You're listening to Civic Media.
You can tune into any of our live shows on any radio station across the state with the Civic Media app.
Find us in your phone's app store and listen anytime, anywhere.
Across Wisconsin on Civic Media, you're listening to Mornings with Pat Craiglo powered by Up North News.
Now, from our Lake Mesota studio, here is the founding editor of Up North News, Pat Craiglo.
Hey, good morning.
It is 7.06.
Nice to have you here up north on this Tuesday morning, May 6th, 2025.
Karine Hendrickson standing by to talk to us about a day without childcare.
Things are going to be different for a lot of childcare providers and parents next week.
We'll explain what is happening.
We'll be joined later this hour by Sheila Everhart of the Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Association and our friend and dairy farmer Hans Brighton Moser, all part of National Tourism Week across the country and appreciating agricultural tourism here in Wisconsin.
Still ahead in our eight o'clock hour, we will be talking to Chad Holmes to find out the stories that he's following in the Wausau area and Dan Schaefer from the Reconbobulation area and Civic Media Political Editor will be joining us as well, a very busy week in the legislature, not necessarily productive, but busy.
you know we'll find out the difference in just a bit but first we turn to award-winning meteorologist Brittany Merleau for a forecast today that is just as bright and beautiful as her outfit today which is this very springtime pinkish
Uh, much like the sun rises this morning.
That's just a wonderful time of year.
How are you Brittany?
It really is.
This is the best.
You need to get the crisp, beautiful mornings, but the nice warm afternoons.
You guys are in short sleeves already.
I love this.
That's
right.
Got a rocket today.
It's
going to be nice.
Yeah.
All right, so right now this morning a little crisp and cool, superior.
You're sitting at 32 degrees this morning, so right at that freezing mark, but a lot of the state is in the mid 40s and 54 degrees down southeast into West Bend.
So a sunny, calm morning.
There were some areas of patchy fog, but that is burning off right now.
And of course, we're just going to stay bright and beautiful.
all day long.
No complaints there.
High temperatures, right?
We're going to make it all the way the entire state into the mid to upper 70s.
I do think some places far northwest will still hit 80 degrees today.
It is just going to feel great, look great.
But of course, if you have allergies, that pollen count is pretty high today.
That's the only downside.
Also, there's also a high fire danger, especially far northwest and also into central and northeastern Wisconsin.
So just be careful out there of any sparks.
Don't burn anything.
And then tomorrow we've got a cold front that moves through.
So enjoy today.
Seize the moment.
Seriously.
It's short and swim.
The forecast are this short.
It's because they're that good.
Yeah, just just that glorious.
Good morning says Rob from Tigerton.
It's sunny and 48 degrees.
I made it through my colonoscopy yesterday.
They found four polyps with hoping no cancer.
That's why anyone over 45 should get one.
Today I've got mowing jobs in the Wittenberg area.
It's fun being on the lawn tractor enjoying the nice weather.
We mentioned Bob Seager turns 80 years old today.
His favorite Bob Seager song is still the same.
Wanted to thank his nephew Adam for being his driver to and
from Shawno, had a spaghetti and meatball dinner at the Shawno Cafe on Highway 22, right off 29 there in Shawno.
And yes, Brittany won the awards, but Rob says all three of you are award-winning people.
Thank you, Rob.
Tony mentions that a huge fire shut down US2 up there by Ashland yesterday.
So right on about the fire danger.
What the heck?
That's terrible.
Yeah, he says both both the east and west of Ashland.
And Tony also writes on YouTube, Greg, your question, how big is the hodag dome?
Big enough to fit a hodag.
Mm hmm.
That's the science.
Where is it?
Have
you seen the hodag?
Have you seen him up in Rhinelander?
Are you talking about the mythical creature?
Yeah I don't know where is it?
It's located where?
Rhinelander.
No, I don't think so.
There's a good good portion of this state that I still have yet to explore but some day, some day.
It's worth a stop.
It's worth a stop in a picture for sure.
That's right.
And Rob notes some grass fires in Shono County as well.
