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Agriculture in Wisconsin

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A farm in Marquette County

Agriculture is a significant sector in Wisconsin's economy, producing nearly $104 billion in revenue annually.[1] The significance of the state's agricultural production is exemplified by the depiction of a Holstein cow, an ear of corn, and a wheel of cheese on Wisconsin's state quarter design.[2] In 2017 there were 64,800 farms in the state, operating across 14.3 million acres of land.[3]

Overview

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Grain bins in Chippewa Falls

The climate and topography of Wisconsin is favorable to both arable crops and livestock grazing. Wisconsin's soil was ground up over thousand of years during the Wisconsin glaciation, creating soil that is good for crops.[4][5] The state has a short growing season, but lacks much of the natural disasters that threaten crops. Wisconsin's winters allow cool weather crops to be grown, including potatoes and cranberries. Corn and soybeans, warm weather crops, can still grow well during the summers. The rain in the north and west ranges from 30 inches (760 mm) to 34 inches (860 mm), and drops to 28 inches (710 mm) in the area around Lake Superior.[6]

Leading products

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Cranberry farm in central Wisconsin

Wisconsin leads the United States in the production of corn for silage, cranberries,[7] ginseng,[8] and snap beans for processing.[1] The state grows more than half the national crop of cranberries,[7] and 97% of the nation's ginseng.[8] Wisconsin is also a leading producer of oats, potatoes, carrots, tart cherries, maple syrup, and sweet corn for processing.[9]

Dairy

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Main articles: Wisconsin dairy industry and Wisconsin cheese

Wisconsin produces about a quarter of America's cheese, leading the nation in cheese production.[10][11] It is second in milk production, after California,[12] and third in per-capita milk production, behind California and Vermont.[13] Wisconsin is second in butter production, producing about one-quarter of the nation's butter.[14]

History

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According to Jerry Apps, the main themes of the history of agriculture in the state included environmental preconditions; the Native American experience, the original Yankee settlers; the rise and fall of wheat; the role of railroads; relation of rural and urban trends; the lead mining industry; lumbering; early mechanization; German, Swiss and Scandinavian immigration; the growth of cities; farmers in local and state government and politics; rural schools; transition to crop agriculture; the cheese and dairy industry; farming as a business; the Wisconsin idea; the College of Agriculture outreach programs; automobiles and good roads; tractors replace horses; arrival of rural free delivery, electricity and telephone; livestock raising; cranberry growing; federal controls and subsidies; truck farming; irrigation; consolidation into mega farms; the farm crisis of the 1980s; environmental degradation and recovery; and the impact of high tech.[15]

To 1860s

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The indigenous people of Wisconsin farmed a variety of vegetables and maize. The Oneota were the first people to farm intensively, around the Mississippi River.[16][17] In the year 1000, the Oneota, much like other Native Americans, were farming the Three Sisters—maize, beans, and squash.[18] Aztalan State Park is the location of one of the farming towns built at this time. The Aztalan population reached several thousand; it was abandoned after 1300 AD.[19]

Wisconsin was a frontier to many people in the Northeastern states—offering lots of fresh land for cheap. In the mid-19th century, Wisconsin's population increased from 11,683 in 1836, to 210,546 in 1848; the great majority were farmers. Prior to this influx of settlers, farms in Wisconsin mainly produced wheat; it was milled into flour and shipped to eastern states.[20] At this time, Wisconsin was producing about a sixth of the wheat grown in the country. However, this production could not last due to the worsening of the soil and chinch bugs. The Wisconsin wheat farmers abandoned the crop and turned to raising dairy cattle and growing feed crops.[21]

In the second half of the 19th century, commercial fruit production began in Door County, Wisconsin.[22]

Rise of dairy farming

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Main article: Wisconsin dairy industry § History
Modern dairy farm in Wisconsin

The early settlers brought their knowledge of the dairy industry with them, realizing the potential of Wisconsin as good farmland. Many of these settlers were from New York, which was the highest producer of dairy products at the time. Additionally, cheesemaking was brought to Wisconsin by the German, Swiss and Scandinavian immigrants after 1850.[23]

A worker in a New Glarus cheese factory in 1922 places a Wisconsin stamp on wheels of cheese.

