
Jane Matt Nair, Greg Buck, Calvin Butenoff coming to you live from our studio at Radio Park in Racine.
You can always join us no matter where you're listening across the state, perhaps you're in Oshkosh.
Listening on W-I-S-S, W-B-Z-H and Hayward, which is near Butternut.
Butternut.
Or L-A-K and Amory.
Amory, Amory.
You can always join us 855-752-4842.
Leave a comment if you're watching in the live stream on Facebook, YouTube, and what used to be Twitter coming up in about a half an hour after the 1030 news, a segment which has turned you into what we call Audio Sorbet.
It's an opportunity for us to take a little cleansing, a little cleansing for your ears away from the news.
So after the 1030 news, we're going to love on our state.
Parks, Wisconsin State Parks celebrating 125 years, we want to know about your favorite state park.
And then we're going to share the best worst reviews of Wisconsin State Parks.
They're hilarious.
You will, you will die.
And then we're going to wrap up the show as we always do with this.
It shouldn't be a thing.
Today it is the, I'm going to mule over this edition.
So stay tuned for that.
Right now, though, it has been far too long since she has been on our airwaves.
Our friend, she is the fabulous farm babe.
She is Pam Yankee.
Good morning, Pam.
How are
It's chilly.
You are you are live from our world saving media's world headquarters overlooking State Street in Madison.
So one of the reasons why we wanted to have you on and we're going to get to lighter things in just a little bit.
But May is Mental Health Awareness Month.
And when we've had you on before, Pam, we've talked about this quite a bit.
when it comes to Wisconsin farmers and mental health.
And we all know our farmers have had a lot of challenges.
It seems like always.
Yeah, I was going to say the last 10 years.
No, it goes even beyond the last 10 years.
It's always been tough for farmers.
And mental health is one of those things that you want to
Nobody wants to talk about.
Nobody wants to talk about that they're having struggles, that they're having a tough time.
What resources are available for Wisconsin Farmers Pym?
Well, and I'll tell you, Jane, it's really particularly strong to me right now after the storms that went through last week in Dodge County and some of those surrounding areas.
The reason being is right now is really crunch time for a lot of our Wisconsin farmers.
They are in the middle of trying to get everything done as far as planting is concerned.
Now put on top of that, the tornadoes or straight line winds, whatever they decided is that came through that area.
I was telling somebody this morning.
what you don't stop and think about when you look at pictures.
Now, social media has been just awash with pictures, showing everything from an impaled cow that got caught with a two by four right on through to just absolutely demolished barns.
And that's tragic, always tragic.
Anytime something like that happens to anybody, farmer or not,
is
But then you stop and think about the prolonged mental stress that that farm's going to be under.
Stop and think how many farms, when you drive out in Wisconsin these days, you see barns, right?
But not all barns have animals in them.
Not all barns have plumbing or water or electricity.
Definitely don't have milking equipment.
So now my barn's gone.
Where am I going to take all these cows so that they can get milk twice a day?
There's stress for number one.
If I happen to have neighbors nearby that have space, now I may have the couple of the barns where I'm milking more than a couple hundred cows.
Family farms that were milking a couple hundred cows.
Now I may have cows at three different locations.
Now, I have to coordinate milk pickup.
I have to coordinate milking those cows, veterinary checks.
And where did the feed go?
When that storm came through, all of my feed likely disappeared with it.
And if you take a look outside of these days, folks, there's not a lot of things growing
that
That's why I really think it's important to remind people about the available resources for mental health.
You lean on your neighbors.
Your neighbors are there.
The casserole parade is already unfolded.
But then there's those moments where you have to say, uh-oh, how am I going to pick myself up, dust myself off, and keep going?
And that's why Wisconsin, since the pandemic, I believe really amplified what we've been doing as far as resources for Wisconsin farmers.
Now we're almost to the point where it's a maze of, oh my god, I've got all these toll-free numbers, but what do you do?
Somebody told me the other day, and I think it's very, very wise.
