The Wisconsin Beef Council Works on Behalf of Wisconsin's

Frank Friar has heard just most every tale of woe imaginable in his xiii years equally an economic specialist with the Wisconsin Farm Middle, a division of the Wisconsin Department of Agronomics, Merchandise and Consumer Protection.

Friar is one of the consultants who takes calls from Wisconsin farmers looking for advice near how to deal with the plethora of problems they traditionally face, from low commodity prices to unfavorable atmospheric condition weather condition to subcontract financial issues. Now, farmers face up additional uncertainty with the market place disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

"Some of the stories we hear, we say we don't think that farmers could make them up, then they must be true," Friar says. "Many times, these are very good farmers who have given it their best shot.

"I had a telephone call from a farmer the other day who said it hurts every fourth dimension he goes out to the barn. He has never worked and then difficult, and he is withal losing money."

Thousands of farm families have turned to the Wisconsin Farm Center since it was established in the mid-1980s. The centre provides a variety of services to farmers, including financial and business consultation, subcontract succession planning, farm ownership transition planning, legal and fiscal arbitration, and counseling vouchers.

These services are provided at no cost to farmers, and all information provided to the heart is confidential. In recent years, the eye has averaged about ii,200 calls a year.

Taking a toll

The counseling voucher programme allows farmers to proceeds access to mental health services gratis of charge. During the month of March, 29 vouchers were sent to Wisconsin farmers.

Randy Romanski (left), DATCP interim secretary, says that is the highest number of counseling vouchers disseminated in whatever month in the past three years.

"Nosotros're doing what we can to make certain people understand that these resources are bachelor," Romanski says. "The money is available, and nosotros're putting it to use."

Romanski says subcontract center counselors are hearing a considerable amount of acrimony and frustration on the other cease of the phone line, as they mind to farmers talk near their financial troubles.

"Between lower prices, a trade imbalance and the conditions, these have been challenging times during the last four or five years," he says. "In the spring, though, there is always optimism on the subcontract. 'This twelvemonth can't be worse than last year; let's get to it,' farmers say. But I don't think everyone could take seen the impact that COVID-xix was going to have on farmers and the agriculture industry. Nobody could accept foreseen that this was coming."

Romanski says DATCP is doing what information technology can "to be a resource for the manufacture and make sure nosotros're advocating on behalf of the industry."

Widespread impact

Friar (left), who worked as an agricultural lender for 30 years before taking his DATCP position, says he has seen a lot of ups and downs in agriculture during his long career, from droughts to snowstorms to high prices to low prices.

The number of dairy farms has been on a steady decline since he began working in agriculture in the early 1980s — from 44,000 dairy herds in 1983 to about 7,200 today.

The milk price was on the rise before this year, and economists were predicting a pretty adept year for dairy farmers, he says. Simply then the bottom dropped out when traditional markets became unstable due to the pandemic.

At present, even farmers who exited dairy in favor of some other agriculture subject are facing challenges, Friar says.

"Crop and livestock farmers are losing their toll, too," Friar says. "As ane farmer told me the other day, 'I got out of dairy and so now I can lose coin cash cropping.'"

Romanski says DATCP's work continues, fifty-fifty though the vast majority of the agency'south employees are working from their homes. Only well-nigh 25 of DATCP's 600 employees are working out of the headquarters building on Madison's east side.

"Especially during an emergency situation like this, we view our agency equally a resources to the agronomical industry and to the public," Romanski says. "Our two primary focuses are to make sure at that place is food on the shelves in the stores, and that we go along to be a resource and support the industry to the greatest extent possible."

DATCP officials take been hosting weekly stakeholder calls with various segments of the ag manufacture to make sure everyone works together and the industry is continued with the necessary resources.

"Information technology'due south a way for u.s.a. to connect the dots to try to get answers for people in a really challenging situation," Romanski says.

Enjoys helping farmers

Friar says although he is past the traditional retirement age, he continues to work as a Wisconsin Farm Center counselor considering he enjoys helping farmers.

"Our motivation is to assistance farmers keep farming," he says. "If they're fighting a losing battle, we don't call up it's healthy to just keep going and going, so we are also at that place to help farmers transition to something else they volition exist able to exercise."

Friar is optimistic about farmers volition work through this difficult fourth dimension and find success on the other side of it.

"I think lenders have a better understanding of tough times," Friar says. "Everybody is pulling together to effort to save agronomics."

Massey lives near Barneveld, Wis.

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Source: https://www.farmprogress.com/rural-health/wisconsin-farm-center-offers-ear-troubled-farmers

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