On Saturday morning, June 7th, between 7:00am and 10:00am, what you do is go to Fairbury and, from the stop light on Route 24, you go south on First Street. Approximately one mile down that road you’ll come to Kilgus Farmstead there on the west side of the road and you’ll see a tent set-up and under that tent you can spend just 75 cents for a Breakfast on the Farm.
This will be the fourth annual breakfast sponsored by the Livingston County Farm Bureau Young Leaders and hosted by the Kilgus family at their farming facility, and in addition to giving the community (all you city slickers, etc.) an opportunity to see a farming operation in operation, it gives you the opening to ask questions about how it all works and get understandable answers from folks who really know what they’re talking about.
What this breakfast does, at 75 cents for a meal that would probably cost upwards of $8 elsewhere, is to focus some attention on what farmers get back as a return on their investment in producing the items being consumed – 75 cents a serving is a reasonable representation of what they can expect. This puts a focus on the fact that even though prices may fluctuate on an upward scale in the consumer supply chain those increases seldom materialize back to where it all begins.
It is an interesting enlightenment and well worth asking for if you’ve a mind to do so, and additionally, the Kilgus staff will be offering free tours of the farm that day so you can bring the kids and let them pet a calf while they’re being shown how these animals that everyone depends on daily are raised and cared for. You don’t have to have kids though to enjoy the tour; everyone is welcome.
The Kilgus Farmstead is a dairy farm, and they manage around 130 registered Jersey cows for that purpose, but they also have steers, pigs and rabbits to complete their four legged forum.
The farmstead is the only single source bottling plant in the state of Illinois and they have a Country Store where, if you come early enough, you can view the bottling process through a viewing window. The Country Store has a vibrant supply of local ingredients and products that can be purchased for your dining and cooking enhancement and enjoyment so you’ve got the “real deal” all in one place.
As we mentioned, the breakfast is an annual event but tours are available if you call ahead, or tag into one that’s already scheduled, and, the Country Store is open 8:00am to 6:00pm Monday through Saturday and the milk bottling operation is usually in progress at least three days a week.
Come on out and enjoy their famous country breakfast, its good food in a protected atmosphere and served by a group of folks from the LCFB who can deliver answers as well as food. The proceeds go to a good cause as well – its all donated to the Livingston County Community Food Pantry. Bring the family, bring your friends, bring yourself and, enjoy!