Lisa Hass — in work boots, jeans and a shirt embossed with “FARMER” — hitched a pole beneath a fence wire and lifted it high for dozens of half-ton heifers to amble forward toward greener pastures in the Wisconsin summer sun.
“We call them a rainbow herd,” Hass said, with a chuckle. “We’ve got a mixture of Holsteins, Jersey crosses, Normandy, Dutch Belted.”
Dairying has deep roots in the surrounding dells of the Mississippi River. But storm clouds are gathering above these colorful farms, under threat of going big or going out of business.
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