JUNEAU — Ask a child from the city where milk comes from and he or she may just answer, "From the store."

Even children who know that milk comes from cows may have heard on the playground that chocolate milk comes from brown cows.

However, members of a Dairy Ambassador Program that recently formed in Dodge County want to change all that by educating people about the dairy industry.

The ambassador program was formed through the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin (PDPW), and members Frank Behling, Alison Grulke, Kallie Kiesow and Steffani Koch have already began to spread their knowledge of all things dairy to area youth.

Coach Bonnie Borden, a dairy and livestock youth educator for the UW Extension office, said seeing children's faces light up when they learn cows have four stomachs, or see how many buckets of water a cow drinks each day, is what the dairy ambassadors are all about.

"The objective is not to just hand out cheese and crackers, but rather leadership and educational promotion of the dairy industry, possible careers in the dairy industry," Borden said.

The ambassadors will be busy educating and promoting the dairy industry Sunday at the Dairy Breakfast at the Brossard farm, then again at Farm Technology Days in July and at the Dodge County Fair in August.

Sunday's appearance won't be the first for the ambassadors. They had an educational booth setup in May at Farm City Days in Horicon.

"I thought it was a good experience. It's good that we got to talk to the kids because they maybe like talking to people who are closer to their own age. It seemed like they were having fun and learning, and asking a lot of questions," Koch said.

The children came in with a working knowledge of the dairy industry because a dairy agent visited their class prior to Farm City Day. However, Behling said he was surprised that just as many questions came from adults as from the children.

"We got a lot of questions from chaperones and even the teachers," he said.

The program has been an educational experience for the ambassadors, as well. The PDPW provides communication and leadership training.

"We went through a lot of information, questions that we may be asked and how to give the answers," Kiesow said.

Borden said the group is exploring opportunities and hopes to make appearances at events throughout the Dodge County area, drawing more attention, and interest in the dairy industry. To book the dairy ambassadors at a local event, contact Borden at the UW Extension office at 386-3790.

amartin@capitlanespapers.com