Thanks to Wisconsin’s rich German heritage and influence, no tailgate is complete without sauerkraut to garnish your bratwurst. Did you know cabbage is grown, harvested and fermented into sauerkraut right here in our home state? The rich, black earth in Outagamie and Waupaca counties is ideal for growing vegetable crops like cabbage.
Tim Jack farms with his father-in-law Larry Van Straten at Van Straten Farms in Shiocton, Wis. Tim grew up on a dairy farm and didn’t know there was a cabbage crop in Wisconsin until he met his wife and started spending time on her family farm. Tim joined the farm full time in 2010. Now, they raise 2,800 acres of corn, soybeans and cabbage.
Van Straten Farms grows 450 acres of cabbage in two locations, near Plainfield and near the home farm in Shiocton. Farming near Plainfield extends the growing season because the soil is dryer and warmer earlier in May. They seed in over 12,000 plants to the acre at the Plainfield location. All the cabbage planted near the home farm is planted by hand. The team plants over 10,000 plants an acre manually…