Farmers, Flooding and Whole Foods’ Mea Culpa
By Samuel Fromartz
You probably saw the pictures of flooded farms, overflowing rivers, and the rain that swamped the Upper Midwest last month.
What you might not know is that organic vegetable farmers in the region had severe losses. I knew one of them, Jack Hedin, who owns Featherstone Farm, in southeastern Minnesota.
His farm is nestled in the Wiscoy Valley, beside a tiny stream called Money Creek, literally ground zero for the storm. When it rained, and kept on raining (a total of 26 inches), the creek overflowed, swamped fields, flooded a packing shed and cooler and washed out roads. A levee in the nearby town of Rushford gave way and the town was devastated.
Reached on his cell in a field, Jack told me he lost $200,000 worth of crops – and not just in his fields. (The image at left shows a flooded corn field).
The day the rain began to fall, […]
Original post by Samuel Fromartz and software by Elliott Back
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