Wisconsin drought, Jackson raspberry farmer struggles: 'I need water'

JACKSON, Wis. - One of Wisconsin's largest industries is facing mounting economic pressure, and it has nothing to do with inflation. At a farm in Jackson, drought conditions are growing faster than crops.

Atop his Ford Orchard tractor, Chris Henke is used to switching gears, but at his family's 40-year-old red raspberry farm in Jackson, drought can sour the mood and business in just a few days.

"I don't think I've seen it any worse than this. This is about as bad as I've seen a year," said Henke.

On Monday, June 5, Henke said the 10 acres hadn't caught a drop of rain in almost three weeks. He said the months of June and July are pivotal to growing red raspberries in southeast Wisconsin. The field should be fertile. Instead, the soil was tinder-dry.

"I need water," said Henke. "I can't even get a hoe to go into this right now. You'd break your tooling, and that's no lie. You'd break your tooling."

As of Monday, drought conditions showed a dry majority of southeast Wisconsin.

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"It's going to take steady, soaking rains to get out of this, and what that means from a weather standpoint is, really, a weather pattern change, and we're not seeing that any time soon," said FOX6 Weather Expert Tom Wachs.

"I'm crossing my fingers and hoping the good Lord gives me some rain, that's what," said Henke.

Just five days into June, the FOX6 Weather Experts' data show we're already seven-tenths of an inch below average when it comes to monthly rainfall.