Breanna Fulper is offering children, ages 10 to 13, a chance to learn how to take care of a calf, among other things, on her family’s dairy farm in West Amwell.
By: Linda Seida
WEST AMWELL A former state and county dairy princess is hosting a dairy day camp on her family’s farm this summer.
The camp is the brainchild of Breanna Fulper, who grew up on her family’s 1,200-acre dairy farm on Lambertville-Rocktown Road. The 19-year-old is a 2006 graduate of South Hunterdon Regional High School. She is a Cornell University sophomore majoring in animal science with an emphasis in dairy.
At the dairy day camp, children between the ages of 10 and 13 will learn how to take care of their own calf for a week. They’ll also make ice cream and butter, learn about the behavior of farm animals, how to milk a cow by hand, groom a calf and go on hayrides.
They’ll feed the calves, clean them and teach them to walk on a halter. They’ll also prepare the calves for a mock cow show, learning to clip their hair and get them ready.
Two campers will be paired to take care of one calf. Participants’ families will be invited at the end of the week to watch their child present his or her calf in the mock show.
The children will get a tour of the mechanized milking parlor and other facilities on the Fulper farm. They’ll be able to view the milking parlor both before and after the cows are lined up and hooked to the machinery.
If the weather is good, the children also will go on nature hikes, picking berries that later can be eaten with their homemade ice cream.
Ms. Fulper was just 5 when she milked a cow for the first time.
"I don’t know if I was any good at it," she said.
But she knew she liked it, and her enthusiasm rubbed off on friends.
When she was in elementary school, she and school friends who slept overnight at the farm would rise at 4:30 a.m. for fun.
"My friends loved to come to the farm. We were so excited to get up and milk the cows," she recalled now with a laugh.
She still finds life on the farm exciting, and she plans to return to the farm after she graduates from college.
One activity her camp’s participants might be able to see is something Ms. Fulper describes as "awesome."
Many of the cows on the family farm are due to deliver offspring. Their due dates coincide with the week of the dairy day camp. But because of the recent heat spells, the exact date of delivery remains in question because the high heat can lead to earlier calving, according to Ms. Fulper.
"You never know with the hot weather what they’ll do," she said.
Ms. Fulper is running the camp, but she’ll have help from family as well as some members of the 4-H Club.
"I just love working with kids and people," she said. "A lot of children in the area don’t have any idea where their milk comes from. A lot of people have never touched a cow or a calf."
A dairy farm like the Fulpers’ is different from the farms out west, according to Ms. Fulper.
They are "usually smaller and family run," she said. "When kids come and talk to someone who’s on a farm every day, it’s more personal."
Ms. Fulper won the title of New Jersey State Dairy Princess in November 2004 when she also held the title of Hunterdon County Dairy Princess. She has been a member of 4-H since she was 9 years old, and she plans to be a member until she’s too old to belong anymore. Membership is limited to those who are between 9 and 20, she said.
The camp will be held 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. from July 31 through Aug. 4 Registration is open until July 23. It is limited to 20 children.
A $225 fee must accompany the registration form. The fee includes a binder for resource materials and handouts, lunch and snacks and access to all grooming tools, halters, equipment, supplies and calves.
To register, or for more information, contact Ms. Fulper at [email protected] or 397-4836.

