Even though our thoughts at this time of year turn to green fields and warmer days, it's easy to lose track of the fact that Green County is an agricultural community.
Largely as the agricultural markets go, so goes Green County. Our farm community is in a crisis over low prices for commodities and produce.
Green County, according to the Census of Agriculture by the USDA, ranks in the top 16 counties in Wisconsin for all recorded areas of "top crop items." Out of 72 counties, we're 10th in corn used for silage, 10th in forage-land used for hay and haylage, 11th in soybeans for beans, 14th in corn for grain and 16th in wheat for grain. Having a good harvest in Green County can make all the difference in the lives of all involved in our agricultural community and all of the other local businesses and lives it touches.
Here it touches everything.
Prices for grain, milk and all sorts of produce figure heavily into the incomes of all farm families and thus our greater community.
Milk prices are currently at about 75 percent of what dairy farmers need on average just to break even. Commodity prices last year were at a 50-year low against a raging stock market. The USDA reported that between 2013 and 2016, net farm income had its biggest drop since the Great Depression.
Scott Timm, a director of Green County's Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, said low prices for an extended period of time have "put a lot of stress on many families in the community both inside and outside of farming."
Timm sells feed and works his own farm south of Monroe. His father is a dairy farmer milking about 60 cows. Timm said it takes both "pride and passion" to choose dairy farming as a career.
"Farmers spread risk out between various things like animals and crops, it does help spreading risk around," Timm said. "We're at a point where everything has been down for a couple years and there have only been brief periods of small gains. Farmers get to a point where they're using their reserve to pay bills. When your reserve is gone, all you have left is your labor. There is pride in farm labor and working, but you don't necessarily see it in your checking account. Meanwhile, you're running yourself ragged."
The crisis regarding low farm commodity prices has been widely covered in the media.
A piece in the New Yorker in January by J.R. Sullivan chronicled the difficulties of a rural New York farm family struggling on their 475-acre farm. The family watched the milk price drop from $25 per hundredweight in 2014 to less than $14 per hundredweight last summer. Meanwhile, costs for virtually everything else - fuel, equipment, supplies and all of the expenses that need to be paid to raise a family - went up.
According to the National Public Radio show "All Things Considered," a piece by Tovia Smith covered Agri-Mark, a 1,000-member cooperative in Massachusetts that saw an increase in suicides among its members. The cooperative contacted the National Council for Suicide Prevention for help.
People look at a farm and think it's rock-solid income. What do we say when we smell manure in Wisconsin?
"It smells like money."
A farm is a 24-hour-a-day job with income tied to commodity prices that can't be controlled. A good business plan for a farm can't necessarily sustain it through a long-term drop of half its income.
Consumers like the fact they can go into a store and pick up a gallon of milk for under $2. While the price of milk is a complicated thing, bargain milk prices are not necessarily good for a dairy community.
According to the USDA Farm Census for Green County, we rank 16th out of 72 counties in Wisconsin in milk production. Among counties in the nation we rank 75th. The price of milk is crucial to our economy.
Timm said farmers work hard to provide the most for their family and future generations. Whether there's trouble in dairy farming or other types of farming, "exit strategies are very tough to consider," Timm said.
Timm said politics come into play. The federal Farm Bill will be up for renewal in 2019. Many wonder if it will include supports and help provide for pricing strategies that help the farm economy.
"Agriculture is the backbone of our community and farmers take a lot of pride in what they do," Timm said. "Right now, a lot of people are struggling."
When looking at our well-cared-for farm community, there are real concerns over income and prices. There's a bigger story behind every red barn.
- Matt Johnson is publisher of the Monroe Times. His column is published Wednesdays.
Largely as the agricultural markets go, so goes Green County. Our farm community is in a crisis over low prices for commodities and produce.
Green County, according to the Census of Agriculture by the USDA, ranks in the top 16 counties in Wisconsin for all recorded areas of "top crop items." Out of 72 counties, we're 10th in corn used for silage, 10th in forage-land used for hay and haylage, 11th in soybeans for beans, 14th in corn for grain and 16th in wheat for grain. Having a good harvest in Green County can make all the difference in the lives of all involved in our agricultural community and all of the other local businesses and lives it touches.
Here it touches everything.
Prices for grain, milk and all sorts of produce figure heavily into the incomes of all farm families and thus our greater community.
Milk prices are currently at about 75 percent of what dairy farmers need on average just to break even. Commodity prices last year were at a 50-year low against a raging stock market. The USDA reported that between 2013 and 2016, net farm income had its biggest drop since the Great Depression.
Scott Timm, a director of Green County's Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, said low prices for an extended period of time have "put a lot of stress on many families in the community both inside and outside of farming."
Timm sells feed and works his own farm south of Monroe. His father is a dairy farmer milking about 60 cows. Timm said it takes both "pride and passion" to choose dairy farming as a career.
"Farmers spread risk out between various things like animals and crops, it does help spreading risk around," Timm said. "We're at a point where everything has been down for a couple years and there have only been brief periods of small gains. Farmers get to a point where they're using their reserve to pay bills. When your reserve is gone, all you have left is your labor. There is pride in farm labor and working, but you don't necessarily see it in your checking account. Meanwhile, you're running yourself ragged."
The crisis regarding low farm commodity prices has been widely covered in the media.
A piece in the New Yorker in January by J.R. Sullivan chronicled the difficulties of a rural New York farm family struggling on their 475-acre farm. The family watched the milk price drop from $25 per hundredweight in 2014 to less than $14 per hundredweight last summer. Meanwhile, costs for virtually everything else - fuel, equipment, supplies and all of the expenses that need to be paid to raise a family - went up.
According to the National Public Radio show "All Things Considered," a piece by Tovia Smith covered Agri-Mark, a 1,000-member cooperative in Massachusetts that saw an increase in suicides among its members. The cooperative contacted the National Council for Suicide Prevention for help.
People look at a farm and think it's rock-solid income. What do we say when we smell manure in Wisconsin?
"It smells like money."
A farm is a 24-hour-a-day job with income tied to commodity prices that can't be controlled. A good business plan for a farm can't necessarily sustain it through a long-term drop of half its income.
Consumers like the fact they can go into a store and pick up a gallon of milk for under $2. While the price of milk is a complicated thing, bargain milk prices are not necessarily good for a dairy community.
According to the USDA Farm Census for Green County, we rank 16th out of 72 counties in Wisconsin in milk production. Among counties in the nation we rank 75th. The price of milk is crucial to our economy.
Timm said farmers work hard to provide the most for their family and future generations. Whether there's trouble in dairy farming or other types of farming, "exit strategies are very tough to consider," Timm said.
Timm said politics come into play. The federal Farm Bill will be up for renewal in 2019. Many wonder if it will include supports and help provide for pricing strategies that help the farm economy.
"Agriculture is the backbone of our community and farmers take a lot of pride in what they do," Timm said. "Right now, a lot of people are struggling."
When looking at our well-cared-for farm community, there are real concerns over income and prices. There's a bigger story behind every red barn.
- Matt Johnson is publisher of the Monroe Times. His column is published Wednesdays.
