On June 11th, Dan and Catherine Kleiber watched their neighbor motor boat across the field where the Kleibers' corn had been growing the week before. The neighbor's road was flooded, so driving his fishing boat across the Kleiber's field to a car parked at his brother's-in-law farm was his only way to work.
Dan was heading to work to, but instead of cultivating corn and soybeans on their 480-acre farm in Waterloo, WI as he normally would this time of year, Dan was rescuing livestock, moving fences, and pumping water from the basement of their house. Twelve trucks arrived to empty Dan's silos of corn before the Crawfish River could lap at their base. In less than a week, the Kleiber's house became lake-front property and fish swam in their corn fields. Nearly 70% of their crops died. Dan and Catherine's farm is one of hundreds of farms that lost crops in the historic rains deluging southern Wisconsin in early June.
The flood of '08 has reduced the Kleibers' 2008 income to what they can earn on the crops remaining, plus what they'll get by selling their farm-raised pork, chicken, beef, and goat meat at a twice weekly farmers' market. Currently the Kleibers raise 6 beef cattle, 23 hogs, and 700 chickens on a 5+-acre pasture which the flood has reduced to 1/2 an acre. Dan says it's too late in the season to order more livestock and raise them before winter sets in. What he's got will be it for the year.
Unfortunately, Dan's situation is the rule rather than the exception for southern Wisconsin farmers. That's why the Wisconsin Department of Agricultureis urging people to help farmers through this crisis by buying their meat and produce at local farmers' markets.
To learn more about the flooding and see before and after pictures of the Kleiber farm, click on continue reading.
Before ------------------------------------------- After
.
..
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
..
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Wisconsin vegetable farmers may be able to re-plant some of their produce. But those vegetables won't be ready until summer's end. Other crops, such as strawberries and asparagus, take a year or more to mature. We won't be picking strawberries in Dan's neighbor's field until 2010. And neither will the farm hands the neighbor employs. Dan told me of one flooded vegetable grower who had to lay off 30 families who's livelihood depended on tending the grower's vegetables.
The looming lesson here is that we're all in this together. When people lose their income, they lose their purchasing power as well. Dan and Catherine's remodeling project is on hold for at least a year. That means the local hardware, lumber, bathroom fixture and flooring stores that would have shared in the Kleiber farm revenue will be going without. Therefore the hardware store owner may hold off on buying a new car or taking that family vacation. Then the car dealerships, and the restaurants, and the bed-n-breakfasts, and all the people who work for them will share the pain.
If the flood had only deluged the Kleibers, their story of loss would be personal. But they are one family among thousands of others economically hurt by the flood of '08. How many of these families won't be buying what they'd planned? As Wisconsin retailers see their profits fall, they'll cut back on their purchases. Thus, retailers' reduced profits trickle outward to other retailers, downward to suppliers, and upward to corporate investors. We've all heard of the trickle-down theory of economics. But Wisconsin's flood of '08 will drive home the power of the trickle-up flow of money from our farms upward throughout our economy. Imagine a boulder dropped in a lake. Though only a small area of water is hit, waves and ripples cover the lake. Every shore is touched.
Now is the time to support the people of Wisconsin. Buying from a Wisconsin producer helps to calm the flood's economic waves, and is an investment in Wisconsin's future. It's insurance for our future prosperity.
I've been friends with the Kleibers for 15 years. Through them I've learned how my good fortune is rooted in theirs. Now I work for a company that helps connect small Wisconsin businesses and artists to people who would enjoy their products. We believe that by helping the smallest of businesses prosper, good fortune will trickle up and be enjoyed by all.
.
Help Wisconsin farmers, - shop at farmers' markets. Help Wisconsin families who turn that milk into cheese, livestock into meat, and minerals into art - visit Wisconsinmade.com.
.
Wisconsin Cheddar Cheese - 1 lb. Round
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Bacon Wrapped Tenderloin Filets
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Handmade Ceramic Canisters in 5 Sizes.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Order any product from Wisconsinmade.com by July 1, 2008 and you'll receive $5.00 off by entering this offer code: FBLOG608.
Comments