Gene Schreifer

Board Member

Gene Schriefer caught the farming bug growing up on his grandmother’s farmette in New Jersey, just outside Philadelphia, a small fruit and vegetable subsistence farm, his family added poultry and hogs. Over the ensuing 12 years he watched the farms of Camden County, NJ succumb to development pressure from Philadelphia, what was once farms became strip malls and housing developments.  Summers were spent working on area farms and after completing undergraduate and graduate degrees in agriculture at Purdue University, chose to remain in the Midwest where opportunities in agriculture were greater than in NJ. In 1984 his family was able to purchase 260 acres in Iowa County, Wisconsin. 

Starting with an eroded, abused farm, his mantra was simple,  “If I can earn a buck and make the land better or two bucks and make the land worse, always pick the buck and then figure out how to do twice as much of it” Today, most of the farm is covered in cool and warm season perennial forages, erosion is non-existent, springs have returned, soil carbon stores are increasing, wildlife has increased and the farm is more resilient to climate change.

Most of his career was spent working for the University of Wisconsin Division of Extension, in Rusk, Columbia and finally Iowa County.  He also spent 7 years as a grazing specialist working with farmers across the Driftless region.  Gene started a flock in 1989, and a beef herd began in 1992 as a wedding gift. Most recently, Gene served as the Executive Director of the Farm Service Agency. Today he and his wife continue to produce lamb and grass finished beef.