He and his wife, Mari, used her retirement fund to pay off some loans and keep their organic dairy operation of 55 milk cows afloat for a while - but it wasn’t enough.Īfter nearly three years of legal wrangling in bankruptcy court, clinging to the hope of getting a fresh start, they gave up. Legal wranglingīruce Drinkman of Glenwood City has been down the road that Kurt wants to avoid, a troubled path that involved bankruptcy and a lot of personal pain.ĭrinkman’s farm, named Desperation Acres, was foreclosed on a few days before Christmas in 2010. “These guys start thinking they're worth more dead than alive, so their families can collect the insurance,” he said. Some farmers cover up taking their own life by making it look like a farm accident, said Joel Greeno, president of Family Farm Defenders and a farmer near Kendall in southwest Wisconsin. “Farmer suicide numbers are going up now too,” Peck said. “Every time the phone rings I am worried about another farm going bankrupt or someone feeling suicidal.” Schlintz and others said the stress level for farmers and their families is punishing. “It’s at the point where it would be reckless for me to keep going and burn through everything I have worked for the last 18 years,” he added. “You need a good year to make up for what you lost,” Kurt said, figuring that he’s used up about $150,000 in his farm equity to weather this downturn. Many dairy operations are drowning in debt and in some cases, they have a half-million dollars in unpaid bills. Some have even offered incentives for members to quit farming altogether.įederal court data shows the Western District of Wisconsin had the highest number of Chapter 12 farm bankruptcies in the nation in 2017, and that's only a glimpse into the problem since Chapter 12 is a relatively rare tool used in bankruptcies.įarmers say the downturn is worse than one they experienced in 2009 because it's lasted longer and their costs are higher now. Small dairy farms have been disappearing from the rural landscape for decades, but the problem has been compounded by a sharp decline in farm-milk prices that's now in its third year and has spread across the country.įarm cooperatives have urged members to think twice about adding more cows to their operations when the marketplace is awash in milk. Unless something is done to save small family farms, she said, they will "be a thing of the past within the next few years."
"Drive around Wisconsin and you will see empty barns all over," said Elizabeth Schlintz, a dairy farmer from Bangor and a lender with a community bank. Watch Video: Video: Dairy crisis puts Wisconsin's rural identity in jeopardy Wisconsin lost 500 dairy farms in 2017, and about 150 have quit milking cows so far this year, putting the total number of milk-cow herds at around 7,600 - down 20% from five years ago. It’s why you are seeing all these boarded-up small towns,” Peck said. “The multiplier effect on the rural economy is huge. The local tax base erodes. Churches and schools struggle or close. Grain mills, car dealerships and hardware stores suffer. “It's pretty tough waking up every morning, going to the barn, and not being able to pay your bills, especially when you're putting in that many hours," Kurt said. "Something's got to change or the small farms are going to be gone."Įntire communities are falling apart as small farms go under, said John Peck, executive director of Family Farm Defenders, a Madison based advocacy group. With collapsed prices of milk, grain and other commodities, farmers are losing money no matter how many 16-hour days they put in milking cows, caring for livestock, and planting and harvesting crops. And with them, a way of life that has defined much of the state for more than a century and a half is disintegrating. Scores of Wisconsin farmers are in a similar predicament. “It’s probably the toughest decision I have ever had to make,” Kurt said, "but I have been told it's going to be a big weight lifted off my back." Kyle Kurt fought to keep his emotions just below the surface as he talked about selling off his herd of Holstein dairy cows, which he's milked twice a day, 365 days a year, through good times and bad.ĭairy farming has been Kurt's livelihood, and his passion, since he graduated from Lodi High School 18 years ago. But come Monday, he's having an auction to sell his cows, his milking equipment, his tractors and other farm machinery that he's spent years acquiring. View Gallery: Photos: Dairy crisis forces farmer to sell everything
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