Head of the EPA Visits Eau Claire Farm

Friday, November 10th, 2023 -- 8:00 AM

(By Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio) The head of the Environmental Protection Agency visited a family-run farm in Eau Claire on Wednesday to promote the Biden administration’s investments in rural America.

According to Danielle Kaeding with Wisconsin Public Radio, last week, President Joe Biden announced more than $5 billion included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act will be used to help farms adapt to climate change, upgrade rural infrastructure and expand high-speed internet.

The funding includes $1.7 billion to help farms implement sustainable practices that mitigate the effects of climate change. Members of the president’s Cabinet have been visiting rural areas of multiple states to promote the funding.

During his stop in Wisconsin Wednesday, EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan touted Huntsinger Farms as an example of how farms can adopt conservation and sustainability practices and continue to thrive.

The family-owned farm is the world's largest grower and processor of horseradish. "We also look at a farm like this that's harnessing the power of renewable energy, clean energy to keep the operations going," Regan said.

"When I talked to the owner of the farm, he stressed that it’s good for the bottom line. But it's also good to use these clean, green resources because the market is demanding that, the younger consumers and customers are expecting that."

Huntsinger Farms has been in operation for more than 90 years. Eric Rygg, president of Huntsinger Farms and Silver Spring Foods, is a fourth generation farmer. The family and their roughly 250 employees grow around 8 million pounds of horseradish each year and process it at their facility.

During a roundtable discussion, Rygg said the farm took a more sustainable approach after his great-grandfather Ellis Huntsinger learned the hard way that you can’t grow horseradishes in the same field year after year.

"The yields kept diminishing. (The crop was) more susceptible to diseases. What's going on with the soil? So with some technology, with some more knowledge…we moved to a five to seven-year crop rotation for horseradish," Rygg said.

In order to do that, Rygg said they need more land to support the roughly 1,000 acres of horseradish that they’re farming. The operation now farms about 5,000 acres of land in the area, and the farm rotates the crop with corn, soybeans and alfalfa.

The farm also uses rye as a cover crop. Rygg said those practices among others help the farm to use less fertilizer. Kyle Bachel, the farm manager at Huntsinger Farms, said using rye as a cover crop helps pull nutrients up in the soil.

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