On my first trip to Wisconsin, I was so impressed by the dairy farms I saw from the car, I was determined to see one up close. That dream just came true.

Before the latest visit, I asked my sonin law’s parents, Mike and Julie Willems, to arrange a visit to a dairy farm. With the help of Mike’s lifelong buddy, Tom Perock, I was invited to spend some time with Nick and Connie Van Gheem and their son, Matt, at their family farm just outside DePere.

Was it good? Is fried chicken tasty? It was like Six Flags with udders and manure. I haven’t had so much fun since I turned 30 laps at the Atlanta Motor Speedway during the Richard Petty Driving Experience.

Our Tour de Farm started at the barn, where the “girls,” as Nick calls his herd of 75 milk cows, spend their day. The ladies were wearing black and white and looked great. So did the calf that was born just hours before we arrived. I made goo-goo noises. The calf looked at me like I was a total dunce. I‘ve seen the look before.

I checked out the machines that draw up to 75 pounds of milk from each cow daily. Since they are basically vacuum cleaners you hook to udders, I almost understood the process. I can’t say the same about the apparatus that chops hay, corn and other grains from the farm’s three massive silos into a milk cow’s gourmet delight.

I even got to see the toys, starting with a “small” John Deere tractor and moving up to a huge combine half the size of my house. I wanted to drive it, but didn’t dare ask. It was Saturday, but nobody was taking the day off. On a dairy farm, there are no days off.

The Van Gheem cows have to be milked twice a day every single day of the year. No excuses, no exceptions. No weekend breaks.

The work starts early. Nick is up at 4 every morning to start looking after the girls. Once the chores are done, it’s time to hook up the milking machines. The milk starts flowing at 5:15 a.m. and doesn’t stop until 6:45 a.m. The process is repeated each afternoon.

It’s the kind of schedule that would make most people run in the opposite direction. But farmers aren’t most people, and the Van Gheems are no exception. I went to the farm expecting to enjoy the cows and equipment but knowing that meeting the farmers would be the best part of the visit.

I wasn’t disappointed. Family farmers like the Van Gheems aren’t like most of us. They are a special breed that rise and rest with the sun, face every challenge determined to prove that hard work overcomes hard times, and they do it all with a sense of peace and pride many will never know.

Most family farmers aren’t in it for the money. Nick Van Gheem was raised on the farm he now runs. He hopes his son will continue the tradition. Chances are he will. And not because he can’t do anything else.

Family farms are as much a passion as a profession. They are operated by people whose lives aren’t defined by the size of a paycheck but the amount of satisfaction they get from performing a task as old as mankind.

For them, farming isn’t just a job. It’s a labor of love. Thank God for each and every one.

Next time I drink a glass of milk or sample a chunk of hard cheese, I’ll remember the Van Gheems and their counterparts in Wisconsin and across the country.

America has lots of problems, but as long as we still have family farmers like the Van Gheems, I’ll sleep a little better. I’ll eat a little better, too. Maybe a lot.

(Send your e-mail comments to: alex@ newnan.com)