Wisconsin Farmers Union News

Good day, friends and neighbors,

Let’s all say it together, SpRInG PLEASE aRRive already!

Meanwhile, I am certain it will be warmer by MAY 7, when we will have a spring membership meeting. We would love to see you there, at Whitewater Music Hall in Wausau at 1 pm. We will hear from Paul Daigle, Marathon County CPZ Department, about the EPPIC (Eau Pleine Partnership for Integrated Conservation) and watershed management, and updates from the state WFU staff. I am sure we will also discuss Kohlrabi Day!!  Watch for the card in your mailbox for more info and save the date.

Your Marathon County chapter reps meet monthly via Zoom, next meeting is Sunday May 8 at 7 pm. Please drop me an email if you would like to join in at mkluz11@gmail.com. All are welcome.

 

Also, State WFU staff have collected a list of resources and opportunities that may interest you, below. Let me know if there are topics that are especially pertinent to you, if you want to hear more about them locally and we will see what we can do.

April 15, 2022

March Forth to Earth Day!

  • Every Friday – March 4th to April 22, 2022
  • Eight consecutive weeks of outdoor-in-person & virtual climate actions across Wisconsin.
  • Stopping Line 5. These Friday actions can be as simple as a quiet public assembly or as creative and complicated as any community has capacity and interest for. We have ideas and resources to help you in either direction. Our goal is to have dozens of Friday climate actions across Wisconsin and to link them via Zoom events and social media. The Zoom events will happen between noon and 1:00 PM and between 5:00 and 6:00 PM on each of the Fridays. (Mar. 4th – Apr. 22)
  • Learn more here:
  • For questions you can contact Allison Hellenbrand at crookam93@gmail.com

 

Creating a Safer Dairy Workplace

  • Mon., Apr. 18, 2022 (12:00 PM – 1:00 PM ET)
  • Safety happens – sometimes! Worker safety is one of those critical topics that needs to be reinforced on a regular basis. Join Dr. Lisa Holden for Creating a Safer Dairy Workplace, designed to help you be creative about ways to encourage safe habits in your workers and “Create a Safer Workplace” on your dairy. This event is being offered at no charge to participants.
  • WHAT WILL YOU LEARN? The top three dairy worker hazards (Animal handling, Manure storage, and Machinery and equipment), Ideas for sharing safety strategies with your workers, and Develop action steps to improve worker safety
  • Learn more and register here: https://extension.psu.edu/creating-a-safer-dairy-workplace

 

  • Micro (Drip) Irrigation for Small Vegetable Farms, SPONSORED BY: USDA NRCS

Cultivating Personal Strength and Resilience: We-COPE for Farmers and Agriculture

  • FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 2022, 11AM – 12PM
  • This 60-minute session will explore a sampling of activities and skills that research shows can dramatically reduce personal stress, improve physical health, and cultivate a sense of peace and well-being even for those who live and work in the busy and unpredictable world of agriculture. Whether you are a farm operator, manager, employee, or other professional connected to the ag industry, the We-COPE Program draws from clinical research studies about actions that are shown to make a difference in our lives, relationships, decision making and sense of well-being.  Extension Specialists John Shutske and Educator Amanda Corough will demonstrate skills that can be built into our daily lives and busy routines without a great deal of effort or time. This program builds on and amplifies the strengths and skills that people associated with farming already tend to do well and practice regularly.
  • Learn more and register here: https://extension.wisc.edu/agriculture/farm-ready-research/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D156548435

Wisconsin Women in Conservation Spring Meetings 

  • Climate Smart Soil Solutions
  • Building healthy soil amidst an increasingly challenging environment remains a high priority for women landowners in Wisconsin. Join fellow women landowners, farmers and conservationists along with local experts, to delve into climate-smart practices that sequester carbon, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and mitigate the impacts of climate change, while building resilience to strengthen your operation.
  • Stevens Point – April 26
  • New London – April 27
  • East Troy – May 3
  • Amery  – May 6
  • Fountain City – May 20
  • La Farge – June 3
  • Learn more and register for the event closest to you at  https://www.wiwic.org/upcoming-events

 

  • Los Lecheros Film Discussion and Panel
  • Tuesday, May 3, 2022 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM)
  • Please join us for a conversation about undocumented immigrant workers in the Wisconsin dairy industry.  Your registration included the link to watch the film as well as the link to join the webinar.
  • A collaboration between Twelve Letter Films and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, Los Lecheros examines the interrelationship between undocumented immigrant workers and Wisconsin’s $45 billion dairy industry, focusing on some of the workers and farmers struggling to survive amidst shifting policies.
  • The panel will discuss policies and new developments around work visas, as well as the powerful personal relationships farmers in Wisconsin are building with families in Mexico. All registrants will receive the link to watch the film.
  • To receive the link to watch the film and view the webinar please register.
  • Learn more and register here: https://wisconsinfarmersunion.growthzoneapp.com/maincalendar/details/los-lecheros-film-discussion-and-panel-616466

Wisconsin Farmers Union Kamp Kenwood

  • Located along beautiful Lake Wissota near Chippewa Falls, the camp is the ideal spot for youth from all across the Midwest to gather for cooperation, leadership and fun. Our education programs focus on cooperatives, family farms, sustainability, leadership, conservation, rural communities, social justice, and active citizenship.
  • Learn more and register here: https://www.wisconsinfarmersunion.com/youth-camp

USDA Rural Development 

 

 

 

New WFU Short Film! 

  • No Time to Lose: The Fight for the Future of Dairy Farming
  • We continue to lose one herd per day in America’s Dairyland. The legacy of dairy farming here in Wisconsin and the livelihood of farmers across the United States is being threatened by consolidation in agricultural sectors and by unthrottled overproduction. Together these factors lead to volatile prices that are making it difficult for farmers to be profitable and remain farming.
  • Learn how farmers, consumers, and industry stakeholders can pull together and address the ongoing dairy crisis, resulting farm loss, and effects on our communities and food system.
  • Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNyD3OT50Hw&t=265s

Wisconsin Cooperative Feasibility Grant

  • Office of Rural Prosperity and WEDC will be funding cooperative feasibility studies through a grant that is open now. Attached is a quick guide.  We are on an accelerated timeline to receive applications to be funded this fiscal year so applications would have to be received by WEDC by April 1st. However, come July 1 there will be an additional $200,000 for these grants.
  • Learn more here: https://ruralwi.com/resources/wisconsin-cooperative-feasibility-grant/

Avian Influenza – Current Disease Outbreak Information

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