Wheat farming had been the dominant agricultural activity in Wisconsin in the mid-19th century, but farmers began transitioning to dairy farming as an alternative to crop in the 1850s. The reasons included challenges like soil depletion, pest infestations, the rise of urban markets for fresh milk and the growth of the demand for cheese. The number of dairy cows in Wisconsin increased rapidly, from 245,000 in 1867 to over 2 million by 1925. Wisconsin became the leading dairy state, producing nearly half the nation's cheese and a tenth of its butter by 1907. The University of Wisconsin played a key role in supporting the dairy industry through scientific research, such as Professor Stephen Babcock's development of the butterfat test, and by providing education to farmers on dairy farming methods. Industry groups like the Wisconsin Dairyman's Association were formed in the 1870s to promote cheese production, share new dairying techniques, and overcome opposition to the cheese industry. Influence of immigrant farmers: German and Scandinavian immigrant families helped to grow the Wisconsin's dairy industry by their adapting to dairying and creating European-style cheeses. While dairy farming was initially dominated by family-owned farms, the introduction of automated milking systems and "factory-farms" with hundreds of cows led to the decline of smaller operations. [24][25][26]

Dairy farming were at first dominated by family-owned farms. However since the late 20th century the introduction of automated milking systems and "factory-farms" with hundreds of cows has led to the decline of smaller operations.

Cranberries

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In the northern region of the state, farmers in the late 19th century began growing cranberries. The crop is well suited to Wisconsin—not needing hot temperatures, growing in marshlands, and resistant to the extreme cold. Cranberries need little care, and are easy to grow.[27]

Today Wisconsin produces 60% of America's cranberries. In 2016, the state grew 6.13 million barrels of cranberries from over 20,000 acres of cranberry fields.[28]

Cutover district

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The white pine forests in 18 northern Wisconsin counties were the center of the American lumber industry in the mid-19th century. Dozens of towns began as sawmill centers, including Marinette, Oconto, Green Bay, Wausau, Stevens Point, Grand Rapids, Merrill, Black River Falls, Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls, La Crosse, and Ashland.[29] However, by the 1890s, intensive operations removed all the good trees, but left behind a mass of lumbering debris and tree stumps. It was called "the cutover district." The land was sold cheap to farmers. They tried to redeem it as farming land. They did well for a while when prices were high, but prices fell in the 1920s and 1930s and they lost money. The New Deal (1933-1940) sustained many cutover farmers during the Depression, but by the 1950s most farmers gave up and moved out.[30]

Effects of climate change

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This section is an excerpt from Climate change in Wisconsin § Agriculture.[edit]

The multibillion-dollar dairy business in Wisconsin, which provides more than half of the state's agriculture revenue, may suffer as a result of the changing environment. Cows consume less and make less milk when the temperature rises. Crops may face obstacles as a result of climate change, but it may also help them in certain ways; the overall effect is unknown. Longer frost-free growing seasons and increased CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere would boost soybean and wheat harvests in an average year. Summers that are becoming increasingly hot are expected to lower maize yields. Much of Wisconsin will likely experience 5 to 10 more days per year with temperatures exceeding 95 °F in 70 years than it does now. Crop output would also be harmed by more severe droughts or floods.[31]

Much like Wisconsin's tourism industry, agriculture also relies on predictable seasonal changes. Because of climate change, Wisconsin's seasonal cycles are becoming more and more unpredictable. The livelihoods of Wisconsin farmers are affected by the unpredictable weather changes every day.[32] In addition to the livelihoods of farmers being affected by climate change in Wisconsin, the increased temperatures and precipitation threaten food security. Although a longer growing season sounds beneficial to food security, in reality, the warmer temperatures and increased precipitation are stressful to crops and animals.[33]

