UNION GROVE — For the last 42 years Linda Feldkamp has helped farmers from Kenosha and Racine counties make ends meet. As recently as last week, she was reminded why her position with the Farm Service Agency has been personally rewarding.

“When I told the farmer what he would get in disaster aid he started crying,” Feldkamp said. “He said, ‘Maybe now I can make it another year.’“

Feldkamp will retire today. An open house was held Tuedsay at the Union Grove FSA office to give farmers and other friends a chance to stop in to say goodbye and thank her for her service.

“Whenever I need information I’m referred to Linda,” Racine County farmer Keith Jacobson said. “She has done a lot to help us all and we’ll miss her.”

Farmers Tom Daniels, of Kenosha County, and Eugene Mills, of Racine County, also dropped in before noon to give Feldkamp a warm thanks and reminisce. A steady flow of farmers visited throughout the day.

FSA District Director Dennis Boland said people will miss her “hearty laugh” as well as her experience.

“We are going to hate to lose her, but at the same time she deserves a good retirement,” Boland said.

Feldcamp said she will miss the farmers and hopes to visit them at the county fairs.

“They really appreciate everything you do for them,” Feldcamp said. “I’m working with my third generation of farmers now.”

Feldkamp said a lot has changed since she took the position in 1967, the day after she turned 18. At first, Kenosha and Racine counties had their own FSA offices. She worked in the Kenosha office and all of the forms were filled out using a manual typewriter.

“The programs were nothing compared to what they are now,” she said.

The number of farmers hasn’t decreased as much as people might think, she said. But the size of the farms has increased and many farmers abandoned their dairy operations for cash crops.

“When I started a 160-acre farm was considered a big farm,” she said. “Now there are 3,000 to 4,000-acre farms.”

Feldkamp said the size of the farms grew because of a disparity between revenue and expenditures.

“The prices haven’t kept up with their costs,” she said. “They have to increase their yields.”

Feldkamp helps administer 12 different federal USDA programs to help farmers. She is also actively involved with the Brandes Memorial Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary in Silver Lake, which she plans to dedicate more time to in her retirement.

“My heart belongs to the farmers, but the veterans are right there too,” she said.