Wisconsin's
Small Dairy Farms – A Work In Progress
Dairy farming is Wisconsin’s largest industry. By 1899
more than 90 percent of all farms in Wisconsin were dairy farms.
Now 20 percent of the Wisconsin farms are dairy. The number of
dairy farms in Wisconsin has diminished 30 percent in the last
thirty years, and fewer than 17,000 remain. Most of the small farms owned and run by families are slowly disappearing as large factory farms
become more profitable. The larger farms confine the animals and
often hire outside help to milk the cows.
Many of the farmers from small farms have tended livestock for
several generations. In addition to raising and milking cows they
must grow feed crops, fix machinery and tend to barns. Some farms
not only raise cows but chickens, turkeys and pigs to feed the family
or to sell. Often a wife needs to work outside the home to
provide additional income. Milk prices fluctuate and farmers have
to compete with imported milk. Urban sprawl has led
to discord between newcomers and long time
farmers.
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Back
to the Best Farm
Dan Seigmann is an exception among dairy farmers. He, his
wife Paula and their eight children all take a part in running this organic farm.
Dan, who was raised on a conventional farm, oversees the 120 cows while the
oldest son runs an egg business. Paula runs an on site natural foods
store and weekly organic produce market. The children help with the milking and
other chores. The family also raises pigs and goats. The Seigmanns are religious
Christians and the children are home schooled. They regularly engage in many old fashioned pastimes such
as canning and square dancing. When the Siegmanns are
not working on their farm they perform bluegrass gospel music at local churches, festivals and
fairs.
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Alfalfa
Knoll Farm
On the corner of two country roads in Slinger
sits a farm founded in 1848 by German immigrants. In summer hollyhocks
grow tall, next to original stone buildings. An old, tall corn
crib borders the property.
Randy Wenzel, his father Carl, descendents of the founders of the farm, and Randy's wife Brenda still work this land. They all live in the duplex, built in 1903. Even Carl, 76, works daily, helping with chores.
At one time, Randy, Brenda
and their young daughter Nicole raised 50 registered Jersey cows,
grew feed crops and tended their horses. In the spring of 2005 Brenda and Randy decided to sell
their dairy cattle to a young couple. After Randy’s knee surgery and problems
associated with urban sprawl they took on jobs not related to farming. They are now raising a small herd of sheep in addition to several goats. They continue to raise crops.
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Gary
Sielaff Farms, Inc.
Each August, Becky and Abby Sielaff spend hours grooming,
washing and blow drying their heifers. Along with their mother, Mary, they prepare
them for judging at the Dodge Co. fair. They work late until the night, sleep
in a trailer and wake up at 4:00 AM in order to wash their animals one last time
before judging. Father, Gary stays home to milk the cows. Older sisters, Rachel
and Elizabeth stop by the fairgrounds to help and watch the judging. The family
also shows their chickens. Older brother, Bill stays on the farm to do chores.
The family lives in Oconomowoc on the same farm where
Gary has lived his whole life. They raise 118 Holsteins including calves and heifers. They also raise pigs, turkeys and exotic chickens for their family. In the fall
they enjoy hunting turkeys and deer.
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Bedouin
Women of the Negev Desert
During the past 30 years the Israeli Bedouin of the Negev desert have seen radical
changes in their way of life. Once a largely nomadic people, the government has
encouraged them to settle in permanent villages and towns in the arid Negev. Many
lack such basic services as banking, mail and public transportation. Two of the
largest towns, Rahat and Tel Sheva, are the poorest population centers in the
country.
Moving from a rural nomadic way of life to a more settled one has
had a profound effect on Bedouin women. Once women worked the fields,
milked the goats, wove rugs, and sewed clothes. It was the women
who decided when to break camp. Today, while the men go out to work
in the Negev towns and the city of Beersheva, the women stay at
home, largely deprived of their traditional roles. In most cases
there are no fields or animals to tend and clothes are store bought.
However like their sisters in the tents, they continue to bear large
numbers of children, and spend most of their time rearing them.
Even with the trappings of modernization in some segments of Bedouin society
only 20 percent of the girls complete high school. Ninety-nine percent of the
women over the age of 40 are illiterate. Women of all ages must contend with polygamy
even though it is illegal under Israeli law.
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Jewish
Residents of the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem
Prior to the 1948 War of Independence, the Old City of Jerusalem was divided into
four parts: the Muslim, Christian, Armenian and Jewish Quarters. But these divisions
were not strict. Jews had long been living in the Muslim quarter and had maintained
several yeshivas (places of learning) and shops. Anti-Jewish riots forced some
of them to flee in the 1930's, while the Jordanians evicted the rest in 1948 when
all of the Old City fell into their hands. After the Six-Day War many Jews began
to return to the Old City. Most settled in the Jewish Quarter but some reestablished
a presence in the Moslem Quarter, where about 500 Jews currently have homes or
study. These Jews wish to reclaim Jewish property and to be near their holy sites.
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