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The Farmer-Labor podcast explores power in the farm economy: how farmers build it, how workers build it, and why they need to continue to work together. The farm-labor alliance in the United States dates back to the 1870s, but its flaws help explain why unions and farmers are both clawing back in the 21st century. In this series, we'll make the case for farmers to embrace solidarity across the economy, drawing on history and leading voices from Farmers Union, Wisconsin, and beyond.
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Episode 5: Mary Dougherty: Stop Saying "Vote With Your Fork"
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32:01
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In this episode, we interview Mary Dougherty, a Bayfield resident near Lake Superior. Mary talks about how organizing in rural communities takes many deep conversations and finding common ground to bring people together. We discuss how Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) affect the community and the environment. She explains how these fa…
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Episode 4: Rodrigo Cala and Christine Neumann-Ortiz: Pitted Against Each Other
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15:39
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In this episode, we discuss the impact of immigration on rural communities and the systemic issues that have led workers to leave their homes. We hear from Rodrigo Cala, an immigrant, farmer, and former farmworker, as he shares his experiences moving to a new country and the challenges faced by immigrant laborers. We also speak with Christine Neuma…
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Episode 3: Kristy Allen: Rebuilding our Local Food Systems
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In this episode, we talk with Kristy Allen, a beekeeper in Western Wisconsin. She sheds light on the impact of agricultural consolidation on bees, family farms, and rural communities. Kristy shares her firsthand experiences with beekeeping, including the challenges posed by land use, pesticides, and the need for diversity in forage. The conversatio…
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Episode 2: Ed Gorell: It's the Health Insurance, Stupid
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24:45
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In this episode, Ed Gorell, a lifelong farmer and member of Wisconsin Farmers Union's board, shares his insights into the transformation of farming in Wisconsin, particularly in the wake of trade agreements like NAFTA. He discusses how family farms and small agricultural operations have been increasingly overshadowed by large-scale industrial farmi…
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Episode 1: Brittany Olson: The Ghost of Earl Butz
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Welcome to Season 2 of the Farmer-Labor Podcast! In this episode, host Zoe Sullivan will be speaking with Brittany Olson. Brittany is a fifth-generation dairy farmer from Barron County, Wisconsin. They discuss the challenges farmers face, including mental health struggles faced by farm youth, the impact of financial pressures and razor-thin profit …
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Chapter 8: Hybrid Co-ops and Farmer-Labor Legislation
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39:13
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For this episode, we’ve brought back Dennis Olson, a senior policy staffer at the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, to discuss projects and policies that UFCW and others are building through a farmer-labor alliance to advance shared interests. Dennis discusses the complexity of building a farmer- and worker-owned supply chain,…
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Chapter 7: Beyond the “Urban-Rural Divide”
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40:30
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This podcast features a conversation between Angela Lang, Executive Director of Black Leaders Organizing Communities (BLOC) and Julie Bomar, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Farmers Union (WFU). They’ll discuss the issues that are common to Black residents of Milwaukee and rural residents and farmers in “out-state” Wisconsin. Their conversation …
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This episode we’ll meet Nick Webber, the organizer for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 953. Nick’s journey into Wisconsin politics and organizing, which began when he was just a high schooler, shows how unions, campaigns, students, teachers, and families all push a person into organizing, and how work sometimes beco…
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Chapter 5: Agrarian Activism and Solidarity Through the Years, Part 2 of 2
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This episode explores the farm activism of the 80s through one of its core leaders, former Wisconsin Farmers Union Executive Director, Tom Quinn. Tom’s story reveals the tension between the New Deal generation and those that came after, and how relationships with labor came together, though in limited ways.…
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Chapter 4: Agrarian Activism and Solidarity Through the Years, Part 1 of 2
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In the following two episodes, we’ll hear from leaders in farm activism and students of its history. Farmers have long been organizing into movements, with varying degrees of success and solidarity. Their insights and memories inform our work for the future. For this episode we talked with two historians of farm activism, one amateur and one profes…
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Chapter 3: Stronger Together: Unions, Cooperatives, and Solidarity
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This episode, we’ll look at the structures that make people more powerful together than they are as individuals. We'll cover the basics of unions and coops through the personal stories of labor leaders in the state, and WFU camp director Cathy Statz.
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In this chapter, we listen to union leadership and farm policy advocates about power in the workplace, a way to rethink farm prices, and keeping workers informed during coronavirus confusion. It's about fair wages and fair prices, and how they're connected.
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In Chapter 1, we discuss how in recent decades corporate power has put downward pressure on farmers and workers, and why to confront the challenges of today, we need to strengthen old alliances and build new ones across the supply chain and labor force.
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