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“How can they make a rule about spreading manure when they
haven’t worked with farmers?” the Trempealeau County farmer asked me. These
farmers were concerned about water rules being drafted by the Department of
Natural Resources and they wanted to make a difference in the final version.
Nearly forty farmers from our Senate district came to Madison last week as
part of Ag Day in the Capitol. They came to share their stories and their
concerns. They came to make a difference.
A Trempealeau County farmer told me, “You can’t just shove the rules at us
without working with farmers.”
“We all want clean water,” another farmer said. “But there are lots of ways
to get there. We all need to work together to solve this.”
A Buffalo County farmer explained the DNR wants to eliminate phosphorus in
the water, but that it won’t happen. Our soils are naturally higher in
phosphorus than the rest of the state. He said data showed phosphorus was
higher in the water coming off the wood lands than coming off the field and
the department needed to take this into account when they set the rules.
“You’ve got to treat every field differently,” said a Jackson County woman.
“Every field has a different slope, different crop rotation, and different
drainage.”
She is right. Our terrain is very different than the rest of the state. What
might work in the flat lands where every field looks and drains about the
same, simply doesn’t work where the fields are small, hilly with unique
drainage.
“I want to keep my top soil where it is and the rivers clean,” another
Trempealeau farmer told me. “Farmers are the best stewards of the land. My
land has been in my family for seven generations and I want to leave it to
my sons.”
Everyone in the group had that special bond with the land, with the field
work, with the cows and, in spite of the challenges, they treasure the
lifestyle.
Times are tough on the farm and farmers are struggling with many things they
can’t control. Milk prices have hit record lows and input costs are up.
Farmers are struggling to get operating loans for spring seed and
fertilizer.
It’s hard to control input costs; harder yet to control farm prices and
impossible to control the weather. At the end of the day, it shouldn’t be
impossible to control what the government decides are the rules that affect
farmers’ daily operations.
After all, we aren’t talking about Mother Nature; we are talking about our
democracy.
Our democracy can be as volatile as commodity prices and as complicated as
controlling nutrient runoff, but it is also of the people, for the people
and by the people. The farmers who came to the Capitol knew democracy works
best when ordinary people get involved. They knew creating rules affecting
farmers meant farmers had to be involved in the rule making process.
Democracy works when ordinary people help shape decisions. By taking the
time to come to a hearing, write a letter or make a phone call, rules can be
changed and legislation can be strengthened.
The farmers who came to visit knew their work was not finished when the milk
house door closed or the shed light was turned off. If agriculture is to
stay strong into the next generation, farmers need to stay involved in the
legislative process.
I am grateful to all those who set aside their chores for a day and drove to
Madison. These farmers wanted to make a difference and indeed they did.
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