So again, can't emphasize enough.
Please be careful out there.
This is, this is not time to be burning anything.
The brush pile can wait.
Yeah.
Without a doubt.
All right.
Thanks Brittany.
We'll talk to you in an hour.
Let's get an update now on what's going to be happening with an annual event that is designed to highlight a very large growing problem.
It's been building for some time.
This isn't some kind of a mystery.
The mystery is why there are so few politicians on one side of the aisle that want to take it seriously.
So, Kareen Hendrickson is here, a child care provider from the Nuglaris area.
Talk about a day without child care next week.
Kareen, good morning.
How are you?
Oh, yes, you get you get a rare day off as you're letting Getting the planning going for a day without childcare.
Let's start with that the 30,000 foot view.
What is it?
How did it come to be?
So four years ago the day without childcare began with the childcare change makers community change organization and it really was because before COVID there was already an issue already across the country half of family childcare flow
in the last decade.
And so during COVID, it was our opportunity to really help remind people like you're begging us to stay open.
And without us, you cannot work.
It doesn't matter if there's a health issue or not.
It doesn't matter what's going on.
Health care is always necessary needed.
And so this is something that my colleague Brooke Olegler and I have really helped push in our entire state.
We have had the most
Events and across the country in our state the last four years running right now.
We're behind by a couple So we're asking our colleagues who are planning events to put it on the map So there's a child care change makers dot org and you can go to the map and you can find out what events are close to you to attend and all of them are open
So some of these are events designed to highlight the problem to educate people about the problem But there will be providers that are either not going to be open that day or making some other accommodations to
essentially illustrate how bad things could get, right?
So some of us are closing and having community events.
Some of us are staying open and having elected representatives come in and have conversations with their parents and their teachers.
Some of us are staying open and having parents before they can leave their child for the day, right to their elected representatives, especially with the budget season, asking for that $480 million investment.
We also have some stickers that parents can wear, and we're asking all parents whether they have
care that they pay for or that they have a family friend, neighbor, the other parent is home while they work to make stickers or buttons and wear them.
And that says without childcare, I couldn't be here today because we keep hearing from people that I don't have young kids that does an effect.
Well, if every single person who relies on care is wearing a sticker, when people are going around that day, they're going to realize how many people they interact require that care and how it does impact them and why it's important.
that we as a state finally invest a single dollar into the child care system instead of relying on federal dollars.
I'm really glad that in the historical overview, you brought it back to the pandemic notion of essential workers.
It helped us understand just how vital certain parts of the economy are.
Not that every job isn't important, but at its
bear roots even in a pandemic.
There are things that still need to operate but can operate if people aren't working there and people aren't working there if there's not childcare centers and it really in my mind shows the difference between what you're asking for from the legislature as an investment in the economy in the workforce versus the way other people describe it as some kind of a handout.
And I appreciate you bringing that up.
Yeah, COVID revealed the issues, the structural issues that were happening and gave us an opportunity to use that federal funding that all of us on the ground advocated really hard for and to use that in ways to show that it really truly is about the wages.
If we cannot pay our teachers more than $13 an hour, who is going to work for us?
And what quality are you going to have?
Because they're going to be stressed and burnt out because if you're only making 13 an hour, you're not taking care of yourself or your family appropriately.
And you're working multiple jobs and then you're supposed to be, you know, happy and excited and meet the needs of four infants who are crying because they're hungry or need to be held or rocked or want attention.
It's just absurd that we expect people to do this and have continued to expect people to do this because for some reason women are just supposed to be kind and caring and giving.
And, you know, some of us just deserve to like be paid in hugs and love, I guess.
So yeah, that's why we've been doing these community conversations as well.
So tonight at Brook Cider at
6pm, we will be having a community conversation about child care and why it's so important.
And really, apart from, you know, the provider themselves, again, the nice ladies who do it out of the goodness of their heart, I think it's worth mentioning.
I mean, there are so many different figures involved in this.
There's the provider, but there's also maybe the provider has an employer of a center.
So you've got those two right there.
