Conservationists eat. To be interested in food but not in food production is clearly absurd ... If conservationists will attempt to resume responsibility for their need to eat, they will be led back fairly directly to all their previous concerns for the welfare of nature.”

Wendell Berry

Bickford Organics & Meadowlark Organics

About the Farm

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Paul Bickford and John & Halee Wepking farm as a team in Ridgeway,

WI. Paul has been farming here since 1978, first raising dairy, then

transitioning to organic grains & legumes. Thinking about the future of

his farm, Paul placed an ad looking for a young couple to join him as

partners. John & Halee, who returned to Wisconsin to farm after

meeting and working in NYC restaurants, answered the ad. Since

beginning their partnership, they have shifted the focus of the farm to

growing milling grains and other specialty food crops such as edible

dry beans and open pollinated flint corn. They sell their products under

the name Meadowlark Organics, and are working on a grain cleaning

and storage facility, with plans to build their own flour mill. They are

committed to growing the highest quality, and healthiest, feed and food

crops possible. 

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With the focus on small grains, they have extended the farm's rotation from four years to seven, including milling spring and winter wheat, spelt, rye, and buckwheat alongside the common crops such as alfalfa, soybeans, corn, and oats. Attempting to reduce tillage where they can, Bickford and Wepking practice roll-crimping rye and no-tilling soybeans, and other crops such as wheat and cover crops. As farmers in the Driftless region, Paul, John and Halee consider it their responsibility to protect and improve the soil, the quality of their watershed, and the diverse ecosystem in which they work and live.   

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Visit Meadowlark Organics for more information.