NEWTON, Wis. — Wisconsin’s newest museum allows visitors to simulate driving a combine at harvest time, lift a faux block of cheese, learn how yogurt is made and discover more about mink, fish, poultry and bison farms in the state.
The $13 million Farm Wisconsin Discovery Center near Manitowoc was built with a $5 million state grant and $8 million in private donations.
The birthing barn is where visitors at the Farm Wisconsin Discovery Center near Manitowoc can watch as cows give birth. The pregnant cows are shipped daily to the center from a nearby farm.
David Dvorak, a board member of the Farm Wisconsin Discovery Center, shows off an interactive exhibit that explains how different crops like carrots and ginseng go from the field to the table.
A worker put the finishing touches last week on a sign along Interstate 43 that touts the Farm Wisconsin Discovery Center. A farm-themed playground is in the foreground.
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Angel Johanek, left, director of marketing and development, and Melissa Bender, director of education and programming, at the Farm Wisconsin Discovery Center in Manitowoc County, try out a tabletop topography exhibit that uses kinetic sand, light and a computer program to simulate the affects of changes to land and water. The Augmented Reality Sandbox was designed by researchers at the University of California-Davis.
David Dvorak, right, watches as Roger Sinkula tries out a combine simulator at the new Farm Wisconsin Discovery Center near Manitowoc. Dvorak's now late father, Norval, came up with the idea of the center after a 2010 trip to Fair Oaks, Indiana, home to Fair Oaks Farms, often referred to as "the Disneyland of agriculture." David Dvorak and Sinkula are both members of the center's board of directors.
A styrofoam sculpture in the lobby of the Farm Wisconsin Discovery Center near Manitowoc shows a plant sprouting from earth, which is being held by a pair of hands. The center is designed to be an educational museum that tells the story of the state's diverse agriculture and how food goes from the field to the table.
Volunteers and employees set up the gift shop area at the Farm Wisconsin Discovery Center in Manitowoc. The facility also includes a cafe and a conference center for 300 people.
Barry Adams covers regional news for the Wisconsin State Journal. Send him ideas for On Wisconsin at 608-252-6148 or by email at badams@madison.com.
