The county farm that gives its harvest away: what grows there, its long history, and how to sign up for a volunteer shift.
The farm at Ryan Road and South 68th Street does not sell what it grows; it gives it away. The Hunger Task Force Farm in Franklin covers 208 acres and grows fresh food for families in need, picked by volunteers. Its address is 9000 S. 68th St.
You cannot just drop by. Hunger Task Force offers volunteer shifts and school programs rather than public visiting hours, so the way to see the farm is to work on it.
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What grows on the farm
The farm grows over 70 varieties of 28 different crops. Our listing names apples, tomatoes and pumpkins among them. Orchards sit alongside oak savanna and prairie, and Hunger Task Force has written about keeping honeybee hives on the land.
Spectrum News reported in 2024 that the farm runs two year-round greenhouses and has seven full-time staff. Our listing adds crop rotation, drip irrigation and beekeeping to the practices used here.
The harvest figures vary by source and year. Hunger Task Force's volunteer page says the farm grows over half a million pounds of produce a season, while its farm page reported a 2025 figure of about 350,000 pounds. Either way, the food goes to families through Hunger Task Force's network rather than to a farm stand.
A county farm with a long history
The land's history reaches back to 1839, when Edmund Carman bought 160 acres here. Milwaukee Magazine reported in 2012 that from 1946 the land was a work farm for inmates of the Milwaukee County House of Correction, and later held a UW-Milwaukee Great Lakes research lab.
In 2012, Hunger Task Force signed a 30-year lease with Milwaukee County Parks, and the farm became a Signature Program supported by Harley-Davidson. BizTimes reported in 2013 that the lease costs $1 a year, and that in return Hunger Task Force raises fish in the farm's hatchery for County Parks and supplies firewood.
Hunger Task Force's ties to the land are older than the lease. Milwaukee Magazine and Milwaukee NNS, both writing in 2012, said Hunger Task Force was already farming part of the property in the 2000s. The farm has also grown: Milwaukee Magazine described it as 139 acres in 2012, and Hunger Task Force now gives 208.
BizTimes reported in 2013 that Harley-Davidson donated $2.4 million toward the farm.
The hatchery is the old Milwaukee County Fish Hatchery, which Milwaukee NNS reported in 2012 was used to stock County Park ponds and lagoons.
How to volunteer
Volunteering is the open door, and the season runs from May through October. Shifts run Monday through Friday, from 8:45 to 11:30 a.m. and from 1 to 4 p.m. Individuals can sign up, and so can groups of 10 to 50.
The rules are practical. Volunteers must be 16 or older and able to lift 30 pounds or more, and closed-toe shoes are required, so no sandals. School and youth groups use a separate form.
Fieldwork depends on the weather. Hunger Task Force runs a volunteer hotline, 414-395-5605, that it updates an hour before each shift, so call it on the morning of your shift if the sky looks doubtful.
Nearly 6,000 volunteers help each growing season. Expect weeding, planting or harvesting, depending on the month.
A volunteer shift, start to finish
A shift is a few hours of real fieldwork. The morning shift runs 2 hours and 45 minutes, from 8:45 to 11:30 a.m., and the afternoon one runs 3 hours, from 1 to 4 p.m. What you do depends on the month: Fox6's 2023 segments from the farm covered weeding, planting and harvesting.
Groups are a big part of the schedule. With room for 10 to 50 people per group, a shift suits a company team day, a church group or a club, and the volunteer page has the group sign-up. The volunteer page names Stephen Poquette as the farm's volunteer coordinator.
Questions that the volunteer page does not answer go to Hunger Task Force's main office, 5000 W. Electric Ave. in West Milwaukee, at 414-777-0483. The office is not at the farm, so do not drive to Electric Avenue for your shift.
Schools and education
The farm is also a classroom. Hunger Task Force wrote in 2025 that the farm has a school garden and a demonstration kitchen, and that its child nutrition educator reaches more than 200 Milwaukee Public Schools students a year.
Teachers should use the youth and school group form on the volunteer page rather than the general sign-up.
What to wear and bring
Dress for a field, not a park. Closed-toe shoes are required, and the work is outdoors in Wisconsin summer and fall weather, so bring water, sun protection and layers. Arrive in time for the start of the shift, since the morning one begins at 8:45 a.m.
Near the farm
Golf is close too.
For local history after a shift, Paynesville Chapel, an 1852 meeting hall that our listing says was built by German Freethinkers, is about 2.4 miles east.
The farm is one of the quiet outdoor places in Franklin that is not a park at all.
If you are clearing out a closet instead, the thrift stores in Franklin take donations on the east side of the city.
Back in town, what to do in Franklin runs from Wehr's trails to Ballpark Commons.
Frequently asked questions
Published September 7, 2026