Planting and harvesting crops will prove to be much more challenging due to the increase in precipitation. Soil erosion will increase and lead to larger amounts of polluted runoff. Polluted runoff could then in turn affect the water quality much like flooding and harm living beings.[33]

The warmer temperatures and increases rainfall in the summer months are not the only factor contributing to climate change's effect on agriculture. The winter months in Wisconsin are also becoming warmer. The rise in temperature throughout those winter months allows microorganisms in the soil more time to break down the nutrient-rich organic matter that is found in the soil.[34]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "DATCP Home Wisconsin Agricultural Statistics". datcp.wi.gov. Archived from the original on 2021-03-27. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  2. ^ Walters, Steven. "Doyle flips decision, puts cow on quarter". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on March 21, 2007. Retrieved March 30, 2007.
  3. ^ "2017 Census of Agriculture" (PDF). United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 7, 2021. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  4. ^ Apps (2015), p. 7
  5. ^ Gard (1978), p. 1
  6. ^ Apps (2015), p. 15
  7. ^ a b U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wisconsin Ag News—Cranberries Archived October 13, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, June 27, 2017, p. 1.
  8. ^ a b United States Department of Agriculture. 2012 Census of Agriculture: United States Summary and State Data, Vol. 1 Archived December 6, 2017, at the Wayback Machine. Washington, DC: 2014, pp. 475-476.
  9. ^ "Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection". NASDA. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22. Retrieved 2021-12-22.
  10. ^ "Total Cheese Production Excluding Cottage Cheese—States and United States: February 2010 and 2011" in United States Department of Agriculture, Dairy Products Archived January 13, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, p. 13.
  11. ^ "American Cheese Production—States and United States: February 2010 and 2011" in United States Department of Agriculture, Dairy Products Archived January 13, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, p. 14.
  12. ^ "Milk Cows and Production—23 Selected States: March 2011 and 2012" in United States Department of Agriculture, Milk Production[permanent dead link‍], p. 3.
  13. ^ "Table 6: Per Capita Milk Production by State, 2003" in CITEC, The Dairy Industry in the U.S. and Northern New York Archived April 26, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, p. 25.
  14. ^ Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Wisconsin's Rank in the Nations's Dairy Industry: 2007
  15. ^ Jerry Apps, Wisconsin Agriculture: A History (2015). pp. x to 15.
  16. ^ Gallagher, James P.; Boszhardt, Robert F.; Sasso, Robert F.; Stevenson, Katherine (July 1985). "Oneota Ridged Field Agriculture in Southwestern Wisconsin". American Antiquity. 50 (3): 605–612. doi:10.2307/280324. ISSN 0002-7316. JSTOR 280324. S2CID 163784835.
  17. ^ "Agriculture in Wisconsin". Wisconsin Historical Society. 2012-08-03. Archived from the original on 2021-05-24. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  18. ^ Spoolman, Scott (2018-04-12). Wisconsin State Parks: Extraordinary Stories of Geology and Natural History. Wisconsin Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-87020-850-8. Archived from the original on 2021-10-14. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  19. ^ Apps (2015), p. 18
  20. ^ Schafer, Joseph (1922). A history of agriculture in Wisconsin. p. 84.
  21. ^ "Farming and Rural Life | Turning Points in Wisconsin History". www.wisconsinhistory.org. Wisconsin Historical Society. Archived from the original on 2024-05-17. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  22. ^ Cain, Cortney (May 2006). "Chapter 4, Door County Apple Horticulture". The Development of Apple Horticulture in Wisconsin, 1850s-1950s: Case Studies of Bayfield, Crawford, and Door Counties (M.A. thesis). UW-Madison. Archived from the original on November 18, 2020. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  23. ^ Apps (2015)
  24. ^ "The Rise of Dairy Farming: How Wisconsin Became the Dairy State" (Wisconsin Historical Society) online Archived 2024-05-17 at the Wayback Machine
  25. ^ Eric E. Lampard, The Rise of the Dairy Industry In Wisconsin: a Study In Agricultural Change, 1820-1920 (State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1963).
  26. ^ Edward Janus. Creating Dairyland: How Caring for Cows Saved Our Soil, Created Our Landscape, Brought Prosperity to Our State, and Still Shapes Our Way of Life in Wisconsin (Wisconsin Historical Society, (2011).
  27. ^ "Cranberries, A Description of Great Marshes". Commercial Times. Tomah, Wisconsin. 9 April 1875. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  28. ^ U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wisconsin Ag News—Cranberries Archived October 13, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, June 27, 2017, p. 1.
  29. ^ Jerry Apps, When the white pine was king: a history of lumberjacks, log drives, and sawdust cities in Wisconsin (2020).
  30. ^ Robert Gough, Farming the Cutover: A Social History of Northern Wisconsin, 1900-1950 (University Press of Kansas. 1997).
  31. ^ "What Climate Change Means for Wisconsin" (PDF). United States Environmental Protection Agency. August 2016.
  32. ^ "Statewide report details how climate change is impacting Wisconsin". spectrumnews1.com. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
  33. ^ a b "Climate Change Impacts in Wisconsin | | Wisconsin DNR". dnr.wisconsin.gov. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
  34. ^ "Wisconsin climate change research confirms impacts of warming winter nights". PBS Wisconsin. Retrieved 2022-03-31.

