A local farmer in Lamont is facing significant challenges after recent fires damaged his 33-acre farm, potentially impacting his ability to supply food to community programs and maintain his workforce.
Greg Tesch has been operating his farm for approximately three decades, providing produce to essential community services like Meals on Wheels, WIC, and local farmers' markets.
"This particular fire burned the trees just adjacent to us. We'll have to be taking out several rows and replanting," Tesch said.
The recent warehouse fire in Lamont not only affected residents in a nearby trailer park but also caused substantial damage to Tesch's farm. This comes after another fire in the past year damaged his irrigation system, leading to crop losses.
When asked how long it took to replace the irrigation system, Tesch explained the impact was immediate.
"We called our pump company and they had it in about a week," Tesch said.
During that week without irrigation, "We went dry. We lost crops," Tesch said.
Beyond crop damage, the fires have destroyed several pieces of farming equipment, creating financial strain for the operation.
"We're behind on payroll, and we need help to catch up. The people are the most important resource, I think I have. Even if you consider all these losses that you can see on the screen, the people are the most important resource, we can't fall behind there," Tesch said.
A GoFundMe account has been established to help Tesch recover from these losses.
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