It has been a long wait for the Olson family, but after a two-year delay, it will finally be their year to host the annual Greenwood Dairy Breakfast. Now in its 25th year, the event put on by the Greenwood FFA Alumni and Greenwood Chamber of Commerce will be held on June 26 at Olson’s Sunrise Dairy, located just a few miles south of the location of last year’s breakfast.
The breakfast will be held from 7 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the Jeremy and Hannah Olson farm at N10338 Owen Ave. northeast of Greenwood. It will be their first time hosting the event, but the family said they have had plenty of time to prepare and are eager for families to come out and see their operation.
“We had actually agreed to do this back in 2017 to host in 2020,” said Hannah. “We were all set to do that and then COVID hit. They decided to cancel the annual Dairy Breakfast for 2020, so we were not able to do it that year.”
Still, the family wished to host, and after reaching out again, found a solution that worked out.
“They already had a host lined up for 2021, but they didn’t have one for the year after that,” said Hannah. “So we decided to just be pushed back to 2022. We have been ready to do it now for a couple years. We have always had it in the back of our minds. We always knew that one day we would host the Dairy Breakfast and we were welcome to the idea.”
Olson’s Sunrise Dairy has been in the family since 1965 after Jeremy’s parents -- Duane and Donna Olson -- purchased it. They only had 13 cows starting out, and with no modern technology, they did all the work around the farm by hand.
“They had purchased it back in 1965,” said Hannah. “Duane had actually grown up on the Gardner’s farm just north of here which was the site of the dairy breakfast last year. They grew up here. When they first started, they had 13 cows in their barn. That was back in those days when you didn’t have a barn sweeper or anything else and you had to use a wheelbarrow and shovel.” Over their years of ownership, Hannah said Duane and Donna expanded the farm and made improvements along the way to make the task of raising and milking cows easier. By 2011, the couple was ready to retire and Jeremy purchased the farm from them.
“We purchased the farm from them in 2011,” she said. “We have done some improvements ourselves since we purchased it, but Duane and Donna really expanded it to what it is today. We now have 120 cows with about half of them being milked right now. The rest are heifers and dry cows.”
For Jeremy and Hannah, farm ownership has had its ups and downs. As a small-family owned operation, they have been reliant on the milk market being good. Some years, Jeremy said that was a good thing, while in other years the market was volatile, making it difficult to know how things were going to look from month to month.
“When we took over the farm, things were really good,” said Jeremy. “Then from 2015 to 2020 it was hard. We had a record year back in 2014 and then things fell. You would probably have to talk to an expert to know what happened, but the milk prices dropped. In 2020 it was very volatile. Between April and May, the price went from $12 up to $20. Things are looking better now.”
Besides their farm work, Hannah said their personal lives have changed quite a bit since owning the farm. Back in 2011, the couple was expecting their first child. Now they have four: 10-year old Jaci, eight-year old Lane, four-year old Nevy and three-year old Kyan.
“For us, the biggest change has been with our family,” she said. “When we bought the farm we had no kids, I was expecting. Now we have four. That has been our biggest challenge. The farm was our life and now we have softball, baseball and swimming lessons. There is a lot more added to our life. It has been a good change.”
The 25th Annual Greenwood Dairy Breakfast will include pancakes, potato pancakes, sausage, eggs, cheese, cheese curds, applesauce, butter, syrup, soft serve ice cream, milk juice, coffee and water -- The cost will be $7 for adults and $4 for kids, with kids age four and under eating for free.
Entertainment for the day will include live music by the Richie Yurkovich band, hit-and-miss engines, raffles, local crafters, face painting, kiddie train rides and a petting zoo. There will also be other games for children set up, including basketball and a kidney bean pit, and there will be tours of the farm’s tie stall barn.
