Wisconsin

Wisconsin Ag Regulators Propose Massive Livestock Fee Increases

Thu, 11 Sep 2025 19:16:40 GMT

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) is proposing changes to rules, ATCP 10 and 12 , regulating animal disease and movement and animal markets, dealers and truckers.

According to the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation (WFBF) , these changes include massive fee increases that will be a substantial financial burden to markets, dealers and truckers that will unavoidably be passed down to farmers.

The license fee for what the DATCP calls “Animal Market Class A” would change from $420 to $7,430. A late fee for those markets would also increase by nearly 1,700% by shifting from the current price of $84 to $1,486. The registration fee paid by about 1,000 truckers transporting livestock in the state would increase 517%, from the current price of $60 to $370.

(Wisconsin Farm Bureau)

WFBF Government Relations Director Jason Mugnaini says it is important to clarify that Wisconsin’s program had historically received state funding support through DATCP, but this proposal shifts that onto industry fees.

The WFBF also reports the inspections and public health activity costs of these programs have previously been partially funded by state funding in Wisconsin, as they are in neighboring states. DATCP’s proposal shifts the full cost of these programs onto industry fees.

DATCP Secretary Randy Romanski explains the fees have not been adjusted since 2009 and the increases are needed to maintain critical animal health and transportation services.

“This program is currently in deficit because these have not been adjusted for so long,” Romanski explains. “Costs have increased during that time.”

He is transparent about the financial realities driving these increases. While the percentage increase might seem large, it reflects 17 years of accumulated cost pressures. He summarizes the goal is not to burden the industry, but to ensure the continued provision of critical animal health and movement services.

According to Sam GO, DATCP communications director, the DATCP Division of Animal Health receives federal funding through cooperative agreements for specific goals and objectives, such as animal disease surveillance and animal traceability. The cooperative agreements are separate from the programs in the proposed fee rules and do not fund the programs in the proposed fee rules.

She explains as federal funding for the cooperative agreements has decreased, those activities that are partially federally funded (such as animal disease surveillance and animal traceability) need to have a larger portion of their costs covered by the state animal health general program revenue. That means there is less state GPR remaining to cover the deficit in program revenue for the ATCP 10 and ATCP 12 programs.

The ATCP 10 fees support the following animal health programs: Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (CVI) Forms, Intermediate Handling Facilities, Disease Certifications (Brucellosis, Tuberculosis, Pseudorabies), Equine Infectious Anemia Retests, Equine Quarantine Stations, Feed Lots, Medical Separation, National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP), Farm-Raised Deer, and Fish Farms.

The Process

Romanski explains the administrative rule process is collaborative and takes about two and a half years. He says the process is designed to be collaborative with multiple opportunities for public input and engagement. He encourages stakeholders to not just critique the increases, but to offer constructive feedback and potential alternative solutions.

The current stage is specifically about public comment and engagement. He says the department wants to hear from industry members, producers and other stakeholders. They are actively seeking input that can help shape the final rule package.

The public can participate and provide feedback that can be considered by the department’s staff through several channels:

Attending public hearings
Submitting written comments by Oct. 15

The remaining hearings will be hosted virtually and at the Prairie Oaks State Office Building, Room 106, 2811 Agriculture Dr., Madison, WI 53708. For more information, dial-in instructions and to register for online access click on the ATCP 10 or 12.

ATCP 10:
• Monday, Sept. 15 – 1 p.m.
• Wednesday, Sept. 17 – 9 a.m.

ATCP 12 :
• Tuesday, Sept. 16 – 1 p.m.
• Wednesday, Sept. 17 – 1 p.m.

Individuals can submit written comments by Oct. 15 to: Angela.fisher1@wisconsin.gov or Angela Fisher, DATCP, P.O. Box 8911, Madison, WI 53708

Romanski explains after the public comment period, DATCP staff will review all submissions, consider suggested changes, and then present any revisions to their policy-making board. This ensures multiple layers of review and public involvement.

Neighboring State Comparisons

According to the proposal document , programs in adjacent states (Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois) are similar to Wisconsin, as all are based on federal standards. Neighboring states primarily fund these types of programs through general program revenue; therefore, they have lower fees than Wisconsin’s current fees. While Wisconsin’s program fees are collected from a small number of licensees, these critical programs have impacts and benefits across animal health, animal industries and public health.

