As April continues to click along and the weather becomes warmer and more mild, many Wisconsin farmers are itching to get into the field.
Produce farmer Dave Wilfert, owner of Wilfert Farms in Two Rivers, is one of the many that is ready to get planting season underway. “We’re starting field work this week,” Wilfert says. “It’s going to be full steam ahead for us planting and we’ve done things to have inventories of seed, chemicals, and other supplies on hand” as a precaution just in case there is a hiccup in the supply chain.
Dave’s daughter, Kelly, recently came back to the family farm for the time being as her law classes at University of Wisconsin-Madison were moved to online only and commencement ceremonies were postponed. “COVID-19 has given me the opportunity to move home which means I get one last chance for a few months to be a farm kid and help out.” The Wilfert family jokes that Kelly’s first job out of law school will be harvesting asparagus. And if you ask Kelly, she’s quite alright with that.
Wilfert’s 700 acre farm produces anything from strawberries to carrots to cauliflower and broccoli. “Our first crop in the spring is asparagus,” Kelly says, “which is going to start sometime in May.” She also adds that the peak season from them will likely be around June 20th of this year. That gives them time to see how the current pandemic plays out before they are completely swamped with crops.
Josh Scramlin recently caught up with Dave and Kelly Wilfert and you can hear their conversation by clicking the play button below:
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