DATCP board pays tribute to Doug Wolf

Madison — During last week’s meeting of the citizen policy board for the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, members joined department staff in bidding an emotional farewell to one of their own. Board member Doug Wolf, a Lancaster farmer, died suddenly and unexpectedly in late July at his home at the age of 61.
His wife of 40 years attended the Nov. 17 board meeting to receive recognition from the department for her husband’s service. Wolf was a member of the policy board at the time of his untimely passing.
            Department Secretary Ben Brancel grew emotional talking to Kris Wolf about her husband saying he was “a special man who built his life on family, faith and farming.”
            Brancel said he was impressed by the outpouring from the community in August when they laid Wolf to rest.
            Receiving a resolution commending her husband for his service, she said that her husband was “truly an ag visionary” and that he “loved everyone he came in contact with.
            “His goal was to live life to the fullest and make this a better place,” Kris Wolf said. “In the 48 years we were together (starting in grade school) I never once heard him say a bad word about anybody.”
            The board resolution noted that he was a successful farmer and visionary who practiced sustainable agriculture allowing him to grow the Wolf L&G Farms operation to provide for his family, neighbors and the greater Lancaster community. He and Kris also delved into the meat processing business in 2013 when they purchased Driftless Meats & More in Viroqua.
            He also devoted time to the local FFA chapter and alumni organization, local banks and his church. Rising through the ranks of the Wisconsin Pork Association, with his understanding of issues facing farmers and hog producers, he was selected by his peers to serve as the 2011 president of the National Pork Producers Council.
            The board also noted that Wolf served as an accomplished and adept spokesman for the agricultural industry at the local, state and national level.
            Wolf was a 1973 graduate of Lancaster High School who married his High School (and grade school) sweetheart Kris Noble a few years later. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and earned a master’s degree from the UW-Madison. After teaching for a few years at UW-Platteville, he returned to farming.
            With Kris and their family Wolf operated Wolf L&G Farms, was active on the Wisconsin Pork Producers Board, National Pork Producers Council and the Lancaster School Board.
            He was a member of the DATCP citizen policy board at the time of his sudden death.
            Kris said her husband had a passion to share his love of agriculture and that led him to join various organizations and boards where he felt he could be of service to the industry.