[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 5 (Wednesday, January 22, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S631-S632]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO MIKE CANNELL

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to Mike Cannell, a 
dairy farmer and sustainable agriculture advocate from Cazenovia, WI 
who perished in a farming accident on December 2, 1996 while helping a 
neighbor unload corn. Mike died the same way he lived--helping others.
  While those of us fortunate enough to have known Mike will miss him 
terribly, he has left us a great gift: his tireless work toward 
restoring and sustaining an agricultural community of healthy and 
economically viable family farms. His support of sustainable 
agriculture reflected his approach to life: balance. Sustainable 
agriculture is an integrated system of production that provides an 
adequate supply of food and fiber in a manner that enhances 
environmental quality, makes efficient use of limited natural 
resources, sustains small and medium sized farms and improves the 
quality of life for farmers and the community. It is an agricultural 
system that balances the many needs of our people and our planet.
  Mike not only recognized the economic importance and the 
environmental benefits of a large number of small scale family farms, 
he recognized the ability of successfully owning and operating one's 
own farm to instill a sense of pride, accomplishment and satisfaction 
in the farmer-owner. In Mike's view, these things were at least as 
important as the many economic and environmental reasons to sustain 
small farms. In all things, especially farming, he sought balance.
  I first met Mike Cannell when I was a State senator. He, along with 
other dairy farmers, met with me to express concern about the 
development of a new dairy technology that he felt was ill-timed, 
unnecessary and irresponsible. That technology was Bovine Growth 
Hormone, a product which when injected in cows results in greater milk 
production. The arguments made against BGH were many: increased milk 
production necessarily lowers milk prices; the technology will favor 
large farms over smaller ones; small farms will be driven out of 
business; there may be indirect but harmful environmental impacts, and 
many more.
  But Mike's objections to BGH ran deeper. He did not believe in 
technology for technology's sake. He felt scientists and society's 
leaders were obligated to consider and recognize cultural traditions 
and predominant value systems of the community for which they were 
developing new technology. To him, the economic benefits of technology 
had to be weighed against the real or perceived ramifications on 
society. Mike didn't believe that the universities and private sector

[[Page S632]]

firms developing BGH had done that. He predicted the outrage that 
introduction of the product caused among dairy farmers and consumers in 
Wisconsin. To this day, many dairy products in Wisconsin are labeled as 
free of BGH in part, due to Mike's efforts. As usual, Mike's balanced 
approach was right on target.
  Mike, however, did not reject new technology on its face and in fact, 
embraced and doggedly promoted technologies and new practices that 
advanced his goal of a sustainable agricultural community consisting of 
small and medium sized family farms.
  Mike's approach to dairy farming was unique when he began milking 
cows 15 years ago.
  He was an intensive rotational grazier--a practice that many said 
couldn't work in Wisconsin because of our harsh winter climate. Unlike 
confinement dairying, rotational grazing requires fewer chemical 
inputs, less labor, less capital and is environmentally beneficial as 
well. Mike, however, viewed grazing in a broader context. Grazing was 
not only an environmentally friendly method of producing quality milk 
at reduced cost, it was also capable of supporting a family and 
providing a high quality of life. Mike chose to become a dairyman 
because of the value he place on these last two criteria. Mike, when 
speaking about grazing, put it in this context: ``This is the real 
reason we live: for our families and for our communities. Any practice 
that promises to make us better farmers, in part, I evaluate by how 
much it contributes to our families and communities.'' For technology 
to be appropriate it had to be appropriate for the farm and the 
community surrounding it. Again, this was Mike's balance. He supported 
technology and practices that promoted the goals he believed to be most 
important.
  Mike Cannell was an innovative leader among Wisconsin farmers, 
resolutely seeking solutions to the complex problems facing our dairy 
industry. To many farmers in Wisconsin, those problems appear 
insurmountable; so complicated, multifarious, and seemingly 
incomprehensible that one person couldn't possibly make a dent in them. 
Mike not only believed he could make a difference, he believed he had 
an obligation to use his talents to do so.
  Even more remarkable than Mike's willingness to actively intervene in 
agricultural problems, was Mike's concept of a solution: one which was 
not only achievable and effective but which was also socially and 
morally responsible. In a manner more effective than few others I've 
known, Mike was able to articulate the problems and identify solutions. 
He was not shy at criticizing entities he felt were standing in the way 
of a sustainable family farm sector. But he always went beyond 
criticism to suggest solutions and to actively work with the entities--
including universities, local, State and Federal Government--he was 
criticizing to eliminate the barriers facing family farms.
  But Mike went still further. Rather than rely on others to solve all 
the dilemmas facing family farmers, he believed farmers also had both 
the ability and responsibility to help each other. And he put that into 
practice too.
  Mike Cannell believed so strongly in the ability of rotational 
grazing to reverse the dramatic losses of Wisconsin family dairy 
farmers in the past decade that he spent the last 10 years trying to 
teach other farmers how to become graziers. He is responsible for 
starting a grazier technology transfer discussion group on the 
Internet--known as a List Serve--so that dairymen could share their 
expertise on grazing. That group now claims more than one thousand 
members. He was also the founder of both regional and statewide farmer 
to farmer grazing networks, known as the Ocooch Graziers and 
Grassworks. Because of Mike Cannell, rotational grazing is no longer 
considered an unusual dairying practice in Wisconsin. It is fast 
becoming mainstream.
  Mike also took initiative to solve one of Wisconsin's most 
challenging farm problems--the retirement of older dairy farmers 
without younger farmers to replace them. The long hours, hard work, low 
return and often dim outlook for dairying have dissuaded many young 
people from entering the dairy industry. Rather than consider this an 
inevitable outcome, Mike took steps to encourage young people to enter 
dairying. While his positive attitude might have been enough to 
persuade young farmers that there was a future in dairy farming, to 
persuade the cynics he founded the School for Beginning Dairy Farmers 
to teach young farmers how to be successful in a difficult profession.
  Mike's contributions to the sustainable agriculture community are 
real and measurable and he will be remembered for them for many years. 
But Mike will likely be remembered more for his steady and unswerving 
pursuit of a way of life he loved and from which he gained great joy, 
his strong belief in the value of that way of life, his efforts to 
share his success with others, and most important, for his commitment 
to community and family. In Mike's view, all things in life and 
agriculture should be conducted with an eye toward how they contribute 
to community and family. It is a valuable lesson to learn. And it is 
the world's great loss that Mike Cannell won't be around to teach us 
anymore.
  I yield the floor.

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