Farm Technology Days Planning Multi-Year Commitment for Chairman
Friday, June 22nd, 2018 -- 12:20 PM
-Farm Technology Days is planning a multi-year commitment for their chairman.Dennis Bangart’s bride, Sarah (Siegel) Bangart, has been sharing her new husband with Wisconsin agriculture since they married in 2017. Dennis Bangart’s evenings are booked with planning meetings for the Wisconsin Farm Technology Days, being held July 10-12 in Wood County. As executive committee chair, Bangart is the point person at the top of a pyramid of volunteers working diligently to make the show near Marshfield a success.
Bangart is assistant vice-president and loan officer of AgCountry Farm Credit Services. From his Marshfield office he oversees Wood and part of Marathon County. He’s worked 14 years for the financial cooperative that covers parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota.
Dennis earned a Dairy Science degree from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in 2004. He maintains dairy ties being part of his family's farm near Greenwood. The dairy, Viaduct Holsteins, consists of about 400 registered Holstein cows and 1,000 crop acres.
“I have a strong passion for cattle and the registered-Holstein part of the business,” Bangart said. “It’s very hard to replace that or let go. The Central Wisconsin State Fair at Marshfield is our primary family weekend. Most people have Christmas. We have the fair.”
Bangart is on the fair’s market-sale committee and is also involved with the junior dairy sale. He’s active with the Clark County Dairy Promotion Committee and FFA Alumni. And he chaired the state Holstein show in 2012 when it was held in Wood County. He’s been honored as Wood County Friend of 4-H and the 2017 Outstanding Young Farmer Member of Wood County Farm Bureau in 2017.
But leading into Bangart’s role as Wisconsin Farm Technology Days executive chair is his chairmanship of the Marshfield Area Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s agribusiness committee.
“Marshfield is one of the few cities that include agriculture as part of its chamber of commerce,” Bangart said of the community’s recognition of the industry’s importance.
From cheese plants to stainless-steel manufacturing for the dairy industry, farm equipment manufacturing to food and veterinary labs, agriculture impacts the local economy. The fairgrounds in Marshfield features the world’s largest round barn. Marshfield is also home to the National Farm Medicine Center, part of the Marshfield Clinic Health System. The latter will result in a major farm-safety and rural-health emphasis for the 2018 farm show.
Wood County is also a powerhouse in world’s cranberry industry. With dairy, cranberries will have top billing at the 2018 Wisconsin Farm Technology Days.
Bangart has been serving as executive committee chair since 2015, when it was formally announced that the show would be held in Wood County in 2018. He said 20 committees ??" consisting of 300 some planning volunteers ??" have been established. There are 18 on the executive committee. The vice-chairman is Mike Sabel, agricultural instructor at Mid-State Technical College in Marshfield and Wisconsin Rapids. Bangart estimates he and Sabel each attend 6 to 12 Wisconsin Farm Technology Days committee meetings a month.
Bangart said a county benefits in innumerable ways from hosting the massive farm show, as do individuals who volunteer.
“Relationships are built that were never expected,” he said.
For instance police and fire departments and emergency services throughout the county have become more familiar with its agriculture. Agriculture is also engaging with city councils in Marshfield and Wisconsin Rapids ??" the county seat ??" and the Wood County Board of Supervisors. Bangart said rural-urban connections have been forged that he’d never have imagined, making for stronger community going forward into the future.
“Farm Forward” is the theme of the 2018 Wisconsin Farm Technology Days. Bangart said it relates to Wisconsin’s “Forward” motto.
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