June 14, 2025
VIROQUA, Wis. – The County Dairy Breakfast was held at the Mark and Theresa Lepke famil farm on Saturday. Organizers are still tabulating attendance numbers the event was well attended again this year and may well have set a record again. Great weather and close proximity to the county seat likely boosted numbers even higher than last year.
The Lepke’s are being recognized this year for their decades-long commitment to family farming.
Mark and Theresa, both originally from Chaseburg, married in 1982 and began farming shortly after in the Bad Axe area, milking cows and living in a trailer. In 1986, they purchased the current farm near Viroqua, which was in foreclosure and in need of extensive repair. Over the next several decades, the couple rebuilt and expanded the farm. Theresa left her job in 1990 to farm full time and raise their four daughters: Lindsey, Kaitlin, Lily and Mikayla.
Together, the family worked to increase the herd and modernize their operation, while also facing
significant challenges, including a 10-year battle with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, which eventually led to the loss of 12 acres and their original farmhouse to a
highway expansion project. Despite these challenges, the Lepke’s have remained committed to dairy farming. They now milk 55 cows and farm approximately 800 acres growing corn, soybeans, oats, and alfalfa. All farm and fieldwork is done by the family.
Video provided by the Vernon County Dairy Promotion Committee
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