Before you start telling somebody to reach out, call that resource and find out what you're
Because everybody's got a toll free number.
But do they really know agriculture?
Do they really know the stressors that you are going through?
Whether it's tomorrow, we're going to get one to two inches of rain.
That's going to kick us out of the fields.
If I'm not even started, that's a stressor.
uh, you know, bring about real life challenges like, uh, alcohol, drugs, uh, we're getting older.
Now my physical body can't do what I need it to do.
All of that mounts.
So I always remind people, I feel most confident about the Wisconsin department of egg tree and consumer protection.
They have the farmer hotline, which I will be giving you the 800 number there.
And that really gives a kind of a pallet of services for farms.
So they'll help you with financial resources if you're struggling to figure out how to pay bills or how to manage debt.
They'll also help you with herd health.
That's something that nobody talks about.
When you are America's Dairyland, a lot of your stress comes from, why can't I fix this with my dairy cows?
What in the world is wrong here?
So they help with that.
They also have counseling that's available, and they work through other challenges like transition.
How am I going to get the next generation?
to come along with me, and the dynamics of family business, which is really what 99% of our farms are.
Now, that number is 800-942-2474.
800-942-2474.
And that one is available basically during business hours, but they always will get back to you.
And that's one thing I always like to remind people is they will get back to you.
And then there's the other side of things.
As I said, when you get older,
or you're physically becoming more challenged, now they've started since the pandemic, a farmer wellness hotline, and that will allow for remote vouchers.
Oh,
that's a great idea.
She is the one that you will likely catch when you call for the farmer wellness helpline.
Jess is currently building a house right near my home farm, ironically enough, and yet we've never met.
which is hard to say about Abrams.
But anyhow, so what she was telling me is she is finding more and more farms that are comfortable using a voucher system if they need resources.
Because the last thing you want to ask a farmer to do is leave the farm to go to a session.
So these can be virtual.
And the other thing that they found is, I think she said once a month, they will get together online and just talk.
They'll have one farmer that maybe has been in kind of the conversations a little longer act as a
That's where the groove That's where the magic really happens getting them to do that and the farmer wellness hotline is 888 901 25 58 888
901, 2558, and that's a 24-7 gig.
Now, it's not that Jess is propping her eyelids open with toothpicks to be there, but we've got an arrangement with Iowa, for example, Minnesota.
They've got similar services.
So if
somebody's going to pick up.
So those are the two main ones that I know that I am confident about, that I feel good referencing others.
Now, there's many other groups that we are fortunate to have around.
somebody in Sauk County lived through a husband's suicide, had farmed all his life, had challenges with depression at all his life, finally took his life, and the church community in the Sauk County community stepped in and said, hey, we got to do this.
These are our neighbors.
So they have the Farmer Angel Network.
I'm just, those people are so wonderful at how it is morphed into so much more.
And again, that's a farmer to farmer, completely confidential always, farmer to farmer kind of conversation that happens.
They just got done with a series of spring meetings to try to get everybody feeling better as they went to the fields.
Because as you alluded to with the outset, Jane, the unfortunate part about the audience that I love is they rank near the top in the nation of suicide.
Victims farming is not only one of the most dangerous occupations still even with technology.
It is also unfortunately one of the number one Suicide categories and it's because it's still largely dominated by men.
Yep, men don't talk men don't share men are super steel and then and and on the farm.
We've got guns.
We've got heavy machinery.
We've got all kinds of ways
that we can make it look like an accident if we want.
And that's what I hear from insurance agents is when somebody calls them and says, I want to know about my life insurance policy.
Red flag.
Yeah.
Red flag.
Why are you asking this?
And they will do some triage to see what's going on and ask maybe the question, are you thinking about suicide?
And that's a trigger because what they're trying to do is make sure that I'm going to make it look like an accident.
and set up the farm.
So these are the conversations.
She is the fabulous farm babe.
You can hear her reports and her colleagues' reports across civic media.
