A lot has changed in over 160 years of operation at El-Na Farms, but you will see one thing that hasn’t at this Sunday’s Kewaunee County Breakfast on the Farm. El-Na Farms started in 1858 when the Fenendaels purchased the land from the State of Wisconsin. When Barry, Lonnie, and Shane Fenendael purchased the operations from the farm’s namesakes Eli and Nancy in 2000, the farm had only 100 cows and 240 acres. Now, El-Na Farms boasts 2,500 cows and 7,500 cows, building the county’s first rotary milking parlor in 2008 and adding new mechanical shops, heifer barns, and a grain facility. The one thing that has not changed is the importance of family. They weathered a fire in 2010 that destroyed part of the original barn and parlor, and the loss of Nancy in 2022. Lonnie Fenendael is happy that the family business has stayed one for nearly seven generations.
El-Na Farms will open its doors to thousands on Father’s Day for the Kewaunee County Breakfast on the Farm. The event will begin at 7 a.m. with a church service followed by food at 8 a.m. Tickets are available online or at select locations throughout Brown, Door, and Kewaunee counties. The Kewaunee County Dairy Promotion, which helps organize the event, is still looking for volunteers to fill essential roles on Sunday.