In Iowa, a livestock market permit is $50 per year. The livestock dealer and livestock market agent permits are $10 per year. A bull breeder license is $20 every two years. A livestock dealer or order buyer permit is $50 per year. A feeder pig dealer agent permit is $6 every two years. A pig dealer’s agent permit is $3 per year.

In Michigan, an action Class I is $400 per year. A buying station (Class II) is $250 per year. The remaining fees are waived for veterans: A dealer (Class III) is $50 per year. An agent broker (Class III) is $50 per year. A collection point (Class III) is $50 per year. A trucker (Class IV) is $25 per year.

In Minnesota, a livestock market agency and public stockyard is $300 per year. A livestock dealer is $100 per year. A livestock dealer agent is $50 per year.

In Illinois, a livestock auction market license is $200 per year. The livestock dealer license is $25 for a new license, $10 for the annual renewal, as well as $10 for each location in addition to the first location, and $5 for each employee. A feeder swine dealer license is $25, the renewal is $10, and there is a fee of $5 for each employee. There is no fee for a slaughter livestock buyer’s license, just a requirement to submit an annual report.

Industry Feedback

Both the Wisconsin Cattlemen’s Association (WCA) and WFBF have come out opposed to the fee increases.

Tressa Lacy, WCA president from Rio, Wis., voiced her concern at the first hearing on Sept. 11.

“The Wisconsin Cattlemen’s Association is in opposition to the proposed fee increases inspections and registrations related to a variety of activities by Wisconsin animal dealers, truckers and markets in ATCP 10 and 12,” she says. “I raise beef cattle with my husband and our 8-month-old in Columbia County. We both work off the farm in agriculture to financially afford our beef and hay farm operation, and I know the cost of these fees will be passed directly on to producers like us.

“The result of such significant increases will be fewer livestock marketing options, the potential for reduced disease traceability and fewer opportunities to sell livestock in the state of Wisconsin. Fewer options inevitably mean lower prices and thinner margins in an industry that is already being pushed on thin profit lines.”

She explains the inspections and animal health protections funded by these programs serve a broad public purpose — protecting animal health and consumer confidence in the meat raised in Wisconsin.

“It is fundamentally unfair to shift the entire cost onto the users as this is certainly a public food safety conversation,” Lacy adds. “I share the industry concern that these initial proposals are just the start of all programs in Wisconsin shifting to being user funded. Other states fund these programs with state support as the benefits are shared by everyone. DATCP should restore and continue the approach for these outlined programs.”

She concluded her comments saying: “WCA respectfully ask that DATCP reconsider these unreasonable fee increases and maintain a funding structure with state support that is fair, practical and supportive of both public health and Wisconsin agriculture.”

Mitch Giebel a WFBF member from Lyndon Station, Wis., also shared his thoughts on the proposed fee increases.

“I’m very concerned about the massive increases of fees being proposed,” he says. “As a young farmer, every dollar really does matter on our operation. We work hard to raise our livestock, and we already face high input costs, tight margins and unpredictability when it comes to marketing. Adding thousands of dollars in new fees, especially increases as massive as what is proposed doesn’t seem realistic. It’ll undoubtedly make it harder and tighter for the sale barns and livestock markets to survive, and unavoidably, it is probably going to be passed to us as the producers and farmers.”

He also explains programs such as animal health, disease control and traceability benefit everybody in the state, not just farmers.

“Healthy animals and safe food are the best interest for our state; other states recognize that and utilize state funding to maintain these programs and cover these costs,” he says. “Wisconsin needs to restore and maintain its state funding that has historically existed for these programs, rather than shifting a substantial burden on a small number of farmers and marketers. I am asking you to please reject these fee increases as they are written. They are too steep, too fast and out of line with our neighboring states.”

WFBF is calling on producers to share their concerns: “These unprecedented fee increases cannot move forward without your voice being heard. Share how these proposals would impact your farm, your business and Wisconsin agriculture.”

New Survey Shows Labor is Serious Challenge for Ag Industry

Thu, 28 Dec 2023 18:00:19 GMT

A new survey from the Minneapolis Fed found ag bankers rank labor availability as a top concern for their farm clients.