And we're talking about mental health, especially, May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and especially about Wisconsin farmers.
We will include those numbers that you gave us, Pam, in our show notes.
Greg will make sure that they're in our show notes.
All I can think to is one of the groups that you mentioned.
Farmer to farmer, having farmer to farmer conversations has really got to be the way to go.
And it also helps regardless of demographics.
Let's recognize that Wisconsin farmers, although not as old as the national average, let's say the average Wisconsin farm is, you know, mid fifties.
But you may have young farmers that are in a different situation.
They've got a growing family or they're dealing with the stress of that transition.
Mom and dad don't want to get out of the way.
But I want a farm to be able to have different groups dealing with different items or circulating through different items and in a non-judgmental way, talking with each other.
That has turned out, according to Jess Bochamp, turned out to be very, very valuable to them.
And they seem to work.
And like I said, they can do it on their time.
If Jess wants to go to bed, for example, they can have a conversation after chores are done at 8.39 o'clock at
Yeah, that's got to make all the difference, really.
And what you mentioned, Pam, about that is in all of the years I've been doing this and in all the storm reporting that I've done over the years, I never once thought about somebody's barn getting destroyed.
And what if you milked in that barn and what do you do with those cows that still have to get milked?
They don't care.
There was a storm.
Yeah.
Well, I was just going to say, I know that many people have seen the news reports and that the very emotional.
I mean, listen, whether you want to believe it or not, if she's got a name or a number, I know that cow.
If I have to euthanize that cow, that is a mentally, oh, you think it's bad losing your dog or cat?
People.
I've spent half a generation trying to bring this cow into my herd.
And just watching the animals, I think, is probably the most difficult for any dairy farmer to handle.
And like I said, this is just the beginning of their path to recovery.
And it ain't going to happen overnight.
And the cast rules are going to disappear, and they're still going to have to be figuring out what next to get those cows home.
Help is available.
Please don't keep it to yourself.
Find someone to talk to.
Check our show notes.
civicmedia.us.
Go to shows, click on Matt and Air on Air.
Everything will be right there.
We're going to continue our conversation with Pam Yankee on the other side.
Stay with us.
You are listening to Matt and Air on Air.
This is the Civic Media Radio Network.
We'll be right back.
Then she starts to cry.
She takes a swing, man.
She can't hurt.
She don't mean no harm.
She just don't know what else to do.
Jane Matt Nair, Greg Bach and the Board Lord coming to you from our studio at Radio Park in Racine where you can always join us, give us a call, send in a text at 855-752-4842.
You can also leave a comment if you're watching on the live stream on Facebook, YouTube and what used to be Twitter after the 1030 News audio survey.
We are going to talk about our state parks and which one is your favorite?
And then we're going to share some of the best worst state park reviews.
They're hilarious.
Wonderful.
They are too much grass.
Too much.
There's it was a great state park, too much grass.
I don't understand the grass.
So that's all coming up after 10 30 right now, though.
Pam Yonkey is here.
She is the fabulous farm babe.
And you hear her reports across civic media.
And we had a text come in specifically for you, my friend.
She is an amazing advocate for farmers and agriculture as well as a tremendous educator for those of us unfamiliar with the issues farmers face.
Now I'm glad Carol said that because that leads me into my question of guidance.
Now,
I suggest everyone listen to the Midwest Farm Report every morning from five to six right here on Civic Media, whether it's Pam Yankees, Stephanie Hoff or Ben Jarbo talking about the things that are important about farmers.
But, you know, Pam, I didn't grow up in the farm.
I grew up in the suburbs.
I don't have farmers in my family.
Where would people go to get just your basic information besides your show on what's going on on our farms in Wisconsin and what is going on?
with our farmers themselves just so we're you know more educated and understand because a lot of people think farms that's that's way out in the country no it's 10 minutes west of you
yeah yeah especially in wisconsin yeah you're you're right in fact we were kind of talking about that i was i was uh with a young man that's 21 and same background zip on agriculture and i walked him through and i said you know
literally Wisconsin is still very fortunate that you don't have to drive very far before you find your first farm.
