Russ Feingold: “I rise to pay tribute to Mike Cannell, a dairy farmer and sustainable agriculture advocate from Cazenovia, WI who…”

“I rise to pay tribute to Mike Cannell, a dairy farmer and sustainable agriculture advocate from Cazenovia, WI who perished in a farming accident on December 2, 1996 while helping a neighbor unload corn. Mike died the same way he lived--helping others. While those of us fortunate enough to have known Mike will miss him terribly, he has left us a great gift: his tireless work toward restoring and sustaining an agricultural community of healthy and economically viable family farms. His support of sustainable agriculture reflected his approach to life: balance. Sustainable agriculture is an integrated system of production that provides an adequate supply of food and fiber in a manner that enhances environmental quality, makes efficient use of limited natural resources, sustains small and medium sized farms and improves the quality of life for farmers and the community. It is an agricultural system that balances the many needs of our people and our planet. Mike not only recognized the economic importance and the environmental benefits of a large number of small scale family farms, he recognized the ability of successfully owning and operating one's own farm to instill a sense of pride, accomplishment and satisfaction in the farmer-owner. In Mike's view, these things were at least as important as the many economic and environmental reasons to sustain small farms. In all things, especially farming, he sought balance.”