Teamwork helped two area farms expand

“Farming is a profession of hope” — Brian Brett There is no doubt that family farms, food processors and agriculture-related businesses generate thousands of jobs and millions of dollars of economic impact throughout Shawano County. In fact, according to the Wisconsin Farm Bureau in Shawano County, farming is responsible for 4,267 jobs and accounts for $487 million in business sales. Of that total, $365.2 million comes directly from the sales of farm products and other related value-added products. That’s roughly 24 percent of the county’s total annual business sales. In today’s column, we’re featuring two hard-working farm families and saluting their efforts to expand their dairy operations and in the process create new jobs. Zernicke’s Landstad Dairy, LLC, was formed on Aug. 1, 2005, by Delmar Zernicke and his sons, Dan and Derick. Delmar and his wife, Rozanne, own a 500-acre farm in the town of Lessor in southeastern Shawano County. Delmar grew up on the farm and has been farming his entire life. In 1972, Delmar purchased the farm from his parents, and he and his sons have been operating the farm ever since. At that time, the farm had 130 cows that were owned by the three family members. In 2005, the Zernickes knew that they had to expand. They acquired a neighboring farm with 120 acres and a newer 248 free-stall barn. Their goal was to acquire an additional 200 cows so they could be operating at least 300 head at any given time. A major partner in the project was Greenstone Farm Credit Services. They provided over $1 million in funds for building construction and related improvements. Delmar then approached SCEPI for help, and we introduced the family to Wisconsin’s Milk Volume Production (MVP) grant program. The program provides grant funds to county units of government to be loaned out at a low interest rate for dairy projects. In the Zernickes’ case, their $100,000 MVP loan was used for the acquisition of 200 dairy cows. The farm expansion also enabled the Zernickes to create five new jobs that would pay approximately $11 per hour or $114,400 in new annual payroll. Matsche Farms Inc., of Birnamwood, was formed in 1984, at which time they milked 350 cows on 500 acres. The business is owned by James Matsche, his wife, Germaine, their children, Scott and Sid, and daughter-in-law, Caroline (Scott’s wife). They expanded to 650 cows in 2000 and by 2002 had grown to 580 acres. During this same period, they made extensive improvements to existing buildings and other assets of the operation and completed needed excavation for their eventual expansion. By 2003, the Matsches were ready to once again expand their dairy operation and nearly double the herd to 1,200 cows. The plan called for construction of a 59,000-square-foot, free-stall barn and a 1,600-square-foot breezeway barn, and the funding needed to acquire 550 new cows. As with the Zernickes, a major partner in the Matsche expansion project was Greenstone Farm Credit Services. It provided the funding needed for construction of the two new buildings. The Matsches also worked closely with SCEPI and the Wisconsin Department of Commerce to submit a MVP grant application. Their $275,000 MVP loan enabled the Matsches to purchase their new cows. As a result of their expansion, the Matsches created seven new full-time jobs on the farm. There are some important aspects of projects like these to keep in mind: • These expansion projects are an excellent opportunity to provide support to our agriculture businesses and meet their growth and expansion needs. • They help to expand our area’s agriculture business sector, which is such a key economic driver throughout Shawano County and the surrounding area. • The farmers are making capital investments to improve and expand operations. • The farmers are creating new agriculture sector jobs. These stories are also good examples of how business development projects get completed, and that’s through teamwork. The partners in both these examples — the Wisconsin Department of Commerce, Shawano County, Greenstone Farm Credit Services and SCEPI — demonstrate the value of working together to achieve a client’s goals. By working cooperatively we were able to provide everything the Matches and Zernickes needed to make their expansions a reality. In our July column, we’ll take a look at the 2004-05 Nueske Applewood Smoked Meats expansion project in Wittenberg.