Please wait a moment as the Sow the Seeds Documentary on the 2007 flood relief effort loads. If the video does not begin to play automatically, click the play button (triangle icon) at the bottom left of the black box.
August 2007: Flooding of Epic Proportions
By Paul Wotzka, consultant to Sow the Seeds
In August 2007, numerous farms in the Driftless Region of southeast Minnesota, southwest Wisconsin and northeast Iowa were devastated by rainstorms of historic proportions. After a period of severe drought, these storms brought a year's worth of rain. Some areas received over 20 inches of rain in a three-day period.
Soil washed away by the truckload. Livestock drowned. Hay was uncut due to wet field conditions. Barns, fences, and farming equipment were ruined or severely damaged. Pastures and fields were filled with rocks and debris.
All in all, the flood was a major disaster for many farmers in the region. In fact, for many producers the devastation threatened to bring an end to their farming careers. Especially hit hard were organic and sustainable farmers who raise crops and livestock products for specialty markets.
Federal crop insurance is designed to help farmers who raise conventional crops and livestock. Few sustainable and organic farms are familiar with the programs, and they entail complex record-keeping that discourages grass-based livestock producers or organic vegetable growers from using them. Federal and state disaster relief efforts are at best slow and complex, and at this writing, many effected farmers still had not received financial assistance through government programs.
That's why the Sow the Seeds Fund was so critical in helping many of these farmers.
About the Sow the Seeds Fund
In 2006, the Wedge Community Co-op and Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) launched the Sow the Seeds Fund to strengthen the local food system in the Upper Midwest. Once the August 2007 floods hit, the Wedge and IATP quickly launched a special Sow the Seeds flood relief effort.
Within a few weeks of the storms, Sow the Seeds mobilized an extensive grassroots funding effort. Dozens of retail food co-ops, restaurants, churches and nonprofit organizations used donation jars and other means to collect money. Hundreds of individuals contributed. Foundations and businesses generously supported the Fund as well.
A committee of agricultural and community leaders was formed to reach out to affected farmers and review producer applications for financial aid. In just five months, over $390,000 was raised and distributed to area farmers who applied for support.
This accomplishment was even more remarkable when compared with the inefficiency of the state and federal agricultural disaster relief programs, which continue to leave many of these farmers unclear about whether and when they might receive any type of government disaster relief.
Timely Support
The timely aid from Sow the Seeds enabled farmers to buy hay to feed their livestock through the winter and to repair fences in their pastures. Others hired workers to harvest their remaining vegetable and fruit crops. Yet others used the funding to build on-farm infrastructure to better manage the next epic rainfall. The 31 farmers who received financial assistance represent the panorama of people who grow and process food for consumers' kitchens: vegetable and fruit growers; organic dairy and beef farms; a goat cheese maker and an ice cream producer; as well as growers of hazelnuts, turkeys and chickens.
As one farmer put it: "When you are devastated by a natural disaster like this flood, you feel alone and paralyzed to help yourself out of the mess Mother Nature delivered. The people that gave to the Sow the Seeds Fund helped my psyche out more than anything. They gave me the hope that there were better days ahead. They really cared!"
All in all, the flood was a major disaster for many farmers in the region. In fact, for many producers the devastation threatened to bring an end to their farming careers. Especially hit hard were organic and sustainable farmers who raise crops and livestock products for specialty markets.