The Dodge County farm has been in Dave’s family since 1968. The youngest of four chilfe, Dave bought into the business right out of school, becoming the fourth generation of Roskopfs to farm. In 1997 he purchased the farm and is now raising his children in the same home where he was raised.
Monica grew up just down the road, one of nine children with an equally farm-focused life. Her grandparents settled in the Dodge County area when they emigrated from Germany and the whole family has remained tight-knit, with the majority still calling Dodge County home. Monica learned farming, canning and cooking.
Married in 1999, Dave and Monica have raised two boys together; Trevor, who’s 15, and Brendan, who’s 12. The boys have had opportunities to earn money through milking, mowing lawns and growing crops. In addition to the corn they grow and “sell back” to the farm, they run a pumpkin stand each fall. Though the dairy is the family’s main focus — with 900 acres of land where they grow corn, hay and soybeans — there’s never a shortage of work.
On April 1, the Roskopfs received a letter in their mailbox from Grassland Dairy, their milk processor. It was an unsigned letter informing them they had 30 days to find a new buyer for their milk.
Dave and Monica were just returning from a vacation and found the notice waiting at home. They were shocked.
Complicated and politically wrought regulations governing both dairy and trade in Canada have been blamed. Unfortunately, that was of little comfort for the families affected.
The couple’s milk hauler, Randy Hupf, received the same letter, with an additional note telling him of his 50 customers, 45 were Grassland farms. Randy was the reason Dave and Monica were with Grassland, and they’d been doing business with him and his drivers every day for 11 years.
As the news spread, the couple received many phone calls from fellow business owners. The farm’s veterinarian, feed supplier and nutritionist were just a few who called, wondering if they’d be affected.
Grassland took some heat on social media. While it was a difficult situation for everyone, there were many who thought Grassland had an opportunity to handle it with more compassion. Dave and Monica thought at the very least, they could have been given more notice — 60 or even 90 days.
Farm families organized meetings in order to share information face to face and work together finding ways to save their businesses. There was also a swift reaction from state government. Gov. Scott Walker and Secretary Ben Brancell were both involved.
Meanwhile, Monica and Dave were calling processors, asking around, searching for someone to buy their milk. Two weeks after the letter went out, the furthest they’d gotten was having their farm put on a couple waiting lists. While they were hopeful, because some farms were starting to get picked up. They grew more nervous at the same time, as the end of April approached and their milk still had no home.
Monica kept friends and family updated via Facebook. On April 24 she posted they’d found a home at Grande Cheese; albeit a temporary one. The company offered them a five-month contract. They, like so many processors, are full but they found a way to offer at least a temporary reprieve. The farm will earn less for its milk, but Dave and Monica are grateful nonetheless.
Monica also shared many messages of support for the dairy industry and what their family was experiencing. She posted a photo of a milk tanker with a “Hupf Trucking” emblem, and a caption marking it as the last time it would haul away their milk.
In the end all farms affected by Grassland’s cuts found homes, with the exception of a few small farms who took it as time to retire.
From organizing meetings to passing along leads, people like Hupf were instrumental in the farms finding new homes. Randy hopes to help farms find permanent arrangements and to rebuild his own business in the process.
In the end it was the collective agriculture family who came together – the farmers and the haulers and the feed guys and gals, and all the rest. They found ways to avoid the crisis and won’t stop working on this until all those empty frames have new signs hanging in them. They’ll keep at it until the job is done.
Because that’s farming.
Editor’s note: A letter by Canada’s ambassador to the US addressed to Governors Cuomo and Walker has been attached to this story.
Source: Daily Citizen
Link: http://www.wiscnews.com/bdc/news/local/article_763f11de-30b7-50fd-a316-979f8adf5820.html