The survey, which was conducted with ag bankers from the ninth district (Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin), found the issue is viewed as a “serious challenge” for 63% of respondents and a minor challenge for the majority of the remaining 37%.

“It’s becoming more and more difficult to obtain the labor needed to operate,” a Minnesota-based banker told the Minneapolis Fed.

The availability of livestock workers was seen as more limited than crop workers and those surveyed also shared that finding long-term help is more difficult than temporary help due to the seasonal nature of the ag industry.

As far as how this compares to past conditions, 39% of respondents said labor availability has gotten “much worse” over the past five years and 44% said it’s “a little worse”.

The Minneapolis Fed attributes this challenge to the region’s low influx of migrant workers and aging workforce.

According to U.S. Census Bureau data, 10% of animal production employees in the area are foreign born, compared to 18% nationally. The number is even lower for crop production with just 5% of workers being foreign born, compared to 32% nationally.

The region also has some of the lowest unemployment rates in the U.S.

(Farm Journal)

At the same time, the median age of workers in the region rose from 51 to 56 in 2021. The number of workers between 45 to 54 has declined over the past decade with a small increase of those between the ages of 25 to 44 and a large increase of those over 55.

(Farm Journal)

$9-Million Loss In 45 Packing Plant Thefts Uncovered, Three Suspects Arrested

Fri, 28 Oct 2022 14:46:15 GMT

Uncovering approximately 45 thefts totaling over $9 million in loss, three Florida men have been arrested for stealing semi-loads of frozen beef and pork from packing plants across the Midwest.

Starting June 27, the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office began investigating the events occurring in Nebrask a.

Soon realizing the case reached further than Nebraska, the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office, along with Homeland Security Investigation (HIS) Omaha identified approximately 45 thefts totaling $9 million in loss beginning in June 2021. Investigators described the theft ring as a “sophisticated and ‘highly organized criminal enterprise,’” reports a local news source .

Additionally, the investigators determined the criminal enterprise to be based in Miami and targets beef and pork packing plants specifically in Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota and Wisconsin.

While investigation began in June, thefts continued to occur across the region. In September, more than $100,000 in pork products were reported stolen from the JBS plant in Ottumwa, Iowa .

Utilizing cell phone records and GPS tracking devices, on Oct. 20, investigators identified and arrested three targets in the enterprise, recovering three semi-trailers with stolen merchandise valued at $550,000, says the news source. Yoslany Leyva Del Sol, Ledier Machin Andino and Delvis L. Fuentes were charged with the transportation of stolen goods and money laundering in Florida’s federal court.

A Minnesota news source reports each of the men possesses a valid Class A commercial driver’s license.

At this time, it is unknown what the men did with the stolen meat, however, the investigation remains ongoing.

Diemel Brothers’ Civil Case Settled In Missouri

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:56:12 GMT

A settlement was announced in a civil case filed by the family of two Wisconsin brothers murdered in Missouri last summer.

The case, filed in northwest Missouri’s Caldwell County by the family of Nick and Justin Diemel against Tomme Sue Feil, Garland Joseph Nelson and J4S Farms, resulted in a settlement of $4 million for the plaintiffs.

In addition to the monetary judgement, the Court ordered the plaintiffs are to collect that amount and disburse the funds as provided in the settlement including paying out the costs, expenses or attorney fees.

In issuing the judgment the court said “the settlement is fair and reasonable under the circumstances and the settlement and distribution of the proceeds in fair and reasonable and settlement is in the best interests of the minor children plaintiffs.”

Nelson has been held without bond since July 19 of last year and is charged with two counts of first-degree murder along with several other charges related to the brothers’ deaths. The State of Missouri is seeking the death penalty in the case. Nelson entered a not guilty plea at a hearing earlier this month.

Related stories:

Missing Diemel Brothers’ Business Described By Wisconsin Auction Manager

Change Of Venue Sought In Diemel Brothers’ Murder Case

Missing Diemel Brothers’ Business Described By Wisc. Auction Manager

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:50:50 GMT

Nicholas and Justin Diemel, missing since July 21, operated a cattle business in the rural community of Bonduel, Wisc.

