Dan Rentmeester is the 2024 June model
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
A group of Wisconsin men, including a farmer, are showing off their bodies and personalities in the 2024 Dad Bod calendar.
Dan Rentmeester, a single father of an 11-year-old son, raises cash crops and beef cattle on his family’s farm in Denmark, Wis., is the calendar’s Mr. June.
Merriam Webster defines a dad bod as “a physique regarded as typical of an average father,” and “one that is slightly overweight and not extremely muscular.”
But for Rentmeester, the body part of the calendar came second to helping promote positivity and confidence.
“When I think of a dad bod, I think of someone who is confident in themselves,” he told Farms.com. “Because when you’re raising a kid, you want them to be confident in themselves too. We are so preoccupied with how people will look at us, and I hope my participation in the calendar helps people understand that who you are inside is more important than what you look like outside.”
Not only did Rentmeester act as a model for the calendar, but his farm also provided some of the backdrop too.
Dan Rentmeester (ART-C Productions photo).
One photo includes him in blue overalls, holding a calf over his shoulders while wearing a John Deere hat and standing in front of a John Deere combine.
That photo received the most votes, 9,007 to be exact, in a contest held by ART-C Productions, the company behind the calendar, to see which photos would make it into the final product.
And in a promotional video for the calendar, Rentmeester is operating the combine wearing a dairy cow costume while two dads wearing American flag-themed overalls are running away from it.
“My dad was pretty proud that his combine made it into the calendar,” Rentmeester said. “My mom wasn’t surprised at all because of my personality and my son loves it because he’s got a personality like I do. We’re aways trying to make people smile.”
And proceeds from calendar sales are going to a good cause.
Sales from the calendar will be donated to Ribbon of Hope, a charity that uses 97 cents of every dollar it receives to provide financial, emotional, and informational support to families going through breast cancer.
It’s a cause that’s close to the heart of Kayla Valdez, co-owner of ART-C Productions.
“My uncle was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013 and he passed away from it in April 2014,” she told Farms.com. “Prior to my uncle having it, I wasn’t even aware men could get breast cancer, and I wanted to do something to honor him.”
Indeed, men can get breast cancer.
Each year, about 2,100 men receive that diagnosis, the Centers for Disease Control says.
After her uncle’s passing, Valdez offered breast cancer photo shoots and photographed local women.
“We met some amazing ladies, but it wasn’t gaining the traction I was hoping for,” she said.
This led to the creation of the Dad Bod calendar.
The first edition came out in 2023, which Rentmeester also participated in.
That calendar proved to be a great success and now Valdez has an extensive catalogue of models to choose from.
“We’ve got men messaging us wanting to be a part of it, we’ve got wives volunteering their husbands and moms volunteering their sons,” she said.
The best part about the photo shoots, Valdez says, is seeing the models become more comfortable with what they’re doing.
It can be tricky at first, but it’s fun to see them come around, she said.
“When you’ve got a bunch of guys there with different body shapes and sizes, there’s going to be some who may not want to take their shirts off or are a little hesitant about it,” she said. “But as the shoot goes on and the guys get more comfortable, it becomes so much fun. And they just let their personalities out. I tell them I don’t need six packs, I need personalities.”
And those experiences have developed into friendships.
“We’ve got a group chat going that’s always going off,” Rentmeester said. “It’s amazing what can happen when you’re shirtless for a little while.”
Anyone interested in purchasing a calendar can pre-order it online.
In addition, a launch party is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 2, at Bay Area Burger Co.
The calendar models will be on hand for autographs, and a dad bod auction will see all proceeds donated to Ribbon of Hope.