It may look different.
It may be more of a vegetable or produce, but they're there.
And I kind of speak to all of them.
You know, like I said, I kind of make sure I'm very careful about what I advise people to tap into because there's so much out there.
So I always encourage you please Midwest Farm Report on all the platforms on our website because at least I know that's a vetted source.
and what you get is going to be verified.
There's a lot of social media streams.
I like to watch what's happening with the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, Wisconsin Farmers Union.
If you're an issues-driven person, if you're curious, I see some people that asked about state legislature doing some things, that would be the best place to kind of walk along there.
I routinely talk to Senator Pat Teston, who's the current chair of the Senate Agriculture and Revenue Committee.
Then we've got Howard Markline, who's joint finance but comes from farming.
So some of those individuals may post things on occasion.
The National Association of Farm Broadcasters does a good job of trying to get stuff out too.
One site that I really think for just tidbits that will get you thinking, Wisconsin Ag in the classroom.
Now it's designed for school kids, but not to, I don't want to condescend to the audience, but given the lack of understanding a lot of folks or exposure people may have had to agriculture, those little tidbits might be thought starters that you never
Just look for Wisconsin Ag in the classroom and it will give you little pieces of information on all of Wisconsin agriculture.
My heart, my background is in dairy, but think about cranberries and ginseng and things that you
would have to travel to see if you wanted to see.
And the Wisconsin Ag and the Classroom program does it really wonderfully.
The other thing I like about it is they've got hands-on learning.
It's designed for teachers.
And what they do is they give teachers lesson plans that can also include teaching kids how to make butter, teaching kids how to do in the classroom cheese making in a Ziploc.
I mean, just if you think as an adult going through the process,
And, oh yeah, I never thought about salt, or I never thought about this, or I never thought about a flavor.
It does help you kind of get connected, if you will.
So, those are some sources.
well.
So
And like I said, in this day and time, there is so much content out there.
But it's generally like if you go to social media, somebody's got a point they're trying to make.
I always want to make sure that I'm providing you just a whole lot of options, but verified options that are news driven, fact driven, so that you can make your own decisions.
And like I said, egg in the classroom.
Start with the tidbits.
Start with the little bits that you can share with somebody else at the water cooler as they used to say.
News is coming up next, and then when we return, let's love on our Wisconsin State Parks.
You are listening to Matt Nair on air.
This is the Civic Media Radio Network.
Good, good morning.
Welcome back to Matt and Air on Air.
Jane Matt and Air.
Greg Bach and Sweet Calbee on the board coming to you from our studio at Radio Park in Racine.
You can always join us, call or text.
The number is the same.
855-752-4842.
That's 855-756.
Or leave a comment if you're watching on the live stream, on Facebook, YouTube, and what used to be Twitter.
We do have baseball coming up a little bit later on today.
Our broadcast starts at 6 0 5.
The crew hosting the Orioles, you can catch the game tonight on WRCE in Richland Center, WISS in Oshkosh, WRJN here in Racine and Kenosha, WCQM in Park Falls and WBZH.
In Hayward the Crew, hosting the Orioles tonight, our broadcast starts at 605 Go Crew.
Yeah.
Saw this article and thought it would be an opportunity for us to love on our state parks.
This from the Wisconsin Public Radio, Joel Patton out with the byline, much loved and underfunded.
Wisconsin State Parks celebrate 125 years.
Thanks to revenue sharing and volunteers.
That's essentially what keeps our parks open.
We have 50 state parks.
So what is your favorite state park in Wisconsin?
855-752-4842.
Your favorite state park in Wisconsin.
Which one is it?
We want to know.
What do you love to do there?
What's so great about it?
And then we're going to share some of the best, worst.
Reviews is amazing of Wisconsin state parks Do you have a favorite
It's wonderful, wonderful.