“They started coming in about five years ago,” said Chris Jacobs, market manager of Equity Cooperative in Bonduel. “They bought a lot of calves each week and were a relatively bigger player in the calf business.”

The Diemel brothers were order buyers for dairy calves and were also feeding calves themselves in Indiana and Missouri, Jacobs said. Jacobs said the brothers had previously worked in construction with their father.

“They were typically buying calves that were three to five days old, both beef crossbreds and straight dairy calves,” Jacobs said. “They have been pretty successful since they started.”

The family is working to continue the brothers’ business, and many are stepping up to help, Jacobs said.

“In the week right after they went missing, no one came to the sale,” Jacobs said. “However, their younger brother Brandon is back buying calves now just like they were before the tragedy.”

Other family members are assisting with bookwork and day-to-day chores, Jacobs said. The Wis. State Farmer reports Lisa Diemel, whose husband Nicholas has been missing since July 21, filed a petition to manage the brothers’ business.

As details in the case unfold, a Kansas farmer also involved with raising dairy calves has come forward, KCTV News 5 reports.

David Foster of Fort Scott, Kan., told KCTV News 5 he entered into several business deals with Garland Joseph Nelson, who is charged with tampering with the Diemel brothers’ rental vehicle and is currently held without bond. Foster said Nelson agreed to purchase and raise the calves, with Foster and Nelson agreeing to split the profit.

“It came time to be due for them to be weaned and sold and he was coming up with all these excuses and stories as to why he hadn’t sold them,” Foster told KCTV News 5.

KCTV News 5 reports Foster reached out to others who had done business with Nelson, including the Diemel brothers. Nicholas and Justin Diemel had a separate business deal with Nelson, KCTV News 5 reports, and told Foster they also were not satisfied.

As Foster reflects on his own interactions with Nelson, he wonders what could have happened.

“It’s pretty simple,” Foster told KCTV News 5. “It could have been me. Because I could have been in that position.”

Chris Jacobs said for the community of Bonduel, Wisc., where the Diemel’s cattle business is based, the loss has been hard. Jacobs estimates Bonduel has only between 1,200 and 1500 people and primarily consists of smaller dairies at a time when the agriculture industry is changing. [BB1]

“It’s always been a tight-knit community where everyone knows everyone,” Jacobs said.

Nicholas and Justin Diemel were an encouragement to Jacobs in an aging agriculture industry and were always very polite, Jacobs added.

“You’re not seeing a lot of younger people getting into the cattle business,” Jacobs said. “They were very cordial. They’d come up to the counter, always with a ‘please’ and ‘thank you.’ They were very good, people-oriented people.”

The brothers’ absence has left a hole in the rural community, who is rallying to support the family, Jacobs said.

“The men here all sit in the ring and bid against each other, but it’s still a tight-knit community,” Jacobs said. “There is a lot of support in the agriculture industry. Every community group they’ve ever been in is doing fundraisers.”

One man close to the family designed a special brand and created embroidered patches, hats, and shirts to fundraise for the family, Jacobs said. The Navarino Rangers, a local baseball team, has also contributed proceeds from games, Jacobs added.

“I hope authorities get to the bottom of whatever happened,” Jacobs said.

Related stories:

4-Her Sells Pig for $10,000, Donates Money to Grieving Diemel Family

Search For Wisconsin Brothers Finds Human Remains

Missouri Man Arrested in Wisconsin Brothers’ Disappearance

Missouri Man Arrested In Wisconsin Brothers' Disappearance

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:50:14 GMT

A Braymer, Missouri, man has been charged in connection to the disappearance of two Wisconsin brothers north of Kansas City, MO. Officials, however, have not said if they know where Nick and Justin Diemel are yet.

However, “It has changed from a missing person’s case into a death investigation,” Caldwell County Sheriff Jerry Galloway said Friday afternoon.

Garland Nelson, 25, Braymer, MO, has been charged with tampering with a motor vehicle, a first-degree felony, in Caldwell County. The charge stems from the search for the 35-year-old Nick and 24-year-old Justin Diemel. The brothers own Diemel’s Livestock together near Seymour in the Green Bay, Wisconsin area.

Court documents said that the Diemel brothers left a Quality Inn off I-35 on Sunday morning in Cameron, MO, and to an address on Catawba Road in Braymer where Nelson operates his farm.

