Hard times make fond memories for a dairy farmer. For more than four decades, producers seeking a respite from the milking barn and cold winter months across the United States and Canada have come together in the opening hours of the Florida State Fair for the annual Old Timer’s Breakfast to trade stories and talk about how to support the next generation.
“Just like everybody in any dairy state, they want to gather together, they want to sit together and tell their own story,” said Bonnie Ayars, a farmer, dairy program specialist at Ohio State University and longtime attendee of the event. “You know, for old-timers, it’s reminiscing about what it used to be like, but (also) how do we set the stage for some of these kids today?”
Though times have changed — logistical challenges spun the event out of the fair’s orbit in the midst of the pandemic, shaking loose some of the regular attendees, and now the breakfast is a luncheon — the tradition still draws those with ties to the industry, old or not, with 30 or so people attending last year.
This year, the Old-Timers’s Luncheon will begin at noon on Feb. 17 at O’Brien’s Irish Pub, 701 W. Lumsden Road, Brandon, Florida. Organizers said the luncheon will continue to complement the fair’s event lineup, especially for those who want to watch the cow show that day.
Madison Dyment, a PhD candidate at the University of Florida, will be a guest speaker at the luncheon. Ayars, who helped arrange for her to speak, said Dyment will focus her remarks on fostering connections across generations and positive youth development.
“She’s full of all this dynamic energy that we need to see,” Ayars said of Dyment. “(Old-Timers) want to think that they were the toughest, the best, the most important of anybody. And you know what? At that age, it’s OK. So, when they get together, they get that. But then you need to draw in something across the generations to keep it going. That’s where Maddie comes in.”
Ayars emphasized that a major part of the luncheon’s appeal is the sense of belonging and purpose it offers older members of the dairy community.
“Some people aren’t afforded the privilege to be an Old-Timer,” she said. “One of the reasons for this event is so many of them who maybe have passed their prime for leaving a leadership impact (can) still be there from a mentoring side,” Ayers said, adding that the luncheon offers certified Old-Timers a chance for them to see the next generation step up.
“Of course, you get the soothsayers that say, ‘Well, these kids don’t know how to manage mud nowadays…’ We dealt with adversities that they’re not geared to handle, and we’re not geared to handle their adversities. But when you bring these people together, you bring together a perspective, and again, that sense of self worth (for Old-Timers); I can’t tell you how important that is.”
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the dairy industry has experienced significant structural changes over the years, with larger and fewer dairy farms concentrated in fewer states outlasting smaller enterprises. In 2002, small farms with less than 100 milking cows accounted for 29% of the country’s dairy herd. By 2017, the figure had dwindled to just 13% of all dairy cows in the country.
To the farmers, it’s always been a small world, said Gary Mithoefer, an Indiana farmer, longtime Old-Timers attendee and event organizer.
On his first trip to the Florida State Fair in 2003, he never expected to see so many familiar faces, or that it would bring him back time and time again.
“I knew several people and got involved with (the luncheon) that way,” he said. “We went to the dairy show, and I figured, being in Florida, I probably wouldn’t know a person there. And we walked into the arena for the dairy show, and the first person I saw was a retired classifier (I know) from the Guernsey Association. There were several people … and I said, ‘I’ve known you fellas for I don’t know how many years. Never once have you told me you come to Florida in the winter.’”
That day, one of his friends asked him if he had attended the dairy breakfast earlier. Mithoefer came the following year, and then every year after that.
“I’ve encouraged everybody to attend and make connections with each other,” he said.
For more information about the luncheon and to help organizers with planning and seating, those interested are asked to RSVP in advance by calling, texting or emailing Mithoefer at 317-225-9025 or gnmithoefer@comcast.net, or Larry Hawkins at 608-516-0101 or lhawk1111@yahoo.com.
