Posted 6/6/01
At Wayneís Nursery the areaís growth has been good for business; Oberstar tours family-run farm/ag businesses Friday
By Jason Sileo
United States Congressman Jim Oberstar was in town June 1 on a farm tour through Chisago and Isanti counties.
The bus tour was designed to bring attention to the plight of small and family farm operators, staffers said, and provide the congressman with an opportunity to learn more about the innovations being made by farmers in the production of their products and crops.
Oberstar, via the farm tour, sought to draw greater attention to the trials and tribulations experienced by smaller-scale agricultural, horticultural and livestock production operators.
The first stop on Oberstarís campaign was at Wayneís Nursery off County Road 30 just south of North Branch, where the congressman spoke and heard comments from Wayne and Diane Haslach, Stacy, who own and operate the nursery.
Wayne Haslach said Wayneís Nursery has been in operation for about 27 years, 20 at its current location, and said he had few complaints to offer on the congressmanís inquiry.
ìWeíre an indoor farmer,î Haslach said of the greenhouse, gesturing to an expanse of foliage and flowering plants which surrounded the congressman and his entourage. ìFortunately, we have a little more control over the numbers and prices,î he said, in reference to larger scale agricultural farmers and their assorted woes.
ìNSP wasnít too kind to us this winter,î Wayne said, and, pointing at the opaque greenhouse roof, said, ìThere isnít a whole lot of R-value between us and the great outdoors.î
ìOther than that, fortunately, we have got good employees, so labor isnít an issue for us ó thatís a big thing for us.î
Haslach said the nursery had seen increased business as the population in the surrounding areas had grown in the last eight years.
ìOur experience has been that weíre trying to fill a demand,î Wayne said, indicating that the growth in the area has at times stressed the nurseryís supply and demand.
Growth and its impact on the business ìhas been phenomenal,î he said. ìI canít believe whatís happened here in eight years, really, as far as development and such. A lot has evolved within the past five or 10 years.
ìI do deliveries to developments that I didnít even know were there. Weíve landscaped some of those houses and in some of those developments and itís just phenomenal.î
Oberstar offered his commendation for the operation and for the Haslachís.
ìWhat this is, is preserving the environment in which we live,î the congressman said.
Wayne said the nursery hits its peak operation during a two-month window between May 1 and July 4 ó a window full of hard work and long hours for the nursery staff.
ìWe know nothingís easy and we do a lot of hard work,î Haslach said. ìThatís what itís all about for us. Problems are a minimum other than the high heat costs, and the amount of work we have during our two-month window ó thatís what it really comes down to. Weíre busy year-round, but thatís the window that we move about 90 percent of our stuff. Itís kind of a crazy deal.î
Oberstar had also been scheduled to visit a number of other area operations on his farm tour, including the Ron and Sue Johnson dairy farm in Lindstrom, Ed Eichtenís bison and cheese farm in Center City, Mark and Nancy Moultonís hog farm in Rush City and Haubenschildsí dairy farm in Princeton.