WHITELAND, Ind. —
Have you ever visited a working dairy farm? Does your child know milk comes from a cow, not a grocery store? Have you or your child ever been up close and personal with a cow?
Kids of all ages will get to experience all of this and more thanks to special events coordinator Amy Kelsay of Kelsay Farms in Whiteland. A 500-head Holstein dairy and 2,200-acre grain farm, the Kelsays opened their operation as an agritourism venture to the public in 2007. Why potentially complicate the 24/7 operational responsibilities of a large dairy farm with the public wandering through?
“The bottom line is so many children are so much further removed from a farm environment than they once were,” Kelsay said. “When I once heard a child say they had seen a cow for the first time at a zoo, I was like ‘oh my’! I knew I wanted to give kids the experience of a real working dairy farm. I wanted them to know where milk comes from, what calves look and feel like, where they could ask questions and learn about how important dairy products are to their health.”
Kelsay Farms is the only dairy operation left in Johnson County. It sits in a unique location, the west perimeter is shared with I-65 and the northern edge near Greenwood, a southern suburb of Indianapolis, continues to see urban sprawl grow closer and closer.
“It’s our responsibility to share with folks what we’re doing, how we’re doing it safely and environmentally conscious, and to be good stewards of what we have,” Kelsay said. “We want the farm experience here to be friendly, welcoming and a great learning opportunity.”
Like a pied piper, Kelsay comfortably leads an enthusiastic group of preschoolers and kindergartners from Indianapolis’ St. Matthews Catholic School to their first tour stop, a tent full of straw bales. Once the kids are seated, her bright blue eyes sparkle as she introduces herself and tells the group the family farm partnership is celebrating a significant milestone. “I’m so excited! Our farm is celebrating its 175th anniversary this year. The farm began in 1837 and I’m a member of this family farm. I’m the sixth generation of this family, the fourth generation is still working here today, and the seventh generation plays here every day!”
Her passion never lags as she tells the story of the farm and what they do. Kelsay’s experience is rooted in her rural upbringing near Farmersburg. Ed and Judy Heady encouraged their children Amy and Chad to raise and show pigs in 4-H at the Vigo County Fair. Amy graduated from Purdue with a bachelor’s in animal science followed by a master’s from the University of Illinois in agriculture economics. She found her love of working with youth as a Johnson County Purdue Extension Educator until 2005.
“I absolutely loved being in Extension,” said Kelsay with emphasis. “But I realized that once I decided to be at home with my growing family and then launch our farm venture with our first corn maze in 2007, I have my own extension and educational opportunity right where we are on the farm. I love, love, love what I do here with coordinating tours and special events. And I love it that now our children, Jenna, 8, Josie, 6, and Jack, 3, all love to come help when I’m working. Josie even sometimes cries when she’s not allowed to come because she wants to ‘work!’ ”
Kelsay Farms is well run by a family management team and a dedicated group of employees. The team is comprised of three partners — Merrill (father and the farm’s general manager), Russ (a son who runs the crop, equipment and maintenance areas) and Joe (a son who runs the grain marketing and accounting areas). Joe is Amy’s husband and is also the state’s Department of Agriculture director.
The farm employs 12 full-time workers, and Kelsay Farm Tours employs 22 part-time workers for this year’s Fall Festival. Adam Monhaut has worked for the Kelsays for almost 11 years and enjoys helping Amy lead tours through the operation. “I grew up on a dairy farm in northern Indiana, and I have kids of my own, so I enjoy helping educate visitors about what we do, how the cows are milked, why it’s important to keep a clean environment for the animals, and then cap my part of the tour off with the opportunity for the kids and adults to pet calves.”
While the farm offers tours throughout the year for special visitors or dignitaries, school and group tours are offered in the spring and during the Fall Festival. Summer camps also frequent the farm for field trips. The festival runs a month with this year’s being Sept. 29 through Oct. 28. Hours are 6 to 10 p.m. Fridays; noon to 10 p.m. Saturdays; and noon to 6 p.m. Sundays. They are open daily to the public from noon to 6 p.m. through Oct. 19. Admission is $8 per person and children 1 and under are free.
