Deep Roots Radio

Wisconsin loses more than a farm a day because of the high costs and low incomes to farmers. Not a new story: WI lost 10% of its farms between 2017 and 2022. Yet, there is a clear way for farmers to increase their income: agricultural tourism. And it will not cost the taxpayer a dime.

Despite this great way for farmers and rural businesses to boost income, Wisconsin legislators are sitting on bill that could help. Why?

Call your Wisconsin Senator and Representative to urge them to pass two bills:

1. One that will again enable event barns, on working farms, to rent their barns more than six (6) times a year, and
2. Another that allows Wisconsin farmers to welcome overnight visitors for Education Farm Stays.

Enjoy this Deep Roots Radio interview with more of the reasons why this works for farmers, visitors and the State of Wisconsin.

Sylvia

Sheila Everhart, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Association points visitors to on-farm fun all across Wisconsin. She also asks the public to help remove barriers to agricultural tourism opportunities.

Hundreds of Wisconsin farmers are eager for you to visit their farms for adventures in eating, meeting animal farm babies, hiking/biking, taking classes, picking fruits and berries, and so much more. Public demand for on-farm experiences continues to grow.

This includes holding private events in on-farm barns, and enjoying Educational Farm Stays. Unfortunately, there are obstacles. And you can help remove these blockages by contacting your Wisconsin State Senator and Representative before this Legislative session ends in a few weeks. (Find your legislators here.)

• Pls urge your Senator and Representative to support Senate Bill 415 and Assembly Bill 413 so that Wisconsin farmers can offer Educational Farm Stays on their property.
• Pls go to Change.org and sign the petition to this effect. You can make a big difference.
• Also contact your Senator and Representative to move Senate Bill 850 and Assembly Bill 863 through committee and to a vote. These bills would again allow Wisconsin farmers to offer the public the opportunity to rent the space of an event venue (barn) for private, invitation-only celebration. As of January 2026, new legislation demands that a working farm must purchase a $10,000 liquor license, install expensive equipment, and operate as a bar if it wants to open its barn to more than six events a year. To be clear, for decades before this January, on-farm event venues operated legally and in compliance with all state and local regulations: These farm venues did not sell liquor in any form; the farms rented the barn space; the renter provided the alcohol (if any) to its invitation-only guests; the renter provided the required, licenses bartender.
• Register your support at https://instituteforjustice.quorum/campaign/128722/

In this first of two Deep Roots Radio interviews, journalist Elspeth Hay introduces us to her fresh off the presses book, Feed Us With Trees: Nuts and the Future of Food.

She describes what describes what agriculture looked like before Columbus, how European settlers forced change, and what we’ve lost in a cloud of myth and misinformation. Ms. Hay moves us through a re-examination of permaculture, as well as economic and social opportunities possible in the future.

Elspeth Hay is a writer in print, radio and online, focused on food, the environment, and the people, places and ideas that feed us.

She is the creator and host of The Local Food Report, a weekly feature that has aired on Cape Cod’s NPR station since 2008.

Land Stewardship Project has been working for the health and growth of small family farms and practices that restore soil health, and extend the affordable access to land.

In this Deep Roots Radio interview Laura Scheiber, LSP's Government Relations Director, describes the links between public policies and how food is grown and processed. She also argues that policy makers - our elected officials - pay attention to calls, letter and visits from the people who live and work in their districts.

Laura joined LSP in 2018 and helped launch their Local Foods Campaign. Driven by how the farm and food system can be a vehicle for climate action and positive change in people's day to day lives, she was a policy organizer in 2020 leading campaigns on soil health and climate, land access, and regional food systems at the state legislature. In January 2025, Schreiber began to lead LSP's Government Relations work, driving forward LSP's legislative agenda and the state and federal level working with farmers, rural residents and supporters to bring their voices to the Capitol and pass legislation that invests in a more sustainable farm and food system.

Laura is a graduate of University of Minnesota-Twin Cities with degrees in Urban Studies and Public Relations and lives in Northeast Minneapolis with her Springer Spaniel, Sesame.

When we think of gauging the health of our soils and water, we usually imagine lab tests. When we say the word "farm," it's common for images of livestock and row crops to come to mind.

However, just as the "canary" came to signal toxic air conditions in a coal mine, there are animals that can flag dramatic shifts on farm land and ground water.

In this Deep Roots Radio interview, herpetologist Christopher Smith describes how reptiles, turtles and salamanders are indicators of shifts in how we're using land and water. The impacts can be surprising at times.

Chris is a Minnesota-based Certified Wildlife Biologist, specializing in endangered species conservation and ecology, and with an emphasis is on amphibians and reptiles (herpetolgy).

He administers the Amphibian and Reptile Survey of Minnesota, and is Director of Public Affairs for the global HerpMapper project (HerpMapper.org)

Co-host Dave Corbett and I hope you enjoy this interview.

#farming, #regenerativeagriculture, # herpetology

It's spring: time to find and schedule on-farm adventures all across Wisconsin. One you don't want to miss is The Classic Green Reunion, June 12-14, 2025, West Bend, WI.

In this Deep Roots Radio interview, Sheila Everhart, Exec Dir of the Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Association (WATA), describes how the Classic Green Reunion combines the best of farm food, family-friendly activities, loads of John Deere memorabilia.

There are also opportunities for real on-farm experiences thanks to two bus tours to nearby farms offering great food, and hands-on fun. Each bus tour will visit five separate farms, each offering unique tastes, field walks, and more.

To reserve your ticket for the bus tours, visit ClassicGreen.org. To learn more about agricultural tourism visit wiagtourism.com.

#agtourism. #agritourism. #wiagtourism. #classicgreenreunion

Who can resist a cuddly lamb or bouncing baby kid? It seems thousands of us love watching videos about them. Well we don't have to settle for virtual clips. Every Spring, Govin's Farm, in Menomonie, Wisconsin opens its barn to visitors so that they can experience the joy of farming as new life comes to the farm.

Their Farm Babies event runs for five weeks in March and April. Visitors, young and not-so-young, are provided real farm babies to hold and enjoy. If you've got a lap, the farm staff will help you cuddle the brand new lambs and kids, wriggly piglets and fluffy chicks.

Parking is free and plentiful. Snacks, lunch and beverages are available for sale.

Govin's Farm is a real, working farm where John and family raise sheep and lamb, and crops. They welcome you to this spring time event, as well as berry picking in the summer, and a corn maze and pumpkin patch in the fall.

I hope you enjoy this interview.

This episode originally aired in 2023.

We think we know honey. As kids, we drizzled it on toast, dolloped in into tea, and swirled it onto cereals. But now we can tap into its real power: as medicine, and especially wen combined with other helpful herbs and spices. This is nothing new, says Dawn Combs in this Deep Roots Radio interview. A sustainable beekeeper, ethnobotanist, herbalist and farmer, Dawn is author of Sweet Remedies: Healing Herbal Honeys. She has contributed to numbers of publications, and has been featured on Martha Stewart, NPR, the New York Times, at Slow Food Nation, the Washington Post and Mother Earth News. She is also the author of Healing Local, and Conceiving Healthy Babies. She can be reached on social media and https://dawncombs.com

Deep Roots Radio in-studio chat with Alondra Cano, the energy and collaborator behind the Engine Room, in downtown Amery, WI. The new cocktail bar is just off the blocks and gaining speed with expertly crafted cocktails and artisenal foods featuring the ingredients and flavors of the Upper St. Croix watershed.

Cano describes the menu, as well as efforts to attract area chefs and creative businesses to the recently renovated space on Amery's main street.