JOIN US FOR

Brain and his wife Elizbeth Peters, along with their daughters Vivian and Morgan. 

​

The story starts in 1858, 167 years ago, Jacob and Theodora Peters left the small town
in Hommersum, Germany and made their way to the USA. They purchased an 80-acre
parcel for $2300.00 just north of the current Washington County Cemetery on 18th Ave
in West Bend. They were a founding family of Washington County.
In 1888 their son and his family, Michael and Anna Peters purchased 160 acres at the
current location. And the legacy began. In 1918 the farm was split into two 80-acre
parcels. With the East 1⁄2 sold to his son Henry Peters and the West 1⁄2 sold to his son
Frank Peters, 2nd Gen. In 1952 the farm was then sold to Frank and Clara’s oldest son
and family, Alphonse and Erna Peters, 3rd Gen, and the dairy tradition continued. In
1975 the State of Wisconsin purchased the NE corner triangle, which contained all the
farm buildings, for an onramp for the Highway 45 Bypass. The house and small
outbuildings were moved to the Western edge of the farm and a new barn, silo and
shed were built. In 1982 the business portion was sold to Mark and Lynn Peters, 4th
Gen, and in 1986 they purchased the real estate. The tradition continued to modernize
and grow. Finally, in 2017 10 acres and the business was sold to Brian and Elizabeth
Peters, 5th Gen. with the 137-year diary tradition continuing.
A lot of changes have taken place over the years, some for the good and some for the
bad, but still has allowed our small farm to grow and modernized since its beginning.
With a meager start of about 10 hand milked cows and other livestock and teams of
horses that were used for field work and transportation. To steel wheeled tractors,
better farm equipment and cars along with increases in cow numbers. In the late
1940’s, early 1950’s the farm had a flock of over 300 laying hens, some hogs for
personal consumption and of course the growing dairy herd. At that time the eggs
were sometimes traded for other goods or sold to a local merchant for resale. By the
late 1960’s early 1970’s the chickens and hogs had disappeared, the dairy young stock
took over those buildings and the dairy cows were out growing the dairy barn. In 1973,
3
rd generation owner Alphonse Peters was starting to plan an addition to the old barn
for a new dairy barn along with new silos. Those plans all came to a stop when the WI
State Dept. of Transportation decided that the future Highway 45 bypass was being
planned to go right though the middle of the original 180-acre farm. In 1975 the state
purchased 27+acres with the original homestead buildings from Francis Peters, son of
Henry Peters, and 5+acres with a second set of homestead buildings from Alphonse
Peters, son of Frank Peters, for a 4-lane freeway and interchange. Decisions had to be
Made! Francis, 3rd generation, and his family decided to move to another farm near
Brownsville, WI but retained the ownership of their remaining land. Alphonse, 3rd

generation, and his family decided to relocate the farm to the NW corner of their
remaining 75 acres. The house and small outbuildings were moved, and a new dairy
barn, silo and machine shed were built at the current location. To keep costs low the
barn was built with the bare minimums. In the following few years stone fences were
buried, and contour crop strips were established behind the new facility to help with
soil erosion. In 1982 Mark Peters and his family the 4 generation, purchased the
business from his father. In the next few years their first pipeline milking system was
installed and a new heifer facility connecting to the dairy barn was built to reduce the
overcrowding of the again expanding dairy operation. DHIA milk testing, soil testing,
crop and nutritional management was all put in place to operate a more efficient
operation. In 1999 an extensive 5-mile field tile system was installed to aid in better
crop production from the land that we have. More rented acres were added, cow
numbers increased and once again expansions took place. In 2010 A new solar front
heifer building was added to the existing one. The building was built for ease of
feeding, cleaning and cattle comfort and mobility. In 2011 A manure pit was built along
with an addition to the original dairy barn to house the pits manure pump, a new
maternity pen and pen for small calves. At the same time an area was built in the new
second floor area that now contains 3 large 60” tunnel ventilation fans. This area was
designed so it could cool the cows in the lower level or cool down the upper level
when hay and straw was put into storage on those hot summer days. To reduce labor
more large round bales and big squares were being made, so in 2014 another large
pole shed was added for bale storage. The farm continued to modernize and grow. In
2017 Brian and Elizabeth the 5th generation on the farm started their journey. They
have upgraded the pipeline milking system to a 3” line and went to 8 Bou-matic
automatic take off units. They also are constantly upgrading their machinery line so
they can use new technology and to hopefully keep his breakdown time to a minimum.
Brian currently has gone to a no-till cropping system and plants cover crops in fall to
reduce soil loss. He also still follows his grandpa’s contour farming practices that
were established, and he has expanded on the field drainage tile system that his dad
installed in 1999 to help grow better crops. The dairy operation has not expanded
much over the last 15 years although acres farmed have increased to 500 acres. Many
other enterprises have developed over the years. The biggest being his huge fall
pumpkin stand business.