverse sources of income, as well as the need for people to have a stronger connection to their food, third-generation farmer Dan and his wife Ashley knew they had to do something different. That meant getting back to genuine connection with the community, and the two started offering agritourism activities on the farm.

The couple runs farm tours and hosts up to 12 people at a time in their renovated farmhouse. The farm is conveniently located two hours from Chicago and Milwaukee and reservable on Airbnb. Up to 80% of their guests have never visited a working

"We’ve always had a lot of different ideas of how to farm or live on this land," Haucke says. "I want people to feel that peace and quiet, that they can immerse themselves in the natural world that’s around us."

This exploration led Haucke and Miller to create campsites on their farm that merge with the landscape and hiking trails so people can have access to peace and quiet. From May through October, campers can choose from six rustic sites and two glamping sites on HipCamp, a website for reserving privately owned campsites and cabins. The sites will have electricity and shared bathroom facilities in the future.

Guests can forage, bird-watch and observe a herd of sheep, as well as attend on-site workshops. Fall workshops include cartonería, or papier-mâché sculptures, and a hammock book club. The farm is also near other outdoor destinations including Camp Creek (a class 1 trout stream), the Kickapoo Valley Reserve and Wildcat Mountain State Park.

“People are coming to the Driftless area in general to recreate and get away—it’s fun to be a part of that,” Haucke says.

Circle M Farm

Blanchardville circlemfarm.com/farm-stay

Kriss and Shannon Marion owned a 150-member CSA in 2012. The work was never-ending, the hours were long, and ultimately, as their number of CSA shares grew, their one-toone connections with members declined. When someone asked for a standard brown potato, they knew their days in producing high-quality, unique vegetables for the masses were numbered. Fast-forward a decade and the two now run a successful farm camping experience. Guests can choose from one of three vintage RVs—all of which come with a firepit, porch and record player and also have access to a shared sauna and oversized bathroom. Each morning, guests have a self-serve breakfast on the porch overlooking greenhouses, fields and the Pecatonica River. The couple is finally living their dream—to have a profitable and beautiful farm.

“I think farmstay has the ability to save family farms,” Marion says. “If you want to live and work on a farm, you have to keep trying and see what works given your skills, passion, appetite and ability.”

Kriss Marion loves the ability to give back to the nearby town of Blanchardville too and thinks every rural community could benefit from farmstays.

“[Guests] have to go out for lunch and dinner and buy gas. They go to American Players Theatre and The House on the Rock,” she says. “They spend a lot of money in a lot of places. That’s what rural communities need, businesses that are not disruptive, that are light on the land and municipal infrastructure.”

More Farms to Explore

If you want a more hands-on farming and learning experience, try Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF). This global effort connects organic farmers with both inexperienced and experienced farmhands. Workers typically do not get paid, but receive room and board and often produce from the farm. Local WWOOF sites include Ducks in a Row Farm, Maggie’s Farm and Rainbow’s End. wwoofusa.org