Farmers are facing an uncertain future with hard times compounded by the coronavirus pandemic, but Baraboo’s FFA hopes to rally support for the dairy industry, helping both ag workers and neighbors in need.
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GALLERY: Wisconsin farming and FFA initiatives
FFA fundraiser
Baraboo FFA President Hannah Wieczorek, a junior, identifies cow organs Friday for ag teacher and FFA adviser Kristina Puntney at Baraboo High School. The chapter is organizing a pancake breakfast Saturday to show appreciation for local farmers and to educate the community on agriculture using educational games and displays.
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Agriculture teacher Kristina Puntney shows student Noah Thomte the results of a demonstration during a plant science class May 8 at Baraboo High School. The school is adding an aquaponics class thanks to a $10,000 America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education grant.
Baraboo Fire Chief Kevin Stieve
Baraboo Fire Chief Kevin Stieve explains the partnership that formed between firefighters and the high school's FFA to fund-raise for agricultural rescue equipment during a Baraboo Common Council meeting Tuesday alongside FFA members and advisers at City Hall.
BHS food pantry personal hygiene
Baraboo High School FFA and FBLA clubs set up a food pantry at the school for disadvantaged students, including hygiene products.
Darren Yanke
Darren Yanke of Echo-Y Farms pulls fence posts after moving a group of Aberdeen Angus beef cattle to a new grazing area on his farmland Feb. 12 near Loganville.
Farmers harvest crops
Dennis Knuth drives a combine to harvest a field of soybeans Thursday afternoon at his farm on Sauk County Highway T northeast of Baraboo. He owns the farm with his brother, Dale Knuth. A wet fall has delayed the harvest for some Sauk County farmers and late summer floods destroyed the crops of others.
Last call for curds
FFA Adviser Joshua Capodarco hands out his last two bags of free cheese curds at Rusch Elementary School to custodians Sheri Chester and Pam Livingston (not pictured) on Monday morning. Portage FFA, with support from Rural Mutual Insurance, purchased the cheese curds to support local dairy farmers and then distributed them at Rusch, St. Mary's School and Endeavor Elementary.
Ron Schoeep
Ron Schoepp opens a gate for cattle Feb. 11 at his farm in rural Lodi near Lake Wisconsin. Schoepp has been practicing no till on his fields for nearly 30 years and wants to see more investment in conservation practices to avoid water pollution. "We're not environmental activists, we're active environmentalists," Schoepp said of farmers who take grow crops and raise cattle in ways to prevent contaminated water runoff
Wieczorek named top FFA student
On May 22, Baraboo FFA named Hannah Wieczorek its member of the month for May. Wieczorek is a Baraboo High School freshman who joined the FFA because she wanted to be more involved in helping and informing people about the importance of FFA. Her favorite activity in FFA was the Midwest Horse Fair.
Wisconsin Farm Crisis
Wisconsin Assembly Rep. Tyler August speaks at a news conference Monday at the Capitol attended by other GOP lawmakers to unveil tax cuts and other plans designed to help the state's struggling agriculture industry. The news conference to unveil the bills came a day before a public hearing was scheduled on the measures.
