Granton Dairy Breakfast May 31, 2015 at Jakobi Farm

The Granton FFA Alumni is excited to announce it is ready to host breakfast on the farm this Sunday, May 31, 2015, as it sponsors the Clark County breakfast hosted by Denny and Tracy Jakobi and family and Ken and Rita Jakobi at their farm located at N6863 Romadka Avenue, Granton.

The farm is located about a mile north of CTH H. Parking will be just across the road and there is easy handicap access.

Breakfast will be served from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and will feature the famous specialty eggs, along with pancakes and sausages catered and flipped by the popular caterer, Uncle Pancake. In addition, there will be cheese curds, applesauce, ice cream, milk, juice and coffee served.

Preschool children eat free of charge. There will be music by the Balsam Road Ramblers and activities for kids to enjoy.

The farm where the breakfast is being held started out as a 40-acre plot of land with no buildings purchased in 1973 by Ken and Rita Jakobi. At that time, Ken was employed making cheese at Schlinsog Dairy.

In 1982, Ken and Rita made their first addition to the property when they built a barn, initially to be a hog house. It has since been converted to a diary barn for the current operation.

In 1985, they built a two-car garage on the property to accompany the mobile home they had been living in. In the summer of 1987, they built a house, living in the garage while the house was being built. They sold the last of the pigs in 1986 and started raising some beef cattle.

In 1991, Ken and Denny first started milking with three cows, building up to six by the end of the first year, using the old can system to haul the milk to the cheese factory.

Ken then began milking cows full-time, while Denny started working for a couple of neighboring farmers while still helping out at home. In 1997, the free-stall barn was built to house more cows and young stock, despite the hardship of Ken falling and breaking his leg, forcing him to be laid up for several months.

In 1999, a calf barn was built to help with the expansion of the herd. Also in 1999, Denny and Tracy were married and began renting the house across the road.

The following year, a machine shed was built on the farm, which they added on to five years later. In 2007, the house next door to the farm came up for sale and Denny and Tracy purchased it.

In 2011, an 800,000-gallon manure pit and addition to the free-stall barn were added along with a large gravel pad for their silage bags. In 2014, Denny and Tracy built a large shed and heated shop next to their house. The latest addition to the farm is a heifer barn for yearling heifers that was just finished a few weeks ago.

Today the farm has grown to include 110 acres, plus 240 additional acres they rent, making it 350 total tillable acres. Crops raised on the farm include hay, corn, soybeans and oats. Most of the crops are used to feed the cattle, with any excess being sold.

All of the tillage, planting and harvesting work is done by the family except the liquid manure spreading, which is done by a neighbor, Elusive Hill Dairy. The family’s 45 cows are still switched through the original 18 stalls in the remodeled hog barn to be milked.

The milk is sold to Mullins Cheese and picked up by Jerry Hubing, the only milk hauler they have ever had. The farm is also home to 40 replacement dairy cattle with 10 to 12 steers being finished each year.

In addition to farming, the family members have many other responsibilities and hobbies.

Denny is currently in his 20th year of business, operating a custom silage bagging service. He began the business right after high school and has expanded it to include nine silage bagger units.

In addition, he has a custom spraying service where he sprays approximately 4,000 acres per year. Denny also roasts soybeans for the farm and several of his bagging customers.

Rita and Tracy are both employees of Marshfield Clinic, serving 16 and 18 years, respectively. They both enjoy gardening, scrapbooking and making cards as hobbies.

Ken’s pride and joy is his 2008 Mustang GT that he loves to drive around in his spare time. All are members of Zion Lutheran Church in Granton.

Denny is active in the Wisconsin Tractor Pullers Association. He and his friend, Vaughn Loos, spend many summer weekends traveling around the state to compete in several tractor pulls.

Denny is also a volunteer for the Granton Fire Department and a member of the Clark County Livestock Committee. Denny and Tracy are members of the Neillsville-Granton Trailbusters Snowmobile Club.

They, along with Ken and Rita, are lifetime members of the Granton FFA Alumni. Denny is currently serving as president.

Denny and Tracy have four children, Brandon, Isaac, Mallory and Kelcy. The family keeps busy helping with 4-H, church and pedal pulling events.

Tracy serves as the Cloverbud leader for the Romadka 4-H Club. The children have participated in state and national pedal pulls and have won numerous honors.

In honor of their accomplishments, CNH Ag Bag and D & J Bagging will be sponsoring the River Valley state-sanctioned kids pedal pull as part of the breakfast. The event will begin on the farm at 10:30 a.m. and is open to ages 12 and under.

Ken and Rita also love spending time with their grandchildren. Their daughter, Janell, and her husband, Tim, are also lifetime members of the Granton FFA Alumni, with Janell currently serving as the treasurer. They have two sons, Hunter and Mason, who also participate in the pedal pulls.

Jakobi Family 2015

The Granton Dairy Breakfast will be held Sunday, May 31, 2015, at the Dennis and Tracy Jakobi and Ken and Rita Jakobi farm located at N6863 Romadka Avenue, Granton. Serving will be from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The hosts pose for a family picture (middle, left to right) Ken, Rita, Denny and Tracy Jakobi and their children, (front) Mallory and Kelcy and (back) Brandon and Isaac. The event is sponsored by the Granton FFA Alumni. (Contributed photo)