It’s been a quiet spring at this OP farmstead, due to pandemic. That’s about to change

Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead is one of the top visitor destinations in Johnson County, drawing more than 439,000 people from April through October. Normally at this time of year, the farmstead would have about 2,000 visitors a day streaming through the gates rushing to see the resident bison and longhorn cattle, chat with the groundhogs, ride the ponies, fish in the pond and feed the baby goats.

So far this year, it’s been quiet at the farmstead. Like everything else, the attraction has been closed due to the coronavirus. Farmstead Superintendent Virgil Miles has been leading a skeleton crew to keep the place in good shape and all the animals fed.

“Right now, it’s only animal care staff and construction and maintenance crews — about 10 of us on site,” Miles said. “That’s greatly reduced from the normal seasonal high of 70…and that doesn’t include all the volunteers we count on.”

The good news for fans of animals is that the farmstead, located at 13800 Switzer in Overland Park, plans to open to the public July 1. In the meantime, staff has been busy cleaning up the grounds, planting flowers and making improvements to the area.

The Farmstead originally opened to the public in 1978. It was renamed in 1985 in memory of Overland Park Police Officer Deanna Rose, who was killed in the line of duty. At that time, Rose was the only Overland Park officer to have been killed in the line of duty and the first female officer in Kansas.

During the season, the Farmstead is home to about 250 animals, including the cherished goats, birds of prey and peacocks. Some of the regulars have yet to return to the farmstead.

“We do try to get animals on loan from farmers, including the pigs, turkeys, swans and geese, but we have held them off so far,” Miles said. He anticipates when the farmstead opens, they will have all returned.

“It used to be easier to get farm animals on loan but with farms decreasing in number it’s been harder to get them, Miles said.

Goats, on the hand, have not been in short supply, thanks to the farmstead’s breeding program.

“We wouldn’t do that if you could just go to the store and buy the baby goats,” said Miles with a chuckle. And there are plenty of baby goats this year, although when the public returns they will be older, thus bigger, than in prior years.

Each year, staff chooses a theme in naming the goats. This year, the World Champion Kansas City Chiefs and some of their coaches earned the honor.

On a recent sunny morning, “Coach Reid” was relaxing in the shade while “Patrick Mahomes” was right in the thick of things at the feeding trough. Each morning, animal specialist Krystal Hilscher is responsible for the running of the goats, which is a sight to see.

Miles says there’s one sign some of the animals are missing human visitors.

“I think they enjoy the peace and quiet except the goats are missing the bottle feeding and chow that people feed to them,” he said. “Staff takes plenty of time to be with them. It’s a lot of change for us.”

Those staff members also have kept connected with the public through photos and videos on the Farmstead’s Facebook page. Weekly Facebook Live events feature an animal, activity or a tour of some location at the farmstead.

“It’s been a good way to keep the public involved and enthused,” Miles said. The public can get a personalized email from their favorite farm animal through a link on the farmstead’s Facebook page.

In preparation for the July 1 reopening, Farmstead workers have been busy. Without the public around, Miles said employees been able to complete more repairs.

“We have a new project (at) our fishing pond island and we completely replaced the mining slews for the public,” Miles said. New animal additions include more ponies for the herd, a new baby calf and lots of baby goats.

With an opening date, Miles said there are still some details to iron out.

“The biggest difference will be some restriction,” Miles said. “We will pay attention to social distancing and hand-washing/sanitizer stations. We’ve always had hand-washing stations and I think going forward we will add more stops where you can use hand sanitizers.”

Decisions are still being made as to how much personal interaction the public will have with the animals and playground access.

“We aren’t sure if those will be open right away. We will do whatever is recommended,” Miles said. “It is going to be up to people to be on the lookout for themselves a bit. It continues to evolve.”

The farmstead is planning for some of its popular events to take place either on site or virtually. One activity on indefinite pause is the popular goat yoga. Miles is hopeful the volunteers who work on the community garden, which has been minimally tended to this spring, will be allowed to return soon to spruce things up. He’s anxious to welcome other volunteers back, as well.

“We average 20,000 volunteer hours annually,” he said. “Our volunteers do a little bit of everything.”

Miles said the farmstead has not faced any budget cuts so far, “but we are being very frugal in our spending. We usually recapture from admission and other events and activities (but) I’m not sure we will be able to do that this year.”

Miles said 2020 has been the most unpredictable in his 16 years as Farmstead superintendent. He isn’t sure what to expect on July, when the barn doors swing open to welcome the public. He’s hopeful folks will come back to the popular attraction.

“It’s all a guessing game where things are going in the future,” he said.

This story was originally published June 15, 2020 at 7:00 AM with the headline "It’s been a quiet spring at this OP farmstead, due to pandemic. That’s about to change."