Cows in the Rain, Polifka Road, Whitelaw, WI

In a time of industrial scale agriculture and massive confinement barns that keep cattle out of view, cows grazing along the road have become a rare sight, even something the tourism department people want to nurture to create quaint views. Once America's Dairyland, Wisconsin has lagged behind in milk production to California. Massive farms pop up in Wisconsin as the small farms with red barns and a manure pile fade away to be replaced by big "dairies" with computers displaying commodity prices in the office, scores of employeees, human resource managers, manure lagoons and 10,000 cows always waiting to be milked. Cheddar cheese carving, artisanal cheese, and small operations are re-emerging and reinventing themselves as public interest in "local" grows.