Then you've got the parent.
as as a third important building block but that fourth block the workplace that depends on having these folks and who suffer when a parent usually but not always a mom says we can't find or keep affordable daycare and so that business loses some very valued employees and like you said we knew this was going on before COVID just from a demographic standpoint it's only getting worse and calling out for some kind of an attention.
And it's one of those things where a lot more employers are starting to take notice again.
I've had employers calling me asking if I have space.
And I always am like, no, and your person called me as well.
But they're having difficulties finding care.
And they're trying finding care for their employees so that their employee can get to work.
And so they're trying to do things.
So that's a valuable time that the HR is spending doing something that's not really part of the business, but it actually
absolute integral part of the business.
Because if you don't have people that can come, then you don't have employees.
And another thing is we keep hearing from people that, you know, people just don't want to work.
Well, we keep pushing back on that.
We're like, no, people want to work.
They can't get there.
Why can't they get there?
They don't have affordable housing.
They don't have reliable transportation.
They don't have care for their child.
And really getting those conversations to be more curious and deeper and having a conversation instead of judging and assuming that people just don't want to work because they're lazy.
Yeah, we've got a toning post on YouTube out of the Ashland area Washburn school has a daycare It has an 18 month wait list and I recall that happening with my one daughter who again having their first child and finding out you know There's this 18 month with wait list when it's like they just found out they're pregnant and you know, that's that's how serious things have become to this point and why we need the Legislature to be paying attention to an issue like this.
We're talking to
to Karine Hendrickson from Nuglaris about a day without childcare and the events that are going to be going on as a result of it.
Karine, is there one particular website where people should go to if they want to learn more about the day and the issue?
Yep.
Oh, you know what?
I see it right here.
CommunityChangeAction.org.
Again, CommunityChangeAction.org.
And on there, you'll see a day without childcare.
And like you said, there's a map and much more about the issue that we're talking about with Kareen Hendrickson.
Here's a little sports at 718.
The Milwaukee Brewers got back in the win column again, got back to 500 on the season, defeating the Houston Astros on Monday night, five to one.
Christian Yelich hit a two-run homerun to bias Myers, pitched five and a third.
strong innings.
Yelich's Homer came in his 1500th career game.
It also broke an 0 for 19 slump, so that was some good news.
Nothing like the one that
Vinnie Capra was suffering from the Brewer Third Basement was in an 0 for 36 slump until he got a single last night in the eighth inning.
It was his first hit since April 2nd.
They will be hosting the Houston Astros again tonight and then again tomorrow afternoon.
Coverage of this evening's game starts at 6 0 5 on Civic Media stations in Richland Center in Oshkosh in Racine Kenosha Park Falls and the newest Brewer's affiliate WBZH in Hayward.
Yet to come today, we will be talking in just over an hour to Dan Schaefer from the recombobulation area about what the legislature is up to this week, including some retreads, bills that have been vetoed by Governor Evers, sometimes repeatedly.
And yet that's what they're doing again in Madison this week, instead of things like solving the childcare crisis.
From the heart of America's Up North, live from Lake Wissota, thanks for making this the place to spend a part of your mornings.
I'm Pat Krightlum.
You're listening to Civic Media.
Stay up to date on the latest news and information for your local community and Wisconsin by signing up for our free email newsletter.
Visit civicmedia.us slash email to get
started.
and Jim Santel, former U.S.
Attorney, friend of our program as well.
We'll be joining Maggie Dawn for her program a little later on this afternoon, and it's new time four to six o'clock here across the Civic Media Radio Network.
Let's continue our conversation on a day without childcare with Karine Hendrickson and Nuclearis, and let's get into the specific policy.
that the legislature should be working on.
And as I covered a minute ago, they seem to be focused on other things right now.
But what is the best case scenario coming out of this state budget that the legislature and the governor could potentially reach agreement on?
Well, the best case scenario is that we get at least $480 million in state investment and that money would then be able to go toward wages so that we can increase wages for our educators without having to increase prices for two.
Without any funding, we actually all will be losing about 15% of our revenue and that costs will have to be pushed onto the parents in order for us to stay open.