Sources

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Further reading

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  • Apps, Jerold W. Cheese: The making of a Wisconsin tradition (University of Wisconsin Press, 1998).
  • Apps, Jerry. Casper Jaggi: Master Swiss Cheese Maker (2008)
  • Apps, Jerry. Horse-Drawn Days: A Century of Farming with Horses (Wisconsin Historical Society, 2010) online.
  • Apps, Jerry. Old Farm: A History (Wisconsin Historical Society, 2013) online, history of his own family farm.
  • Apps, Jerry. Wisconsin Agriculture: A History (Wisconsin Historical Society, 2015). online
  • Apps, Jerry. Barns of Wisconsin (2nd ed, Wisconsin Historical Society, 2013) online
  • Apps, Jerry. When the white pine was king: a history of lumberjacks, log drives, and sawdust cities in Wisconsin (Wisconsin Historical Society, 2020). online
  • Bogue, Margaret Beattie. Fishing the Great Lakes: an environmental history, 1783–1933 (U of Wisconsin Press, 2001). online
  • Bogue, Margaret Beattie. "The lake and the fruit: the making of three farm-type areas." Agricultural history 59.4 (1985): 493-522. online, on commercial fruit farming.
  • Brock, C., Barham, B. "Farm Structural Change of a Different Kind: Alternative Dairy Farms in Wisconsin -- Graziers, Organic, and Amish" Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems (2008) 24#1 pp. 25-37.
  • Cronon, William. Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West (W. W. Norton, 1991).
  • Current, Richard N. The History of Wisconsin, Volume II: Civil War Era, 1848-1873 (Wisconsin Historical Society, 1976) online.
  • Curti, Merle. The Making of an American Community: A Case Study of Democracy in a Frontier County (1959). In depth history of Trempealeau County
  • Ebling, Walter. A Century of Wisconsin Agriculture, 1848-1948 (1948)
  • Fries, Robert F. Empire in pine : the story of lumbering in Wisconsin, 1830-1900 (Caxton, 1989)
  • Geiger, Corey A. Geiger and Jerry Apps. The Wisconsin Farm They Built: Tales of Family & Fortitude (The History Press, 2023). online
  • Griffin, Duane. "Wisconsin's Vegetation History and the Balancing of Nature" in Wisconsin Land and Life edited by Robert C. Ostergren and Thomas R. Vale (1997) pp. 95-112, an environmental perspective.
  • Hintz, Martin. Wisconsin Farm Lore: Kicking Cows, Giant Pumpkins and Other Tales from the Back Forty (Arcadia, 2012). online
  • Hurt, R. Douglas. Agriculture in the Midwest, 1815–1900 (U of Nebraska Press, 2023) online.
  • Janus, Edward. Creating Dairyland: How Caring for Cows Saved Our Soil, Created Our Landscape, Brought Prosperity to Our State, and Still Shapes Our Way of Life in Wisconsin (Wisconsin Historical Society, (2011).