I mean, there's just, it's so relaxing in Pestigo.
Did we find Amnicon?
Amnicon is right smack almost at the top of Wisconsin.
It's like, you can look over me like, Hey, what's up, Minnesota?
You're right there.
It's, it's west of Ashland and Ironwood.
Okay.
And.
I mean, it's around the, that's kind of on the way to Bayfield.
Yeah.
It's those, it's those places where you're like, it's around rock mountain cutter.
You're like, I've never heard of any of these places.
I'm trying to find a, uh, I mean, Ashland of course is going to be the closest thing I've heard of, but yeah, it is almost at the Wisconsin, Minnesota boundary waters.
So it's
I'm
just
Good morning
We all stole my thunder, but our family has family picnics at Amnicon Falls, and it's a wonderful place.
You can hike, you can bike, you can, the kids go down by the falls while the adults get chance to visit.
And we even had one of our, a little bit older,
Um, in his thirties, possibly forties out, um, panning for gold last year.
Really?
And he found a couple of little small, um, bits of gold.
Yes.
So we always enjoy Amnicon Falls and miss our dad who loved to go there.
Maybe a civic media road trip here.
Cassandra on the live stream says, I grew up to double.
going to Devil's Lake cause it was only 20 minutes away.
I've grown to love Highcliff State Park outside of Appleton.
There's another one.
I mean, I'm just going to hear about parks I've never heard of.
And then Alicia on the live stream says, I used to live down the road from 12 foot falls.
Oh, there you go.
I love going to Huffman Hills in the spring for the beautiful ponds.
And in the fall to climb the tower, you can see colors for miles.
That's amazing.
Oh, can you imagine that in fall?
Oh, that would be so beautiful.
Favorite state parks.
We're loving on our state parks, celebrating 125 years, no thanks to the government.
855-75 Civic, where's your favorite place in Wisconsin?
Cindy from Appleton, check it in.
Good morning, Cindy.
What do you think about best state parks?
Well, the best one for me is Highcloth State Park because it's close to home and it's part of the Niagara escarpment and has a lot of history.
Nice.
And I think it's just a shame that the so-called conservatives who are supposed to be conserving have decided that our state parks are not worth funding anymore.
And I just think
Shame, shame, shame on them.
Well, and thank goodness for all the volunteers, Cindy, because even in this article, it essentially says revenue sharing and volunteers are what have managed to keep our state parks open.
And we have 50 state parks in Wisconsin.
So thank God for volunteers.
If you're looking for something to do, you can volunteer to Wisconsin State Park.
I'm sure they're looking for you.
Thank you, Cindy, for checking in.
I appreciate that.
Thank you.
Drew Dawson was the writer of this wonderful article and he scoured the internet for the best worst reviews of Wisconsin State Parks.
And I'm gonna start right at,
You know, I mentioned it earlier, Devils Lake State Park.
Quote, this is a review left on their website, so you can check it out yourself.
I'm not making this up.
Quote, I have never paid money to see rocks.
Was disappointing.
They wanted $16 for a day pass.
752-4842, also about Devils Lake.
I would not recommend this park to anyone who wants to enjoy the outdoors peacefully, leave this park to the drunks and inconsiderate rubes or camp in the winter.
It does get really populated out there.
Devils Lake is one of the most popular.
But the cell signal is terrible.
Hey, good morning.
I'm a big fan of the state parks.
My wife and I like to.
travel a lot.
And up in that part of the state around Amacon, there's also Paterson State Park, which is a very pretty park.
And a quick fun fact on that park is that Big Manitou Falls, it's the, I believe, the fourth largest waterfall east of the Mississippi, and it's only six inches shorter than Niagara Falls.
really little fun fact you know and uh... a great park up there also with copper fall state park which uh... they have this beautiful uh... trail that you can walk you don't have to be you know incredibly you know uh... mister mrs hiker right uh... but uh... any any level of you know outdoorsy niffle get you around this beautiful uh... uh... trail around uh... couple of waterfalls and a few rapids so uh... uh... there's just beautiful parks everywhere
I want you to hear this again.
