“Building on an impressive resume in alpine ski racing, this young farmer is stewarding more than just cows at Cates Family Farm.”
This is an article from Madison Magazine by Emma Waldinger from June 6th, 2025. I love these quick questionnaires, a nice view into Eric Cate’s of Cates Family Farm in Spring Green, Wisconsin. The reason I am sharing this is because we carry their amazing natural summer sausage in the cooler by the front door. Enjoy!
Article copied below from Madison Magazine:
Three things are generational legacies for Eric Cates’ family: Alpine ski racing, civic involvement and a farm tucked between two branches of Lowery Creek near Spring Green.
Cates’ grandfather, Dick Cates Sr., purchased the farmland in 1967 as a place to teach his Madison “city kids” the value of hard work. Twenty years later, Dick Cates Jr. and his wife, Kim, returned with a few graduate degrees in hand to steward the childhood farm. Meanwhile, their son, Eric, aspired to follow his dad on a different path by becoming an Alpine ski racer.
“To be honest, I kind of didn’t want to be a farmer,” says Cates, who raced on a national championship team at Dartmouth College and coached out west for nearly 10 years. But Cates had fond memories of the farm he grew up on, returning each summer to help his mom and dad care for the land and their herd of pasture-raised Angus and Jersey cattle. After marrying his now-wife, Kiley, Cates decided to move home and build a life around Cates Family Farm.
“We’re trying to keep the legacy going,” he says. This spring, Cates fulfilled the third prong in his family’s legacy by running for and winning the seat of town clerk in Wyoming, Wisconsin.
Kindred Spirit
A dog, probably. They’re goofy and fun, loyal, like to run around, but also like naps and snacks.
Kitchen Essential
A Hell’s Handle Fish Spatula by Mercer Culinary.
Favorite Vendor
Steadfast Acres. They are an organic produce farm run by Elisabeth Minich and Steven Shoemaker near Lone Rock, Wisconsin.
Childhood Dish
Double-baked potatoes.
Madison Meals
Some of my favorites have been celebrating our anniversaries and birthdays at Cadre, Fairchild, Osteria Papavero and Sardine. But we’ve had impromptu dates at Hạ Long Bay, Ahan and The Harvey House that are up there, too. It’s hard to pick just one.
Champion Cheese
I have to say Pleasant Ridge Reserve because when I met my wife, she was working as the head cheesemaker at Uplands Cheese. Andy and Caitlin Hatch and Scott and Liana Mericka, who own Uplands, are dear friends of mine, and it was serendipitous that Kiley had moved here to work with them.
Desert Island Ally
My wife, of course! If it was a survival reality game show, though, I’d probably have to say my cousin Boone Cates. Between the two of us, I think we’d turn that island into a paradise.
Quiet Time
I like to stay up after the kids and my wife have gone to bed and put on a show or movie, drink some tea and fold the laundry. It’s my quiet time.
Comfort Food
I love the food in the Alps. It’s simple, yet warm and comforting — and filling!
Stirring Surroundings
Our farm inspires me. I love being able to walk out my door and take it all in. It’s a beautiful place to live and work. Plus, the relationships I’ve made with so many of our friends (chefs, meat buyers, families) and their commitment to making really good food — I love being a part of what they do.
Emma Waldinger is food editor at Madison Magazine.
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