And there was a survey that just came out in April that we had kind of talked about.
And 25% of us are looking at probably closing.
We won't close right away necessarily.
Some definitely will.
Others will close after they raise their rates and not enough families continue to afford them.
And then they end up closing because they can't pay their teachers.
Family child care will close because we can't pay our mortgage and are about to let ourselves go bankrupt and lose our homes.
We'll find a different job.
So at the end of the day, those of us in the field will likely be okay.
Those of us with young children will have a little harder time, but
Those of us in the field will be okay.
We can get other jobs, but the parents and their children, they're not going to be okay.
Our communities, they're not going to be okay.
And so, you know, really making sure that we get that investment is imperative.
Right.
And you're like, I mean, you know, here, Green County, for example, is looking at a loss of up to 50% of their regulated childcare programs.
44% predict at least closing a room due to a loss of teachers.
And then of course, you know, an average increase per child of 26 bucks on top of what it already costs now, which is just
downright shocking for those of us who haven't had kids in daycare for a very long time.
But I want to seize on that one word there in that sentence, losing the amount of regulated child care programs.
And for folks who say, well, you know, I was raised by my aunt and uncle and I was just fine.
There's a whole reason why.
We've been moving over time toward child care centers that are licensed, inspected, underscore healthy and safe that I imagine you can tell people about.
Yeah, so regulated care is we have basic health and safety standards So, you know, even people who are only watching one or two children they can be certified and they can get that Base level of education so that they understand what it is that they're doing because 90% of that brain development happens in these first five years So along with the fact that children died or were injured That was part of why the regulation came but then all the other part was because we learned how much important
important brain matter and brain development was happening and how that happens.
And that's really those close relationships with a consistent caregiver.
So even people like who can have neighbors and family, if that child isn't going to the same person consistently, they don't know where they are, what they're doing, they're interacting with different people, they don't know what the expectations are.
And so that impedes their development.
And that sets them up on a trajectory of a lifetime of difficulty that's completely unnecessary.
And so really looking at it as
you know, making sure we have the health and safety, making sure that the people doing the work understand the importance of the work.
And that includes parents who choose to and can stay home.
We need to have opportunities for them to interact with people.
We need to have, you know, places for them to go so they understand how to play with their child or what's going on developmentally, so that if something is happening that maybe they could use a little bit extra support for, they know how to talk to versus free.
They know how to talk to the school.
And so really,
looking at it as a whole system of, you know, we need to make sure that our children are cared for and educated from the earliest possible moment.
And most of that comes from a high loving quality relationship.
Tony notes on YouTube, speaking as the dad of a five year old, a three year old and a two month old, this is not okay.
The situation that that we have right now, which is completely understandable.
So when people look at this, and obviously, there is this
idea to go through the state budget and provide support that way.
And I'm not gonna, I'm gonna set that aside.
This is not an either or, but people are looking at other creative ways of addressing this problem.
We have had reports of how school districts have looked to open up their own childcare centers because they feel like they're the only ones who can be the provider in their small community.
Employers have sometimes tried to band together and try to work out something.
So this is more than just a line item in a state.
budget bill.
Karine, we're talking that this is a time for outside the box thinking on how to preserve, save and affordable child care.
But looking at it in a way to make sure that every child has opportunities, we cannot rely on school districts who have property tax owners who are willing and able to spend more money.
We cannot look at employers who have the profit margin necessary and needed in order to open up a child care for their children.
employees children or for them to be able to contract with those of us outside.
So if we really want to make a system that every single child has an opportunity with every single employer having the ability to have high quality care for their employees, especially nonprofits, especially our sheriff and our fire and our EMS and all the rest government entities that don't have the capabilities of doing that because they don't have the funding, we really need to look at a systemic change.
So whether that's a sales interest.
sales tax increase, whether that is a capital gains tax increase, whether that employers do a 0.05% or something like that payroll tax like Vermont has done very, very successfully, I might add, because what that does is it adds revenue.
