| October 2004 | | | | |
| | | | Ralph's new book, Give Me a Home Where the |
| For Immediate Release... | | | | Dairy Cows Roam (192 pages; $13.95; ISBN |
| | | | 1-59113-592-3) is a collection of 20 true |
| Give Me a Home Where the Dairy Cows Roam | | | | stories that took place on her family's farm |
| | | | 40 years ago. Story titles include "Taking |
| COLFAX, WISCONSIN - Did you know that since | | | | the Bull by the Horns," "Spring Cleaning," "A |
| 1969, the United States has lost 85 percent | | | | Different Sort of Cow," "Dad's Favorite |
| of its dairy farms. And did you know that | | | | Recipe," "Popsicle Blues," "On Top of the |
| since 1969, Wisconsin has lost nearly 70 | | | | World," and "Better Butter." |
| percent of its dairy farms? | | | | |
| | | | According to Midwest Book Review, Ralph's |
| "I lived away from my hometown in west | | | | first book, Christmas In Dairyland: True |
| central Wisconsin for 15 years. When I | | | | Stories From A Wisconsin Farm "is a |
| returned in the mid 1990s, I expected to be | | | | heartwarming anthology of true anecdotes of |
| living in a farming community again. Instead, | | | | rural life on a Wisconsin dairy farm. Even |
| I discovered that many of the small family | | | | though Wisconsin is still known as America's |
| dairy farms like the one where I grew up had | | | | Dairyland, life on a family homestead is fast |
| disappeared" said LeAnn R. Ralph, author of | | | | being replaced by corporate agribusiness, and |
| the books Christmas in Dairyland (True | | | | the memories treasured in Christmas In |
| Stories from a Wisconsin Farm) (August 2003) | | | | Dairyland are quickly becoming unique |
| and Give Me a Home Where the Dairy Cows Roam | | | | milestones of an era needing to be preserved |
| (October 2004). | | | | in thought and print for the sake of future |
| | | | generations. Christmas In Dairyland is simply |
| Figures from the Census of Agriculture and | | | | wonderful reading and is a 'must' for all |
| from the American Farm Bureau Federation | | | | Wisconsin public library collections." |
| indicate that in 1969 more than a half a | | | | |
| million dairy farms operated in the United | | | | Ralph earned a Bachelor of Arts in English |
| States, but by the year 2000, only 83,000 | | | | with a writing emphasis from the University |
| dairy farms remained. And according to | | | | of Wisconsin-Whitewater and also earned a |
| statistics from the U.S. Census of | | | | Master of Arts in Teaching from |
| Agriculture, during the last three decades of | | | | UW-Whitewater. She worked as a newspaper |
| the twentieth century, Wisconsin went from | | | | reporter for nine years and also has taught |
| 66,000 dairy farms down to 20,000 dairy | | | | English at a boys' boarding school. She is |
| farms. | | | | the editor of the Wisconsin Regional Writer |
| | | | (the quarterly publication of the Wisconsin |
| "That's why I decided to write stories about | | | | Regional Writers' Assoc.). |
| growing up on a dairy farm. Our farm was | | | | |
| home-steaded by my Norwegian | | | | Give Me a Home Where the Dairy Cows Roam and |
| great-grandfather in the late 1800s, but | | | | Christmas in Dairyland (True Stories from a |
| small family farms are a thing of the past. | | | | Wisconsin Farm)are available through Barnes & |
| They have pretty much disappeared from the | | | | Noble and For more information or to order |
| landscape," Ralph said. | | | | the books, visit or call LeAnn at (715) |
| | | | 962-3368. |
| "My dad milked 20 cows and knew all of them | | | | |
| by name. Nowadays the trend is toward | | | | Contact Information: |
| corporate farms that milk hundreds of cows," | | | | |
| she said. | | | | LeAnn R. Ralph; E6689 970th Ave. |