Farmers need support from all of us

America’s dairyland and its farmers are under attack. Small, family dairy farms have been disappearing at an alarming rate.

As hundreds of farm families every year begin to realize that no matter how many 16-hour days they put in milking cows, caring for livestock and planting and harvesting crops, they are losing money. Because they are having trouble paying their debts, many have had to declare bankruptcy. The stress of losing their farms have taken their toll on the mental health of their individuals, even to the point of thinking of suicide.

Wisconsin’s dairy industry has existed for the past 150 years. By 1899, more than 90% of Wisconsin farms raised dairy cows. By 1915, Wisconsin had become the leading dairy state in the nation, producing more butter and cheese than any other state, thus getting the name “America’s Dairyland.”

Farmers have faced adversity before. The Great Depression was a tough time for farm families. Because of a program under Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, farmers were given the help they needed by the federal government, creating many of the subsidy programs and market regulations that had kept agriculture prices from free-falling at every turn. Roosevelt saved many farms when a strict moratorium was placed on bank foreclosures that were taking farms from families that had owned them for generations.

Wisconsin farms faced another obstacle in the 1950s when President Dwight Eisenhower’s secretary of agriculture, Ezra Taft Benson, did away with the price support system. Despite the fact that farmers’ incomes had been at a steady level despite the ups and downs of supply and demand, Benson thought that farmers would be better off in the free market like everyone else.

Unfortunately, because of the loss of price supports, the supply and demand axiom is essentially out of the farmers’ hands. Unlike big corporations and other businesses, family farms can’t turn off or ramp up production overnight. They have no power to bargain and are at the mercy of the conglomerates and marketing orders on the price they get for their milk and crops. If the weather is favorable, supply will increase. If not, products like corn, wheat and soybeans will be in more demand.

With the exception of the election of Democrat Jimmy Carter after the farm economy had suffered during the Richard Nixon/Jerry Ford years, Wisconsin farmers have tended to vote Republican for the past several decades.

The Republicans aren’t helping farmers. They are actually making things worse.

The state of the farm economy under President Trump’s policies could well be the worst in history. Milk prices paid to farmers are awful. Farmers are losing money on every hundred pounds of milk they produce. One recent estimate shows that Wisconsin cheese shipments to China have fallen almost 65%, while exports to Mexico are down more than 10%. This is a drastic reduction in the levels of dairy products our state exports abroad. Markets for soybeans, corn and other grains bought by China are essentially gone, leaving surpluses and lower prices behind.

Trump has tried to save face by sending Wisconsin farmers 2% of what they lost but that’s a drop in the bucket as families struggle to put food on the table, send kids to college, save for retirement or even keep their farms. Many farmers favor the idea of a supply management program for dairy like the one Canada uses, bur the Trump administration has not supported such a program.

In his recent budget, Gov. Tony Evers offered critical assistance for dairy farmers in his budget by increasing funding for county ag agents, organic and grazing specialists, expanding the farm-to-school program, expanding the Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin Program and critical farmer mental health programs, just to name a few. Unfortunately, many of these ideas were cut or significantly reduced by Republicans from the final version of the budget.

Times have not been good for farmers the past several years. Wisconsin now leads the country in farm bankruptcies. Observers of the farm economy say it’s never been so desperate. That, of course, puts a strain on rural communities and their economic well-being.

Many have compared the present situation to the farm crisis of the 1980s. Others think the situation for farmers is even worse now than 30 years ago when there was a terrible outbreak of depression and suicide.

The Farm Bureau did a survey of rural adults and farmers to understand multiple aspects of mental health for this population. One of the findings was that 91% of farmers and farm workers think financial issues impact the mental health of farmers.

Being aware of the mental health struggles farmers face are more important then ever. We must break the stigma that mental health issues are only a symptom of a weak person. We need to reach out to anyone who needs assistance and guide them to a place where they can get the help they need.

The Wisconsin Farm Center (800-942-2474) and the National Suicide prevention line (800-273-8255) are available to help those who are struggling.

Wisconsin farmers are the backbone of our state. Democrats are standing up for them and will continue to fight for legislation that will provide for a flourishing farm economy. Give them a chance.

Jan Koch is a Shawano resident and the chairwoman for the Shawano County Democratic Party.