Whatever it is, we have to have something that's going to add revenue without it being on the parent to pay for it.
Other than that, there's just no way it'll work.
Corrine Hendrickson here from Cassandra on YouTube.
While we were on a waiting list, our kids went to an unlicensed person and I know it contributed to my youngest speech delay.
Also had to emergently pull our son out of that house because he had fallen off a scooter twice with no helmet and more that resulted from it.
It was just not a good situation compared to a regulated childcare center, which is what we're all fighting for here.
Corrine, thank you again for the time so much.
I know how busy you are organizing this and we wish you all the best.
Thanks for getting up early with us today.
Well, okay, we'll see you again real soon.
Coming up later in the program today, we're going to be talking to Chad Holmes.
We'll be talking to Dan Schaefer.
We have another check-in with meteorologist Brittany Merleau.
But first, Hans Breitenmoser and Sheila Everhart will be talking about agricultural tourism in the state.
Thanks for spending part of your mornings here, powered by UpNorth News on the Civic Media Radio Network.
I'm Pat Crichtlow.
Remember, as you watch the show, you can also comment, either send a text, 855-75CIVIC.
You can also use your comment sections on Facebook and on YouTube.
We are on the Up North News Facebook and YouTube pages.
We are on the Up North News Facebook and YouTube pages where we'll see your comments here and maybe pop them up on screen throughout the course of the show and answer them as well.
You can't let Robin Tigerton and Tony and Cassandra and Alicia have all the fun.
You guys can join in too along the way.
Joining in the fun now is our friend Hans Brighton Moser, dairy farmer from up in Lincoln County and Sheila Everhart from the Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Association on this National Tourism Week, National Tourism Day.
Sheila, Hans, good morning.
How are you guys?
Good morning.
Good morning.
I'm fabulous.
Thanks for having me.
Hey, you bet.
So nice to see you again.
There is going to be a lot to talk about in terms of activities and the reason why we do the things that we do, especially across rural Wisconsin.
But if we could take it from an overarching tourism standpoint in Wisconsin, and this is kind of how he kicked off the show, Sheila.
I mean, we are very fortunate to live in a state that
basically has, you know, you can be a tourist in your own state and it's now something like a 25 billion dollar industry.
We've got no shortage of places where you can go on a tank of gas and enjoy a day or a weekend.
Absolutely.
Agricultural tourism is growing in Wisconsin.
We are so fortunate to have the beautiful landscapes and farms that we have.
Agricultural tourism is a mix of tourism and agriculture.
And as you mentioned,
Tourism in Wisconsin is a $25 billion industry and of course our agricultural industry is $116.3 billion and so outdoor recreation is also thrown in there at $11.2 billion industry and agricultural tourism is the marriage of all three industries.
Tourism, outdoor recreation and agriculture and you know Hans and
Pat.
Travel is not red or blue, but travel is green.
It's the economic impact, the revenue stream that tourism and agricultural tourism brings across our state borders to our Wisconsin economy that supports small family farms, small businesses, and many other hotel, motel, restaurant, and convenience stores.
industry.
So, agricultural tourism is green.
Yeah, I was going to say, I saw Hans' face light up right away with that because you're looking for those first green shoots coming out of the ground as well.
Hans, and you know, hey, anything that helps lighten the load in terms of the tax base and if that includes some folks touring through the the woods and the hills and the farms of Lincoln County, I assume you're all for it.
But I did hear the last bit of Sheila's deal as far as it being green.
And I think she's absolutely right.
It is green.
It moves a lot of dollars around.
And certainly as farmers, we can appreciate the green that's coming out of the ground right now and more to come as we start.
getting seeds in the ground.
But I think the other important thing to mention is that it's important culturally and educationally, right?
I mean, if we can get people out to farms of different sizes and shapes and so forth and so on, it helps people understand and appreciate where their food comes from and just sort of the natural beauty out in the rural areas and so forth as
well.
all kinds of outdoor opportunities.
There's outdoor recreation as well.
There's obviously sports, you know, from from Camp Randall to Lambeau Field and everything in between.
