Support a Farmer's Legacy: Save Our Land

Hi everyone, I am raising funds to save the land that my family farm was once nestled upon. Our fifth-generation farm started as a dairy farm but was composed of everything from cows, pigs, sheep, chickens, goats, horses, pheasants, and many crops. My great grandfather even had a maple sugar shack that processed maple syrup! The downfall of the farm really started in the 80s when the US started transitioning from small family farms to large corporate factory farms. Support prices were slashed while the cost of living went up and agricultural prices went down. Milk quickly costs more to produce than what the farmer could sell it for. Our generational family farm was number one in the county for milk production until an unforeseen event of stray voltage coming through the groundwater of a neighboring farm caused the milk production to decrease significantly. Our family had universities, professors, and veterinarians attempting to diagnose the issue for over a year unsuccessfully. Due to the costs, it was impossible for the farm to recover from this event. My grandfather, who was the sole owner of the farm, suffered a heart attack which prompted my father and uncle to buy the farm. In attempt to save the farm which was close to half a million dollars in debt, my father and uncle transitioned the farm from dairy to beef. Six months later, my uncle passed away in a tragic car accident, leaving the sole ownership of the farm to my father. My father, unable to run the farm himself, was forced to sell everything he could to mitigate some of the debt but was still left with over $300,000.

My father has been experiencing life tragedies for as long as I can remember. In 2005 he lost my mother, his wife, at 33 years old after years of battling kidney disease. My mother was ill for many years and my father worked 5 jobs to support my mother, me, and my two brothers. He became a firefighter/ paramedic in 1997 and has been working so incredibly hard every single day. He is the most hardworking, selfless man I have met, alongside my uncle. He has the opportunity to retire next year, and I want nothing more for him than to finally relax while he still can. After years of hard labor, his body has well passed its limits. Despite these life tragedies, he wakes up every single day and goes into work to help others, all while having the biggest smile on his face. He shaped me into who I am today deserves the absolute world.

Growing up on a farm was the experience of a lifetime. Every morning we’d get up for chores and head to the barn. I’d put on my little pink Carhartt’s and drag the milk pales over to the calves. While my dad, uncle, and grandfather fed and milked the cows, my cousins and I would wander off into the haymow to play floor hockey, baseball made from cornstalk or build sleds out of old doors. I will forever be grateful for my childhood and hope that my father can finally rest upon the land that he grew up on.