Riding out the storm

OSHKOSH, Wis. — As chunks of their farm’s heifer barn swirled through the air, Matt Potratz and his son, Oliver, dove for cover. Caught in the middle of a storm with winds that raged up to 101 mph, the pair had a front-row seat to the destruction of a barn built steps away from where they sought shelter.

“It was definitely a little scary,” Matt said. “We hunkered down in the shed and sat next to the chest freezer. I was just holding onto Oliver and waiting for the roof to rip off this building, too.”

Matt and his wife, Megan, farm with Matt’s parents, Jim and Paula, milking 175-180 cows near Oshkosh. Matt and Megan’s five children range in age from 1 to 10 years old and are the fourth generation on the farm.

At 3:30 in the afternoon June 10, a storm descended on the Potratz farm that left Matt wondering if he had just witnessed a tornado.

“There were things going this way and that way,” he said. “It was definitely swirling; there was rotation. When the wind started, it began blowing debris and buckets and pails down toward the yard, but the storm was coming from the other way. The winds were blowing almost into the storm.”

When Matt saw a piece of the heifer barn roof go over the top of the greenhouse where they house calves, he grabbed his son and they ran and hid in the corner of a nearby shed.

“A big chunk flew up against the building, and we could see stuff flying past the door and hear it going over the top,” Matt said. “The roof was going up and down in here.”

Nests filled with baby birds rained down around them as the roof shook violently.

When the storm hit, Matt’s parents were on their way home from a vacation in Ashland, and Megan and the rest of the kids — Addaline, Charlotte, Lincoln and Dallas — were at the Ripon Public Library.

“The tornado siren went off, and everyone was evacuated to the downstairs,” Megan said. “When Matt called me, I could hardly hear him because I couldn’t get reception.”

Matt was calling to tell her that their heifer barn had been destroyed. The barn was three years old. Measuring 44 feet by 90 feet, the 50-stall freestall barn was completed in spring 2023 and housed heifers 10 months old to breeding age.

“The barn was working nicely, and now it’s gone,” Jim said.

After the storm, all the posts were lying in the alleys. The roof was no more, but the end wall was still standing. Debris was scattered everywhere, and pieces of metal were flung all over.

“It was a mess, but thankfully nobody was hurt,” Matt said.

Tin was lying in the fields up to a quarter mile north in the neighbor’s hay field. A 30- by 50-foot chunk lay 200-300 yards out in a field fully intact. Another piece had branches wrapped inside after it flew through the trees.

Pieces of the barn that catapulted overhead had punctured holes in the roof of the neighboring buildings. A large piece of the barn got wedged in the corner of the shed where Matt and Oliver took cover.

Situated next to the heifer barn, the greenhouse also suffered damage from pieces of the barn ripping off and slamming into it, leaving boards protruding into calf pens. In addition, the cover of the greenhouse was torn off.

The storm tossed a water tank at least 100 yards and landed it in some pine trees. The powerful winds also ripped the soffit and fascia off Jim and Paula’s house and uprooted a pine tree by the side of the house. Matt said trees were down in multiple spots.

The main milking barn took a slight beating as well. A few panels on one end and a couple of new overhead doors on the other end were ripped off.

The heifers had been walking up from the pasture that afternoon when it started to rain.

“All of a sudden, the wind went crazy, and they all started running back down,” Matt said.

Heifers in outdoor group pens next to the shed got out when their gates came crashing down. After the storm, the family had to retrieve some heifers that ran to the neighbors.

Since the concrete is still there, Matt said the barn will not be hard to rebuild.

“I have a buddy who used to build houses, and I used to build houses too, so I have that experience,” he said. “If I can get one or two guys who know what they’re doing to come out and help me, we can have this up in a couple of days.”

Matt and his brother-in-law originally built the barn.

“We hand-framed all of it,” Matt said. “There was a lot of cutting, measuring and nailing stuff together. It took a lot more time. It will go a lot faster this time.”

Matt said they can use the same stalls and headlocks. During the cleanup process, they removed the headlocks and tore down the end wall.

The heifers that were residents of this barn are temporarily staying with dry cows and bred heifers in the farm’s old freestall barn.

“It’s a little crowded, but thankfully they can go on pasture,” Matt said.

Support from the community poured in shortly after the storm subsided.

“When I pulled in, I was shocked to see how many farmers were here helping round up livestock,” Megan said. “It gave me chills. Matt said, ‘I didn’t call anybody; they just showed up.’”

Members of their church, Countryside Christian Church, also wanted to help and organized a clean-up crew for June 12, headed up by Pastor Matt Abrahamson. Women from the church brought lunch for the family and all who were helping.

“The community really pulls together when bad things happen,” Megan said. “It’s amazing how many people have helped.”