What is the Current Status of the Cranberry Lawsuit and Its Effect on the Right to Farm Law?
The second seminar presented an in depth look at the background and present status of the Zawistowski cranberry lawsuit, Rural Mutual Insurance’s involvement in the case and the long-term implications for agriculture. Detailing the lawsuit involving Sawyer County cranberry grower William Zawistowski were Mark Andrews, a Madison attorney who represents the interest of Rural Mutual in the case; Bill Falkenstein, Rural Mutual Insurance vice president, claims; and Dale Peterson, the corporation counsel for WFBF. “Litigation in this suit has been dragging on for a little longer than five years now and was an issue in the 2006 Attorney General’s race,” Andrews began. Zawistowskis have been growing cranberries along the southern shore of Musky Bay since the late 1930s. William, the present owner, is the second generation to do so. Musky Bay is a 200n300 acre body of water and it flows into Lac Courte O’Reilles, the state’s eighth largest lake.
