America’s Dairyland needs help

Wisconsin’s agriculture industry is struggling. But not everyone is prepared to try to do something about it. Governor Tony Evers in his State of the State Address last week, called for lawmakers to gather in a special session of the legislature to try to find solutions to saving the state’s dairy farms. The struggle is real. Wisconsin has lost nearly a third of it’s dairy farms in the past decade. We lead the nation in farm bankruptcies. Among the ideas are boosting Wisconsin’s milk exports, providing mental health resources to family farmers, and initiating a farm to fork program to put local food on the tables at universities, tech schools, hospitals and businesses. He wants members of the Assembly and Senate to meet tomorrow in a special session, but once again legislative leaders are planning to turn it into a charade. Like they did when Evers called for a special session to debate about reducing gun violence, leaders of the Assembly and Senate plan to gavel the meeting to order, then adjourn without any vote, or even any debate. That certainly won’t solve the problem. If they don’t like the Governor’s ideas, they should come up with their own. Otherwise they should get to work, and help ensure Wisconsin remains America’s Dairyland.