These are the best of the worst reviews of Wisconsin State Parks.
And my sister and I were at Copper Park Falls a couple of years ago.
It's gorgeous.
Here is what they had to say about Copper Falls.
The forest management of this park is horrible.
Hard to see around all the overgrowth.
Typical overemphasis on letting nature just take over, hoping someone can get into the system and change this culture of just letting nature be nature.
The darn directions took us to Pierre South Dakota.
This park is in Wisconsin.
Never trusting Google Maps ever again.
By the way, yes, Google Maps still thinks this place is in Pierre South Dakota.
Maybe you should review Google Maps and not the state.
Park.
more
Welcome back to Matt and air on air Jane Matt and air Greg Bach and Doctor slide on the board coming to you from her studio at Radio Park in Racine 8 5 5 7 5 2 4 8 4 2 leave a comment if you're watching in the live stream on Facebook YouTube and what used to be Twitter we have a couple more
comments I wanted to share we were talking about let's love on our state parks Wisconsin state parks celebrating 125 years so we were taking your favorite state parks to check out Kirk from Eau Claire says a perot state park in Trempelo hiking goat trails on the face of the bluffs you can
see the Mississippi River four miles.
Bob from Richland Center, listening on WRCE.
I don't have a favorite state park.
They're all great, but I do want to thank our forefathers for their foresight, setting these national treasures, natural treasures aside for everyone to enjoy.
Yep.
as of today.
Liz from Salkville, Kohler, Andre State Park.
We went, we took a trip there as kids in grade school.
The beautiful lake, the dunes, bird and wild flower, walk, stargazing and so much more.
Lori and Hayward, Ollie forgot to mention the wonderful Pavilion and a pavilion in Amacon Falls Park.
Dozens of picnic tables covered shelter, electricity, a perfect place for family
picnics and the kids can swim right by the falls nice that sounds great uh it is 1054 calvin that means it is time for
this shouldn't be a thing
and as always if you have a thing you think should not be send it into greg and me at jane says at civicmedia.us j a n e s a y s jane says
at civicmedia.us.
This from the Associated Press.
Calvin found this one.
The headline reads, Burrow Racing Wins Over Runners in Back Country Ode to Mining History.
They're racing donkeys, essentially.
This is from Morgan Lee in the Associated Press.
Cerillos, New Mexico.
Back Country Runners are embracing the physical and emotional challenge.
of racing with pack burros that don't always move at their pace.
This race honoring the Old West.
Oh God, we just are not what God intended Marvin Sandoval of Leadville, Colorado and his mini burrow named Buttercup Finished first on Saturday completing the course in just over 49 minutes
Hundreds of cheering spectators lined the street with his nearest competitors, not even in sight.
He says the secret to his success.
He calls Buttercup.
She's like a unicorn.
She wants to be out front.
A burl race can devolve into a contest of wills when they decide they don't want to do that.
They are smart and naturally curious.
If something scares them and it makes them nervous, they're just going to stop and check it out.
Yeah.
Healthy donkeys typically live 40 years or more and they're supposed to be from, and I've,
follow some people who have rescue farms, where they've taken in donkeys and burrows, and they are supposed to be the sweetest animals.
This shouldn't be a thing.
Pat, quite low.
We'll be joining us after the 9.30 news.
I hope you can join us for that.
Thank you, Greg and Calvin, all of our engineers and everyone at Civic Media.
Without all of you, nothing works.
And thank you most of all for calling and for texting and for listening.
It absolutely means the world.
I hope you find some joy today and you have the chance to share it.
Keep it right here.
News is coming up next, followed by Tom Hartman from 11 to two, Todd Alva, two to four, Maggie Dawn, four to six, Pete Schwabba and Nightlight from six to eight PM.
Have a great day.
We will see you tomorrow.
News is next on the Civic Media Radio Network.
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