So Sheila, when we look at it from a rural slash agricultural standpoint, are there, would you say that there are a lot of like
one-off events that take place in this or is it more of a seasonal every day?
There are lots of comparatively little things going on, little bus tours and groups and things like that.
How would you characterize agricultural tourism in Wisconsin at this point?
I think agricultural tourism is something that you can experience every day.
And all of us experience agriculture every day when we eat because we really need to thank a farmer.
But today and every day, like right now, you can visit a tulip farm.
We have petting zoos that are open.
The blossoms on the apple trees in the orchards are just amazingly beautiful and smells so wonderful.
always visit a winery and vineyard.
Experience a farmstay.
or participate in a cooking class, farm to table dinner or pizza on the farm.
And spring brings new babies, brings new life.
Spring brings new opportunity for people to get out and explore in their own backyard within an hour to three hour radius on a day trip.
Agricultural tourism and tourism is every day for all of us.
Yeah, I know that there are a couple of
more direct events that we can touch on.
One of them is the John Deere Green and Classic Green reunion.
And then, of course, there's June Dairy Month in Wisconsin.
Do you want to start with one or the other first, Sheila?
Oh, absolutely.
Union is coming to Washington County Fair Park and Convention Center, which is located down in West Bend, Wisconsin.
And this is the first time this event has come to Wisconsin.
It's a family friendly event that will have more than a thousand exhibitors, tractors, implements, engines, toys, memorabilia, and so much more.
What's really exciting about this is it's totally free for children 17
under and admission to the fair park is $15 per day or you could get a wristband for all three days for $40.
There is some amazing speakers lined up for this and we have some information about
how Wisconsin is so tied into the John Deere heritage the John Deere tradition because we all know that John Deere himself was a young blacksmith from Vermont who moved to Illinois and he in 1830 invented the plow the plow that could go through the what they called the gumble the thick clay the soil that was
wasn't easily plowed during that time.
So this young blacksmith really changed the face of agriculture today.
And then how does that relate back to Wisconsin?
Wisconsin really started their egg implement facility.
way back in 1861.
Now remember, Wisconsin became a state in 1848, but Horicon Works, an egg manufacturer, brought the Van Brunt drill grains and continued to make John Deere equipment through
1963 in the egg area, but then they transition into the riding lawnmowers.
They have made this no mobiles.
So this, we have such a historic cultural tradition in Wisconsin for agriculture.
And we have these wonderful, iconic John Deere equipment that was manufactured right here in Wisconsin that we are celebrating and inviting people to attend this three-day conference session, June 12th through the 14th in West Bend.
It's just amazing.
And the one thing I'm really the most proud of, Pat, is we have this book here called John Deere That's Who.
And for all of our teachers listening today, we're having a live book read and lesson that will be on the YouTube platform for classrooms to enter into for 30 minutes on May 20th.
And so what we're doing is we're talking about the history of John Deere, why it's important, why when they're watching our plaque.
tractors and plow plow the fields how that has such a rich cultural heritage to Wisconsin and then of course we're going to invite the students who are participating in this lesson to bring their parents grandparents grandmas all to the classic green reunion uh June 12th through the 14th because
Children under 17 are free, and
it
would be a great multicultural family experience.
There is so much to learn here.
Hans, I didn't know 5% of what she just told me about John Deere, the person.
Maybe it's a requirement for farmers.
Do you know a little bit more than I do?
Or is your connection so weak we can't even weigh in on John Deere right now?
Or there you are.
Again, just all I know is what I can find quickly on the interwebs and that how he was one of the first to come to the conclusion that a steel plow that was highly polished with the correctly shaped mold board could get through the soil conditions in his area and the rest as they say
is history, but Hans, there's also, again, there will be a dairy breakfast there.
There's June Dairy Month events all over the area.
I don't know that every one of them has a dairy breakfast or something, but it's not too soon to start thinking about what kind of June Dairy Month events will be happening up by you.
So Lincoln County always has the dairy breakfast.
It's not on anyone's farm anymore because there are very few dairy farms in Lincoln County and certainly anything that can host such an event because it does draw a crowd.