  • Lampard, Eric E. The Rise of the Dairy Industry In Wisconsin: a Study In Agricultural Change, 1820-1920 (State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1963).
  • Larson, Olaf F. When Horses Pulled the Plow: Life of a Wisconsin Farm Boy, 1910–1929 (2011)
  • Lodermeier, Jackson, and James Petrick. "The Progressive Landscape of Organic Dairy Farming in Wisconsin." (2020). online
  • Lyon, Alexandra, et al. "Farming without a recipe: Wisconsin graziers and new directions for agricultural science." Journal of Rural Studies 27.4 (2011): 384-393. online
  • Nesbit, Robert C. The History of Wisconsin, Volume III: Urbanization & Industrialization 1873-1893 (2nd ed., Wisconsin Historical Society, 2013). online
  • Ostergren, Robert C. "The Euro-American Settlement of Wisconsin, 1830-1920," in Wisconsin Land and Life edited by Robert C. Ostergren and Thomas R. Vale (1997) pp.137-162
  • Ostergren, Robert C., and Thomas R Vale, eds. Wisconsin land and life (University of Wisconsin Press, 1997), 28 popular and scholarly essays focused on the state's farms.
  • Peterson, Diana L., and Carrie M. Ronnander. Logging in Wisconsin (Arcadia, 2017)
  • Prince, Hugh. "A marshland chronicle, 1830–1960: from artificial drainage to outdoor recreation in central Wisconsin." Journal of Historical Geography 21.1 (1995): 3-22.
  • Raney, William F. Wisconsin: A Story of Progress (1940) pp 198-261. online
  • Raney, William F. "Pine Lumbering in Wisconsin," Wisconsin Magazine of History 19#1 (1935), pp. 71-90 online
  • Schafer, Joseph. A history of agriculture in Wisconsin (State historical society of Wisconsin, 1922) a major scholarly history online
  • Schafer, Joseph. Four Wisconsin counties, prairie and forest (1927) covers Kenosha, Racine, Milwaukee, and Ozaukee counties. online
  • Schafer, Joseph. "The Yankee and the Teuton in Wisconsin" Wisconsin Magazine of History (1922) 6#2 pp. 125-145 online; The Teuton = German immigrants.
  • Schafer, Joseph. The Yankee and the Teuton in Wisconsin (1923) online
  • Thompson, John G. The Rise and Decline of the Wheat Growing Industry in Wisconsin (1909)
  • Twining, Charles E. "Plunder and Progress: The Lumbering Industry in Perspective" Wisconsin Magazine of History 47#3 (1963-1964), pp. 116-124 online, focus on Wisconsin
  • Vale, Thomas R. "From End Moraines and Alfisols to White Pines and Frigid Winters: An Introduction to the Environmental Systems of Wisconsin" in Wisconsin Land and Life edited by Robert C. Ostergren and Thomas R. Vale (1997) pp. 11-34.
  • Vogeler, Ingolf. Wisconsin: A Geography (Routledge, 2021).
  • Vogeler, Ingolf. "The Cultural Landscape of Wisconsin's Dairy Farming" in Wisconsin Land and Life edited by Robert C. Ostergren and Thomas R. Vale (1997) pp.410-423.
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