Admission includes all the activities on the farm including the milking parlor, where you can see cows get milked; visiting the freestall barn, where cows spend their time and eat; viewing modern farm machinery; and learning how calves are cared for.
The Kelsays have also created myriad entertaining events. Visit the seven-acre corn maze both during the day or for “Flashlights at Night;” play on Bale Mountain or in the Corn Crib play area; or try your hand at pumpkin bowling. Hayrides, the Moo Choo Express, a cow-themed tractor-led train, and weekend festivities like face painting and live entertainment lure families and those wanting to get a taste of life down on the farm. Dairy treats, pumpkins and gourds are also available for purchase on weekends.
Whether you visit to learn it takes 12 pounds of whole milk to make one gallon of ice cream or scream your lungs out as you get lost in the corn maze, Kelsay Farms welcomes all to “experience the farm.”
For more information visit www.kelsayfarms.com or www.twomaidsamilking.com.
Features
Related Photos
-
Bales of fun: When youngsters are finished with the tour at Kelsay Farms, they can burn off any extra energy on the hay bales at the farm in Whiteland. (Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza)
-
What about this one?: Adam Monhaut, parlor manager at Kelsay Farms in Whiteland, asks students from Northeast Elementary in Greenwood if they like ice cream as he shows various dairy products the farm makes during a tour Friday, Oct. 5. (Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza)
-
Hoosier Heritage: The Kelsay & Son Farm is a Hoosier Homestead Farm near Whiteland. (Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza)
-
Where the milk come from: Kindergarten students from Northeast Elementary School in Greenwood get a closer look at the daily operations of Kelsay Farms as they visit the milking parlor during a tour Oct. 5. (Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza)
-
Product of the farm: Five-year-old Tyrone Moore, a kindergartner at Northeast Elementary in Greenwood, peels back the wrapper on a cheese stick Oct. 5 at Kelsay Farm near Whiteland. (Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza)
Discussion
Kelsay Farms offers adults, children alike a chance to 'experience the farm'
- Features
-
-
Banks of the Wabash Festival kicks off
The 2013 Banks of the Wabash Festival, scheduled May 23 through June 1 in Fairbanks Park, celebrates 40 years along the banks of the Wabash River, 30 under the sponsorship of the Terre Haute Parks and Recreation Department.
-
Community Theatre concludes season with ‘Social Security’
Community Theatre of Terre Haute’s main stage season finale opens this Friday, with the hit Broadway comedy “Social Security,” directed by Sonni Crawford.
-
Bruce’s History Lessons: Morse’s telegraph and its impact as a ‘game changer’
This week (May 24) in 1844, Professor Samuel F.B. Morse sat in the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., surrounded by members of Congress, who had come to witness history.
-
Singer-songwriter Aly Tadros to perform at The Verve
Although she calls Brooklyn, N.Y., home, singer/songwriter Aly Tadros has spent the last decade traveling (and touring) across Egypt, Turkey, Canada, Mexico and nearly all of Europe in an attempt to coalesce the diversity that is being both Egyptian and Texan, both a performer and a songwriter. Next on her list is Terre Haute. Tadros will be playing at The Verve on Friday.
-
Longtime weatherman Jesse Walker relates well to people of Wabash Valley
While in middle and high school, Jesse Walker developed a strong interest in the weather. He thought about a career at the National Weather Service or at a storm prediction center, but the idea of becoming a television meteorologist never entered his mind.
-
CULINARY COURSES: Clabber Girl Classroom Kitchen provides variety of cooking courses for the Valley
There are a few taste-bud-tantalizing-perks for having America’s leading baking powder producer in your backyard. For nearly 120 years, Clabber Girl has been a staple in Terre Haute. In 1899, Hulman and Company began offering up what was to become one of the oldest brands in the country, Clabber baking powder. In 1923, the company changed the baking powder brand name to Clabber Girl.
-
RIVER OF SOUND: Composer sees symphony bring his musical imagination to life
David Watkins smiled as he stood on the Tilson Auditorium stage. The audience stood, too, applauding.
