Sunday morning’s light dusting of snow made the walk across our farmyard a bit touchy, the previous warm days having left a glaze of ice that the light snow made seem more fit for skating than for walking.
It was a January moment of crossing seasons as I concentrated on remaining upright on the ice-snow surface. It was a feeling punctuated by another glance at one of the neighborhood cornfields yet untouched by a combine in the next-door 40.
Plenty of corn still stands in the region, and some agronomists are predicting that will be the case into spring. Some farmers still are at it, though, harvesting a little at a time as conditions allow — one farmer making note to me last week that this is the first time he’s ever combined while snowmobiles were passing on the snowmobile trail adjacent to his field.
Even with such twists, it seems the farmers somehow find a light in the darkness. That seems to be the case where the numbers of state dairy herds are concerned.
The final count is in, and Wisconsin lost about 100 more dairy farms during 2019 than were lost in 2018. Agriculture Department figures showed the state lost 773 dairy farms during the year. Despite those figures, National Farmers Union vice president Patty Edelburg – whose family operates an Amherst-area farm in Portage County – said farmers remain ever-optimistic that better days lie ahead for farmers.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Commodity Credit Corporation announced on Friday that borrowing-rate charges to farmers have dropped, compared with the December rate. Agency officials said the January rate-based charge is 1.5 percent, compared with 1.625 percent in December. The interest rate for crop-year commodity loans less than one-year disbursed for January was set at 2.5 percent, compared with 2.625 percent in December.
Farmers Union members and other rural advocates will be taking to the halls of the state Capitol to present their policy views Jan. 15 during the annual Wisconsin Farmers Union Farm and Rural Lobby Day. The event will be 10 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. The program will start with an issue briefing at Bethel Lutheran Church in Madison. Information is available through the Wisconsin Farmers Union state office in Chippewa Falls.
Industrial hemp growers and people interested in the crop can receive the latest state university research information about the crop at two meetings this week. A meeting focusing on hemp CBD oil production will be held 6:30-8:30 p.m. Thursday at the Sleep Inn and Suites Conference Center in Eau Claire; a help seed and fiber production session will be held 9:30-11a.m. Friday at the Gilmanton American Legion. Contact the Chippewa County or Buffalo County UW-Extension offices for information about the meetings.
Wisconsin’s newest Fairest of the Fair is being named this week during the Wisconsin Association of Fairs annual convention in Wisconsin Dells. Fair representatives from throughout the region are running for the position, with the winner becoming the state’s top ambassador for county fairs.
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