During this difficult time, it’s all about farmers helping one another out. Whether it be family or friends or complete strangers, everyone is willing to lend a hand to those that need it. As a result of the pandemic, some producers have lost their livelihoods. Livestock producers have been hit particularly hard as the food service industry has been shuttered for over two months and packing plants closed for a couple of weeks before being reopened. Even as plants reopen, it will take some time to work through the backlog of animals the closures caused.
Wilfert Farms, a produce operation in Two Rivers, is doing something a little different than what they are known for at their farm stand, and helping a fellow farmer (and family member) along the way. At the Wilfert’s farm stand in Manitowoc County, shoppers will usually find freshly grown items such as asparagus, carrots, and strawberries. But now, they will find beef available for purchase.
“My aunt and cousins run a small feed lot just north of our farm,” says Kelly Wilfert. “They usually have about 150 head and typically sell to JBS up in Green Bay.” But, with COVID-19 crippling the packing plants, Kelly’s aunt and cousins “were looking for somewhere else to move beef cattle.” So, after going to a local processor with a small number of cows, Kelly and her father, Dave, stepped into help sell the product. In mid-May Wilfert Farms posted on Facebook that they had some beef available for purchase at their farm stand. “We got a freezer in the store and got all of the licensing and permitting done to be able to retail” beef. From there, it took off like wildfire. So many consumer reached out to ask about purchasing the meat that it was all gone via pre-sale within days.
For Dave Wilfert, Kelly’s dad, this is something beyond helping out his sister. “Our farm started back in 1877,” Wilfert says, “when my great-grandfather Joseph Wilfert started farming here…but before that he was a butcher by trade.” In 1875, Joseph was walking cattle from the Cooperstown area, which is now where the present-day Wilfert family is sourcing their cattle. Dave says that this really brings everything full circle for their family farm.
Josh Scramlin recently spoke with Dave and Kelly Wilfert on the Mid-West Farm Report and you can hear their conversation by clicking the play button below:
Leave a Reply