29-year-old Mike Biadasz Was Killed While Working on a Family Beef Farm's Manure Pit

AMHERST - Bob Biadasz was drinking a cup of coffee when the phone rang.

He heard a voice on the other end say, "Bob, Mike's expressionless." He ran out the door, just it was already as well tardily.

His son, 29-year-old Mike Biadasz, was found on the ground virtually a manure pit past other farm workers who showed up at the family unit's farm near Amherst expecting to haul abroad manure. It was about 6:thirty a.m. Aug. 15, a Monday.

Biadasz was using a piece of farm equipment to agitate — or stir, basically — a large outdoor manure pit to ready the manure to be hauled abroad in trucks and, somewhen, spread onto fields. The task wasn't unusual, typically washed a few times each twelvemonth, simply this time was different. This fourth dimension, fumes released from the pit became trapped beneath warm air high in the heaven on a foggy morning time. Biadasz passed out from the fumes and was lying still on the edge of the pit when other workers establish him.

He died, and then did 16 head of cattle standing well-nigh the pit.

Biadasz'due south death left his parents and iii sisters reeling, wondering what the future of their family — and their farm — could maybe hold without him. And many more people felt the sting that came with such an unexpected loss. More than than 1,200 people came to his visitation concluding week. That's more people than the ane,038 people who really live in the village of Amherst, according to the U.S. Demography Bureau. The visitation was moved to St. Bronislava Cosmic Church building because a local funeral home wouldn't have been able to handle such a big crowd, Bob Biadasz said.

"I never realized Mike touched so many people," he said.

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Steve Burclaw had only worked on the farm with Mike Biadasz for virtually three years, but the two quickly became close friends.

"He was like a big brother to me," he said. "He was like a big brother to everyone, I should say. He basically took intendance of everyone."

Burclaw happened to be the person who found Mike Biadasz lying nigh the edge of the manure pit. Burclaw, who was supposed to assistance booty manure that morning, didn't immediately see anything out of the ordinary.

"There was really no sign of annihilation beingness different, or odd, or wrong," he said "Nosotros've all seen foggy mornings earlier."

Burclaw said he returned to his daily work routine this calendar week for the first time since Biadasz's death, simply it hasn't been easy.

"Just keep moving. Don't stop to think about anything," he said. "If I'1000 sitting around just staring off into space, I just start thinking about the state of affairs."

Bob Biadasz described his son every bit a knowledgeable, hard-working farmer, and an outgoing, friendly person who "could talk to everyone, young or former."

Mike Biadasz, who graduated from Amherst High School in 2005, developed an interest in farming as a child, somewhen going on to study farming at Mid-State Technical College in Marshfield and Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton.

"He e'er wanted to farm," Bob Biadasz said. "He ever wanted to stay home and be with dad."

Mike Biadasz bought land near the family'south farm a few years ago and his father watched equally that land was transformed by his son's passion for farming. His family unit'due south farm has been effectually since 1934. Today the farm has between 850 and 900 caput of cattle.

"He actually had the vision to brand something out of it,' he said. "He made it what no one else dreamed it could be."

The unusual circumstances surrounding Mike Biadasz's decease motivated his family to start a farm condom memorial fund with drove points at Customs Kickoff Bank in Rosholt and Stevens Point. A GoFundMe folio has also been fix up past the family.

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At least 270 farmers, ranchers and other agricultural managers died from work-related injuries in 2014, according to a written report past the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Five of those deaths were the upshot of someone being exposed to a harmful substance, but about of the deaths were related to transportation incidents or contact with equipment.

These deadly situations involving dangerous fumes are more than common in confined spaces, merely the gases pose a risk and are hard to detect wherever they're released, said Cheryl Skjolaas, an agricultural safety specialist for University of Wisconsin-Extension.

"You're not going to smell them. Yous're non going to see them," she said. "If you're working around information technology, it's difficult to know where that gas is."

Many people expressed sympathy in comments left on Mike Biadasz'southward Facebook folio, according to posts reviewed by USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin.

"I'm glad I got to work with you for the time I did," said Andrew Falk. "It wasn't long, but it was fun and long enough to know you were a corking human."

Many comments included photos of Mike Biadasz with friends, while others simply expressed disbelief.

"There's no words to express how whatsoever of us experience," said Jessica Dombrowski. "I've never met someone like you. Yous gave then much love to anyone you met."

A worn baseball game cap still sabbatum on the dashboard of Mike Biadasz's pickup, parked at the front of a crowd of farming equipment gathered last calendar week as a makeshift memorial. Nearby, two signs carried the words his family says he lived by: "Live today like you are going to die tomorrow, merely farm today like you are going to farm forever."

"I never knew how much those words could mean," Bob Biadasz said.

Chris Mueller: 715-345-2251 or christopher.mueller@gannettwisconsin.com; on Twitter @AtChrisMueller .