“Usually, I keep my mouth shut, but it’s to the point where I can’t no more. This farm could come to an end after 100-some years and all the blood, sweat and tears and everything that was put into this because of some policies, Washington, because somebody doesn’t care about people down here at the bottom.” – Clark Riemer, 4th Generation Wisconsin Farmer

KEWAUNEE, Wis. – Yesterday, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and Senator Tammy Baldwin joined fourth-generation farmer Clark Riemer, who told them that this is the worst year for farming he’s seen in 35 years, warning that decades of family history could be wiped out by policies made in Washington. This is due in large part to MAGA Congressman like Tom Tiffany who have voted every single time to support Trump’s war-of-choice with Iran.

What they’re saying:

Green Bay Press-Gazette: Crowley visits Kewaunee Co. farm, ties Tiffany to rising diesel prices

  • Clark Riemer has never gambled at a casino but considers the $500,000 he and his brother pay each year to plant corn and soybeans on their farm to have higher stakes than any table game.
  • When it came time to buy fertilizer, a retailer gave him a weekend in February to decide whether to pay $540 per ton. Then the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran. Riemer said the retailer could not get a price for nitrogen, phosphorus or potash the next Monday, and that any contract at $540-per-ton would not have been honored.
  • Clark Riemer, center, talks with U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Democratic gubernatorial nominee David Crowley on Sept. 21 at Riemer’s farm near Kewaunee. Crowley and Baldwin stopped to discuss the problems farmers face as diesel prices are on the rise.
  • He considered this year the worst for farming in 35 years.
  • “Usually, I keep my mouth shut, but it’s to the point where I can’t no more,” Riemer said Sept. 21. “This farm could come to an end after 100-some years and all the blood, sweat and tears and everything that was put into this because of some policies, Washington, because somebody doesn’t care about people down here at the bottom.”
  • Farmers and families are balking at affording life’s costs, a national issue that’s weighed heavily in the race for Wisconsin governor. And with diesel prices breaking record highs day after day in Wisconsin, Democratic candidate for governor David Crowley started a statewide tour Sept. 21 to paint Republican opponent Tom Tiffany as responsible for high fuel prices, a framing Tiffany has challenged.
  • Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and Senator Tammy Baldwin toured Riemer’s farm this week, where Crowley criticized Tiffany’s votes in the House against resolutions to end the Iran conflict, which he called “a war of choice,” telling reporters that farmers have been left with nowhere to turn.
  • Wisconsin’s average diesel price hit $6.56 a gallon, up from a year ago, worsened by refinery outages in Illinois and Indiana and Russian bans on diesel exports.
  • “Tiffany had five chances to end the war that is driving these prices up,” said Crowley, “and five times he has chosen his boss, Donald Trump, over the people he’s supposed to represent here in Wisconsin. I’m done with the excuses.”

We Are Green Bay: Crowley and Baldwin visit Kewaunee County farm amid rising gas and operating costs

  • “We’re still getting paid the same price per bushel of corn and soybeans that we were 20 years ago, and all our input costs have gone up 5 to 10 fold.”
  • High diesel prices and tariffs are continuing to impact farmers across the state. In Kewanee County, one farmer hopes to voice concerns to a gubernatorial candidate.
  • “We don’t have any choice but to have to buy that fuel, that higher-priced fuel. We just may have to cut back on fertilizer going out and fertilizer for next year’s crop. That’s what we might have to do to get from point A to point B, or we have to borrow the money,” said Clark Reimer, owner of Reimer Farms in Kewaunee County.

WBAY: Record diesel prices impact on Wisconsin farmers

  • “Look, I know I have family members and people all across this state who every time they go to, you know, fill up their truck. I mean, their eyes are wide open, right? Can you imagine seeing so many farmers trying to fill up their tractors right now? And so repealing the minimum markup, this will do a great deal for our farmers and working families all across this state. You know, by repealing that law, these are dollars that will go directly back into the pockets of all of our consumers, because right now, it’s just guaranteed profit for big oil, and we need to be focusing on how we tackle the affordability crisis right now,” Crowley said.

Tiffany’s Record: Tiffany has voted five times to keep the war in Iran going, helping drive diesel and gas prices higher, despite earlier claiming 2026 was on track to be “the cheapest year for gas since 2020”. Instead, diesel prices have climbed nearly 60 percent over the past 12 months.