But there's plenty of counties that have farms that have enough open space and so forth to consider the parking and all the logistics and they're usually very, very well attended.
Because again, I think people, it's become a tradition, people enjoy
doing that one Sunday morning in June and getting back out to the countryside and hopefully being able to get on a dairy farm and and get close to cows and see you know see where all the dairy products come from.
And I got just just a little bit of time left Sheila anything you want to say in terms of a particular events about June Dairy Month that are in the planning right now or just give people a heads up to head to something in particular?
Great, I'd like to continue a little bit more about this John Deere classic green reunion The Keller bus tour is a part of that Nobody really knows this hidden gem this secret.
We have a private collector that has over 588 tractors historic iconic totally
refurbished and brought back to life tractors 588 under one property.
And Classic Green Reunion is offering a tour to that private collector facility.
We, in conjunction with Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Association, we are offering two tours and each of them have five
agricultural tourism destinations, Kelly's Country Creamery, a Distillery, a Cheese Manufacturer, Leclerc Creamery, Ziggler Winery, Erie Point Farms that are doing flowers.
We also have an Orchard Farm, Wisconsin Discovery Center, a Lavender Farm.
And so what we're trying to do with these two bus tours is really show the people that are coming from out of state, the two to.
4,000 people coming from across the border.
Why Wisconsin is truly America's Agricultural Tourism Association.
So visit the
website at ClassicGreen.org.
ClassicGreen.org to learn more about this really historic, iconic three-day event.
Perfect
for collectors and
Enthusiast
of all ages.
Incredible.
Sheila, thank you so much for that.
Appreciate it.
Hans Bright and Moser as well.
Remember, you can follow my team all day long at UpNorth News.
Head over to UpNorthNewsWI.com.
And of course, follow us here mornings on the Civic Media Radio Network.
Thank you for having me.
You're listening to Civic Media.
Find the latest news, information and archives of all your favorite shows on the Civic Media website, civicmedia.us.
Back now at 752, Sheila Everett has been with us from the Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Association and Hans Breitenmoser, dairy farmer up in Lincoln County.
I was looking Hans at the most recent planting report here.
Corn planting being 16% complete, just a little behind average.
Soybeans, 17% planted.
Potato planting, 55% complete.
Spring tillage is 42% completed a couple of days behind last year.
And the winter wheat condition, 63% good to excellent.
But I think the top line here is about the top soil, 0% moisture deficient.
Plenty of rain, only three days of field work on average.
So that's the whole big report.
How are things in your neck of the woods?
Everybody's ahead of me based on your statistics.
I have no seed in the ground, but we are in Lincoln County, so that's a little, you know...
little farther north.
But we are, and speaking of poop in a group, we are spreading manure right now.
So that should be wrapped up here in the next few days.
And then we'll get serious about putting seed in the ground.
Well, I saw a lot of it over the weekend, especially on Sunday, rather.
Every so often, you'd see a cloud of dust off in the distance.
And you knew that was somebody else finally getting to some field work.
And, you know, we were looking at the forecast thinking, well,
the folks who aren't done planting by the end of this week.
I mean, this this is as good an opportunity as it gets.
It sounds to me.
So yeah, I think this might be your your last couple of moments of leisure for the week here, Hans.
You know, in Rock County, we're finished with our corn.
We have all of our corn in the ground.
And my son is finishing up
we have one and a half days of soybeans to finish and then we will be finished planting in Rock County.
There were a couple of other headlines that I wanted to share.
One I don't need to dwell on very much but I noted that Wisconsin has now been number one in cranberry growing for 30 consecutive years and I'm sure I mentioned this to Hans.
I may or may not have mentioned it to you Sheila as well that I do remember
before that time, going back beyond 30 years, when it was Wisconsin and Massachusetts consistently jockeying for who was going to be the dominant, you know, cranberry state.
And for Wisconsin, Sheila, I mean, for the past three decades now, it's been no contest.
That is absolutely right.