A few hours later, the truck’s GPS information shows it leaving the farm. It’s later seen on surveillance footage in Polo, and there is no one in the passenger seat.

Just before 1 p.m. later that day, the truck pulls into a commuter lot in Holt, MO, which is where officials would later find it on Monday, empty with the keys in the ignition.

Nelson admitted to driving the truck from Catawba Road and leaving it at the commuter lot, court records say. He was booked into jail Friday afternoon and is being held without bond.

Nick Diemel’s wife, Lisa, said the brothers’ wallets and cell phones weren’t found in their vehicle when it was recovered.

Lisa Diemel said the two were checking on some of their cattle.

So far, investigators have focused their search around Nelson’s property, but they’ve also searched other areas of Clinton and Caldwell counties.

Nelson has a conviction for selling cattle that didn’t belong to him and spent two years in a federal penitentiary for that charge.

If you have any information, you’re asked to call Clinton County CrimeStoppers at 816-632-TIPS.

Related story:

Wisconsin Ranch Brothers Missing In Missouri

Suicide Prevention Project Aims to Help Distressed Farmers

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:21:10 GMT

Financial struggles led Leon Statz to sell his 50 dairy cows, causing the third-generation farmer to become depressed.

Then land next to his 200-acre farm near Loganville went up for sale — land his late father had said he should buy. Statz, who didn’t have the money, became hopeless.

On Oct. 8, the day the adjacent property hit the market; Statz killed himself on his farm. He was 57.

“He said, ‘How am I going to afford this?’” Brenda Statz, his wife of 34 years, told the Wisconsin State Journal. “He would panic about everything when it got to finances.”

Wisconsin, which had a record 915 suicides in 2017, may be seeing a surge in suicides and suicidal thoughts among farmers, who are facing some of the worst economic challenges in years, experts say.

Exact numbers of suicides among farmers aren’t available, and authorities say some deaths reported as farm accidents are actually suicides.

But calls to the Wisconsin Farm Center, which helps distressed farmers, were up last year, including a 33 percent increase in November and December compared to the same two months the previous year.

“We definitely have seen an increase in folks who are closer to being that desperate,” said Angie Sullivan, supervisor of the farm center, part of the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. “There’s a major increase in their stress level.”

The anguish is approaching that of the 1980s farm crisis, though interest rates today aren’t as high, said Frank Friar, an economic specialist at the farm center who has done similar work for decades.

“There’s so much volatility out there and so much unknown, it makes people think negative,” Friar said.

John Peck, executive director of Family Farm Defenders, an advocacy group in Madison, said he believes farmer suicides are up in Wisconsin from what he’s heard.

Several years of low milk prices, the high cost of farm equipment, trade wars and other pressures contributed to the closure of 691 dairy farms in the state last year, the highest number of closures since 2011.

About 8,100 dairy farms remain, down from about 15,900 in 2004. The number of cows milked has remained steady at nearly 1.3 million, as many surviving farms have expanded.

In 2017, the Western District of Wisconsin had the highest number of Chapter 12 farm bankruptcies in the country, according to federal court data . The district that year had 28 bankruptcies, which represent only a fraction of total liquidations. Similar figures for 2018 are not yet available.

Talking About Suicide

Though the forces working against farmers can seem insurmountable, a growing effort based in Dodgeville aims to help farmers cope with stress and avoid suicide.

Southwestern Wisconsin Community Action Program started a farmer suicide prevention project recently. The effort, funded by a $50,000 grant from the UW School of Medicine and Public Health’s Wisconsin Partnership Program, was prompted by an increase in stories about suicides or suicidal thoughts among farmers, said Wally Orzechowski, executive director.

“Farmers tend to be pretty isolated and pretty independent,” Orzechowski said. “When issues of mental health arise, they tend to just deal with it by themselves.”

The project, which also involves the Suicide Prevention Coalition of Iowa County, plans to develop a mobile crisis service, conduct suicide prevention training sessions and establish networks to address suicide in a region stretching from Eau Claire to the state border with Dubuque, Iowa.

“The biggest part is to spread awareness, to say, ‘It is OK to talk about it,’” said Sue Springer Judd, who runs the Suicide Prevention Coalition of Iowa County , which also serves six nearby counties.