Two of his compositions had just been performed by the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra. Neither piece — “A Wabash Portrait” and “River Fanfare” — had been played publicly in decades. -
The Beauties of Spring: Stunning array of wildflowers bloom each spring in Collett Park
Groundskeepers put off the first mowing of Collett Park each spring.
Admirers of the place, Terre Haute’s oldest park, like it that way.
A stunning array of wildflowers covers the 21-acre lawn for a few short weeks. Those plants, known as “spring beauties,” emerge in March, bloom in April and go dormant by May, when the brilliant waves of white and pink flowers disappear. -
Day spent with daughter inspires Valley man to write children’s book for her
It started with a warm sunny blackberry picking outing, a bee buzzing, a little bird nest with eggs in it and a little girl begging her daddy for a night-time story. And from those ingredients the children’s book, “The Bee in the Blackberry Bush” came to fruition.
-
From kilts to haggis, Wabash Valley Scottish Society marks a decade of preserving heritage
As soon as Richard Cooper breaks into his Scottish accent, a smile automatically follows.
It happened last week as he recited a work of legendary Scotland poet Robert Burns. -
Witness to history: April movie chronicles Jackie Robinson’s trials as be breaks Major League Baseball’s color barrier — something Vigo County native Harry Taylor witnessed first hand
The upcoming movie “42” aims to show America what Jackie Robinson endured.
Harry Taylor witnessed it firsthand.
Robinson wore jersey No. 42 for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Taylor wore 41. Both were 28-year-old rookies, considerably older than most. Taylor got delayed by military service in World War II. Professional baseball’s unwritten but ironclad code of racial discrimination had kept Robinson and other African-Americans out of the majors since the 1880s. -
Sisterly Habits: Fillenwarth sisters are linked together in more than one sense
The Fillenwarth sisters are sisters in more than one sense of the word.
Both were born two of the eight children of city cop Henry and his wife Catherine Fillenwarth. Both grew up among a large and giving Catholic extended family in inner-city Indianapolis in the 1940s. -
Geocaching Indiana: Clay County man develops idea to use geo-art to create outline of state in caches
Indiana, long-known as the Crossroads of America, has for years been a destination for people coming from around the world to witness such activities as the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, Indianapolis Colts football games and Indiana University Hoosiers basketball games.
Since October 2012, Indiana’s attractions have come to include the surprising geo-art creation of a group of Wabash Valley geocachers — people who use Global Positioning Systems and similar location-sensitive devices to find hidden objects for fun. -
Voice of a Storyteller: Chance meeting of Twain, Paris youngster inspired narrative voice of Huck Finn
The block offers no hints of its place in American literary history.
Customers dodge raindrops, walking in and out of an auto parts store. -
Pearls of the Wabash: Efforts to reintroduce mussels
Broken bricks, shattered large clay tiles and thin strips of lumber nailed into a crimped piece of sheet metal, sit piled down a county road in Hillsdale.
-
Natural Habitat: Meet 17-year-old Ben Cvengros, who has a knack for capturing wildlife — in particular, birds — on his camera
I would like to introduce you to a 17-year-old Parke County teenager who has an incredible level of patience. Ben Cvengros was 12 years old when he found his passion for photography.
-
WORD PLAY: Scrabble Club broadens Greene County youngsters’ vocabularies and experiences in a fun way
Drew Helton nodded his head like a wise college professor dispensing scholarly advice.
-
Doing a lot with a little: Family’s resourcefulness leads it to reuse vegetable oil as fuel
Up a winding driveway, tucked off a main road in Clay County, sits an average-looking house in a hardwood forest. The homeowners, Chris and Lori Hart, are two resourceful people.
-
Coming full circle: Vigo County 4-H’er hopes donation of livestock auction money helps youth
The phrase “giving back” is often quoted but sometimes lacks personal follow through.
-
CRUISIN’ TO A CAREER IN MUSIC: Terre Haute native Will Foraker on a roll with new album, job as cruise ship entertainer
On his way to the Panama Canal, Will Foraker sounded energized.