And Wisconsin produces 62% of all the cranberries that we enjoy throughout the year.
Most of the cranberries are made into cranberry juices and craisins, but we have an abundance of fresh cranberries.
And you know, we'd go into the classrooms and we teach about time for cranberries because in Wisconsin, a lot of our children and a lot of adults
really haven't eaten fresh cranberries.
And so, you know, it's all about teaching and learning and our cultural history.
And what a better way to do it than through taste and touch.
Without a doubt.
And so, I mean, that much we are certain of, but there's still a lot of.
uncertainty in agriculture and Ponds likes to say a lot about the the Farmers Union out there and the Wisconsin Farmers Union and National Farmers Union are going to be having a press event on Thursday.
calling on Congress and state leaders to act amid rising uncertainty, certainly with the cuts we've seen in the budget, other cuts that could be on the way.
We know that Darren Van Ruden, the president of the Wisconsin Farmers Union is gonna be a part of this event Thursday, along with state representative Tara Johnson, state Senator Brad Paff as well.
And Hans, this is no surprise to you that some folks are getting really tired of the uncertainty coming out of DC and to a lesser degree out of Madison.
Well, you know, I've said all along Pat public policy does matter and so what our what our leaders say and do does matter and it certainly affects us out here in the countryside and And you know, we as farmers we deal with enough uncertainty the markets are uncertain enough without having public policy and rhetoric that sort of throws sand in the gears So it's one day.
There's tariffs the next day.
There's not it has this stabilized the already
kind of dynamic place and you know we're dealing with enough uncertainties with the weather and so forth so it would be nice to get some
sort of a steady hand there.
And as far as the budget cuts and the USDA cuts, cuts to things like local food purchase assistance program and so forth, that does have a real impact on small farmers that are marketing directly to consumers and eliminating the middleman.
All the things that we claim to be all about are kind of getting kicked in the shorts here a little bit with some of the policies that are coming out of Washington.
So yeah, Farmers Union as always is trying to do their best
to persuade lawmakers to do the right thing when it comes to our rural areas.
And again that will take place Thursday afternoon at Burns Park on Main Street in La Crosse and then some folks will be walking over to Congressman Derek Van Orden's office again asking to kind of provide some certainty and that's where we're going to end Sheila with again as Hans has mentioned the the cultural bridge that for folks that are just hearing in the abstract about you know farms
supports and spending cuts.
As folks get out there and see the rest of the state and talk to people involved in agriculture, it only strengthens those ties to indicate why we should be supporting agriculture at every level in the state, don't you think?
Absolutely.
Farmers are seeing another loss in revenue this year, predicted by the USDA.
Farmers need an additional revenue stream.
Farmers want to tell their story and invite guests to the farm.
And that is agricultural tourism.
And we're still fighting a battle about our iconic farm weddings and how we need a trailer bill to make sure small family farms can stay viable.
So we are continuing on that.
that forefront about public policy and really helping small family farms and the consumer.
But
agricultural tourism is an additional revenue stream,
but we
need our elected officials to understand the risk involved with farming, the risk of the weather.
And then let's give us some commodity prices, some input prices, some revenue streams so we can maintain our family farms.
There you go.
Sheila Everhart from Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism and Hans Bright and Moser.
Thanks to both of you.
Appreciate you being here today.
Have a great day.
And Hans, good luck with getting all that field work done.
Coming up in the next hour, you bet.
We'll have Chad Holmes along and Dan Schaefer, also an updated forecast from meteorologist Brittany Merleau.
And Greg Bach is back in one hour for Matt and Air.
on air.
Remember, you can follow us through our newsletters.
Head over to UpNorthNewsWI.com.
And of course, right here, mornings on the Civic Media Radio Network.
I'm Pac Wright Long.
The national news cycle never stops, but it can be hard to find news about your local community.
Civic Media is dedicated to providing quality local and state news coverage across Wisconsin.
With the Civic Media app, you can get notifications about local stories that matter to you and your community.
Find the free Civic Media app in your phone's app store and choose notifications from the menu to tell us what kind of news you want to hear about.