Judd spoke to a group of farmers recently in Loganville, about 50 miles northwest of Madison. Her brother, Donald Springer, killed himself in 2012 at age 41, leaving behind three children ages 10 to 15. He owned a plumbing business and had a hobby farm next to his father’s beef farm near Mineral Point.

“We had no idea he was suicidal; we just thought he was depressed,” Judd told more than 40 farmers and others gathered at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Loganville to discuss farmer stress and suicide awareness. “We didn’t know he was going bankrupt and losing his plumbing business.”

Suffering Alone

Randy Roecker, 54, a dairy farmer in Loganville, said he became suicidal a decade ago when the Great Recession hit shortly after he invested millions to expand the farm started by his grandfather.

Medications and hospitalizations didn’t help much, but counseling brought some relief, he said.

“I’m doing better, but I’m still struggling every day,” said Roecker, whose farm milks about 325 cows on 800 acres. “We suffer alone in silence, is what we do.”

Roecker — who attends St. Peter’s, as does Brenda Statz — helped organize the church gathering. He wanted to do something to help after he couldn’t bring himself to attend Leon Statz’s funeral because the suicide brought back his feelings of despair.

“You feel like you’re in this pit, and you’re climbing to try to get out of it,” Roecker said. “We are all struggling so bad. My friends in the city, they have no idea what we’re going through. ... Every load of milk that goes out, we’re losing money.”

When Roecker thought about ending his life, he pictured his two children, minors at the time and now adults, standing by his casket. That prevented him from following through, he said.

Stress on the Farm

For Keith Henneman, from near Boscobel, an outbreak of Johne’s disease, a fatal intestinal infection in cows, appeared to be one reason he killed himself in 2006 at age 29, his parents said.

“It’s very difficult losing cattle like that,” said his mother, Julie Henneman, who with her husband, Phil, sold the 60 cows on their dairy farm, along with the equipment, to their son after he graduated from high school.

“You work so hard to raise the calves and bring them up into the herd, and then a year or two years later, they go downhill,” Julie Henneman said. “There’s a lot of stress on the farm.”

The Hennemans continue to live on the 215-acre farm with two other sons, but they aren’t farming. The couple have other jobs — Julie, 62, at Lands’ End in Dodgeville, and Phil, 63, as a correctional officer at the prison in Boscobel, about 75 miles west of Madison.

They help lead a Dodgeville chapter of The Compassionate Friends, a support group for parents who have lost children for any reason. They also provide training in QPR — or Question, Persuade, Refer — a CPR-like program that helps people recognize signs of suicide and ways to help.

QPR training sessions are one component of the new farmer suicide prevention project.

“No matter how dark a day it is, there is always light someplace, and you can continue on,” Phil Henneman said, sharing some of what he discusses at the training sessions. If people say they’re suicidal, he added, “ask them open-ended questions and let them talk.”

Tried to Get Help

Brenda Statz, 55, was no stranger to signs of suicide by the time her husband took his life in October. He had struggled with depression for years and attempted suicide twice last year after they got rid of their dairy cows in December 2017.

“When we sold the cows, (his depression) came back full bore, and the medications didn’t work,” she said. “Nothing did.”

It wasn’t from a lack of trying. Leon Statz stayed in UW Hospital’s psychiatry unit four times last year and was admitted to Winnebago Mental Health Institute. He saw a counselor in Sauk City and had outpatient treatment at Rogers Behavioral Health in Madison.

Brenda Statz, who works at Lands’ End in its Reedsburg location, said she is disappointed with the mental health care system. Doctors didn’t return her calls or tell her and her three adult children how to help Leon when he was at home, she said.

“I didn’t know what to do with him when his anxiety was through the roof,” she said. “The whole family is affected. That’s where so many places miss the boat.”

Leon Statz agonized about money, so Brenda Statz brought friends and financial experts over to look at their records. Despite some challenges, the farm was paid for and the family was doing OK, they would tell him. The plan was to switch to beef cattle and plant more crops.

But Leon Statz kept saying he was going to lose the farm, Brenda Statz said.

“He couldn’t see the future,” she said. “All he saw was failure.”