-
YOUR GREEN VALLEY: Keep your garden — and yourself — safe from lead
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, lead poisoning is the No. 1 preventable environmental cause of illness in children.
-
TRIED ‘N’ TRUE: Need something for the kids? Try these Ritzy Cookies
When we have dinners at the church, one of the ladies brings these cookies. Nancy Kahl has been making these for some time now. They are so good. Need something for your kids? Make sure that there isn’t any one who can’t have peanuts. These are so easy and extra good.
-
‘A Song for Indiana’ to raise money for Dresser sculpture
Art Spaces will present “A Song for Indiana – The Paul Dresser Project” at 5:30 p.m. on June 6 at the Holiday Inn of Terre Haute.
-
Sign up for Community School of the Arts classes
Summer is the perfect time to enroll children and teens in theater and visual arts and music classes at the Indiana State University Community School of the Arts.
-
FAMILY TIES: While searching for my grandfather, I found my mother
I remember the afternoon my mother received the chilling news from her nephew that her oldest sister and brother-in-law had been killed in a car/bus collision.
-
GRAPE SENSE: Same old whites getting you down? Try something different
If the same old Chardonnay, Riesling or Pinot Grigio is getting you down, try something different.
-
TRIED ‘N’ TRUE: A Rhubarb Nut Bread for the season
Last fall we went to the Covered Bridge Festival. Gene loves to go. Anyway, I got to talking to this lady, Treva Smith, at Bridgeton.
-
Diamond Hill Station goes bold in ‘Katy Bar the Door’ album
On the second track of Diamond Hill Station’s new CD, the band deftly rambles through a catchy, love-gone-wrong song called “Same Old Thing.”
-
Roxie Randle takes next step with single ‘Everything I’m Not’
The next step for singer-songwriter Roxie Randle is a single with the attitude and power to crack radio airplay lists.
-
Opening reception Friday for ‘Mud Musings’
Indiana State University’s Community School of the Arts is scheduled to host an opening reception for an art exhibition from 4 to 6 p.m. on Friday in the Gallery Lounge of ISU’s Hulman Memorial Student Union.
- More Features Headlines
-
Raw: Trucker Bumps I-5 Bridge Before Collapse
Raw: Texas Deputy Shot by Colo. Suspect Honored
Suspect in Killing of Officer Found Dead in Cell
Major Detours Following Wash. Bridge Collapse
American Held in Grisly Czech Murders
Raw: Jersey Shore Reopens for Summer
Today in History May 25
High Wire Spectacle Thrills Crowd in Austria
Officials: Tsarnaev Friend Linked to Slaying
UK-bound Pakistan Plane Diverted, 2 Men Arrested
Raw Video: Washington State Bridge Collapse
Mayor: Person Killed in San Antonio Flooding
New Wheelchair Lift Promises More Access
Bus Fire Kills 16 Children, Teacher in Pakistan
Raw: Gay Rights Activists March in Ukraine
Britain Braces for Possible Copycat Attacks
Obama:Sexual Assault Threatens Trust in Military
A Slice of Apple History Up for Grabs
Raw: Apple 1 Computer Sells for More Than $650k
Raw: Memorial Day Flags Placed at Arlington
Massive Flooding in San Antonio Area; Rescue Efforts Underway
Hope For The Boy Who Can't Smile
Young protestor goes viral on Youtube
Toronto Mayor says he's not a crack head
Maine island offers lighthouse getaway
Should We Prepare for Quakes?
Lynn Kindergarten Class Rescues Ducklings
Congressional gold medal awarded to civil rights heroes
Charles Ramsey visits Kentucky
Unique Display Greets Guests At Revel Casino
Cape Cod Train Service Worries Residents
BASE jumper rides snowmobile off cliff to honor dead friend
Bridge Collapse Survivor: 'Rough Day'
SHOCKING: School Guard Throws Girl Down Stairs
Star Wars X-Wing Star Fighter Made of Legos
Actress Amanda Bynes Arrested in New York
Singer Psy Has An Imposter
