Cows in the Rain, Polifka Road, Whitelaw, WI

Cows in the Rain, Polifka Road, Whitelaw, Wisconsin, May 5, 2012

Found: "The Nation's Dairyland, Wisconsin - near Camp McCoy" copyright A.E. Luckenbill, message handwritten on backside: "P.S. It is cold as hell here, Love Bob" post marked October 29, 1942

Found: Two men with Holsteins, location unknown, circa 1907

Found: "Country Life in Wisconsin"from Theochrom Series printed
in the U.S. post marked May 10, 1912, 7 am in Hollandtown, Wisconsin

Found: "We're all Good Friends on the old Farm (Scenes along the country roads."
 by E.A. Bishop Publishing, Racine, circa 1912

Found: "Greetings from Eau Claire, Wis, Dairy Cattle in Pasture Creek" published by Johnson Printing, crica 1970

In a time of industrial scale agriculture and massive confinement barns that keep cattle out of view, cows grazing along the road have become a rare sight, even something the tourism department people want to nurture to create quaint views. Once America's Dairyland, Wisconsin has lagged behind in milk production to California. Massive farms pop up in Wisconsin as the small farms with red barns and a manure pile fade away to be replaced by big "dairies" with computers displaying commodity prices in the office, scores of employeees, human resource managers, manure lagoons and 10,000 cows always waiting to be milked. Cheddar cheese carving, artisanal cheese, and small operations are re-emerging and reinventing themselves as public interest in "local" grows.