Rock County – Sixth Generation Farm going back to its roots. We went on to tour Evansville, a Wisconsin family’s nearly 120-year history, and why they turned to a certified organic farm. The farm is called Doudla Farms Organics.
Doudla Farm Organics Outpost sells seeds, beans, honey, flour and more to Natural Foods. you can also Order from them through Amazon.
This is a photo of Mark Doudla’s great-grandfather in the early 1900s, showing children how to farm organic farms.
Doudla Farm Organics
Mark learned to cultivate sunflowers, corn, beans and others with pesticides. Then, his father was diagnosed with cancer in 2008.
Doudla Organics Farm
“I used to hit my chest, proud that I was feeding the world,” Mark said. “But I really didn’t really understand at what cost.”
That’s when the Doudles decided to go back to organic farming entirely.
“It’s not like I can go back to my great-grandfather and say, ‘Hey, how do you do crop circles, and how do you do weed control? Mark said.
His son Jason, generation number six, learned quickly under his wing. “Between organic and conventional, it can only be three times the amount of work because of the amount of passes,” Jason said.
Jason believes it’s worth it. “It’s far more work. Much more labor intensive. But I can live with myself,” he said.
The cost of farming is also skyrocketing. “The equipment side of agriculture has become really expensive. Today the combination with the head is $1.2 million,” Mark explained.
The technology extends far beyond the first generation of the family, which dates back to at least 1805.
It has a built-in GPS, and it will auto-drive his 1,600 acres of crops to within an inch of where he last drove.
TMJ4 News
“When we cultivate and plant, we want to know where those rows are because we are no longer using herbicides to control weeds,” Mark said.
Because most of what they do now is related to computers and sensors, Jason is going to MATC for a degree in electromechanical technology to, in his words, “fix things or build things, and it’s going to come out of nowhere.” And it will be cheaper than working on them.”
Mark believes he is setting up not only his family, but our next generation to be a healthier and happier Wisconsin.
.