Chapter News
Meatsmith Cooperative: A Local Solution for Small Meat Producers
by Frieda Synnestvedt At the time I started raising sheep I was a vegetarian. I soon realized that when you start to breed sheep there will be excess males who will be meat for someone. So I went back to eating meat and kept my own butchered lambs. Eventually I...
Know Your Food
by Dela Ends In 1994 at Scotch Hill Farm in Brodhead we began raising vegetables for local families on a seasonal basis through the Community Supported Agriculture model. Recently, we transitioned to running a B&B called Innisfree Farmstay. I prepare farm-raised...
DriftlessTannery – Making Profits for Farmers
By Bethany Storm Sheepskin, once a valued by-product of the sheep industry, has become a part of the waste associated with animal agriculture. It costs money for local butchers to throw those skins away. There is no market for sheepskin today according to the American...
Ruby’s Big Adventure at the WFU Fly-in
Ruby Sheaffer (2nd from the left) joined Farmers Union members from across the country for the 2023 Fall Legislative Fly-In in Washington DC. Her experience is recounted below. Author: Ruby Sheaffer Hello everyone! I am a senior at Monroe High School in Green County,...
Aronia – Exploring the Potential of This Little-Known Fruit
Roberta and Kim Barham As Aronia enthusiasts, Kim and Roberta Barham began cultivating 1,000 aronia berry plants in 2009. In 2008, Roberta tasted a distinctly bold flavor in a fruit juice blend. Seeing the word “aronia” she identified it as the source of the zing...
Policy Effects Farmers
By Harry Pulliam Policy. The Britannica Dictionary defines policy as "an officially accepted set of rules or ideas about what should be done". That's a broad statement. Who, for example, gets to decide what's "officially accepted" and how are those decisions made?...