Wisconsin Cow Chip Throw will go on, despite shortage of quality 'chips'

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The grass wasn't this green this summer in Wisconsin, and the cows didn't produce quality "chips."

Every year, nearly 40,000 visitors descend upon Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin for the Wisconsin State Cow Chip Throw and Festival.

The state record for a cow chip toss is an impressive 248 feet, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and the theme of this year's festival, to be held this weekend, is "Pirates of the Cowwibean."

What, pray tell, is a cow chip, you might ask. Well, another term might be "cow pie" or even cow dung. That's right, thousands of people gather to watch other people fling poop.

This year, however, there won't be as much of it to fling.

Because of the drought here in the Midwest, the grass withered and the cow's diets were supplemented, according to the Sauk Prairie Eagle. Because of the heat, the cows stayed in the shade, ensuring that the chips that were produced were concentrated in one spot and trampled.

And the cow chip throw committee prides itself on quality chips, which can be thrown extremely far.

According to Terry Slotty, a committee member, they have collected between 400 and 500 chips -- approximately half of what they would collect in a typical year.

But no need to worry because the chip throw will go on.

"We generally pick more every year than what we need," committee chairperson Ellen Paulson told the Prairie Eagle. "There's always a stash from the year before just in case something like this happens."