The Farming Families of Iowa—Feb 2024

February 2024 | www.AgeMedia.pub

Faith / Family / Friends / Farming

MEET THE

of Hutchinson County

WESTRA FAMILY The Gary and Jeralyn Westra family of Hull.

Story on page 18.

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The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | February 2024

February 2024 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

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WELLNESS for LIFE

of Sioux County PUBLISHERS Garrett and Mindy Gross, AGE Media EDITOR & IOWA MANAGER Bob Fitch, AGE Media Direct advertising inquiries, story submissions and other correspondence to: 712-551-4123 bob@agemedia.pub © The Farming Families, Age Media & Promotion The Farming Families is distributed free exclusively to the farmers, ranchers and producers in rural Sioux, Plymouth and Lyon Counties. All rights reserved. Content in this magazine should not be copied in any way without the written permission of the publisher. The Farming Families assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs. Content in articles, editorial and advertisements are not necessarily endorsed by The Farming Families and Age Media & Promotion.

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February 2024 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

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LYON COUNTY FAMILY

STUEVEN FAMILY KNOWS BALERS INSIDE AND OUT

By Bob Fitch

Driving by on this Lyon County gravel road, you might wonder why green balers are lined up like a column of old soldiers who have seen better days. There’s a story behind that story, all of which culminates in a locally-grown business that has gone national.

Around 2010, Mark Stueven ’s career as a diesel mechanic was beginning to take its toll. He was developing carpal tunnel syndrome from too much “wrenching” at his shop on a farm acreage south of George. Mark decided to ratchet down his repair work and move towards doing custom harvest work, especially baling corn stalks.

When the pandemic made it difficult to find replacement parts for balers (and everything else), Mark spotted a business opportunity which would put his background in mechanics together with the mechanical engineering skillset of his oldest son, Jessy, a graduate of South Dakota School of Mines & Technology.

Becky, Mark, Jessy and Kaylee Stueven of Stueven Ag. The family business recovers used parts from JD balers plus manufactures improved parts, and ships them across the country.

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The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | February 2024

In a very short time, the Stueven family built a commercial enterprise to sell parts recovered from used John Deere balers. Starting essentially from nothing, Stueven Ag has now sold parts for John Deere balers to 400 customers in 32 states.

“I was doing about 8,000 bales of corn stalks a year myself,” said Mark. “Through Covid, parts were getting harder to find and John Deere kept raising their prices through the roof.”

Jessy added, “We saw there was kind of a niche market.

So Dad and I took a chance to start our own business. We recover the parts and ship them, similar to a salvage yard.”

Mark does some repair work for local farmers, but the primary focus is to provide parts to farmers who do the installation themselves.

The plan was to buy a few balers the first year, but they ended up buying eight. According to Jessy, “One of our big selling points is that all our balers are functional when we buy them. The parts are not from balers that have been burned up.” Being dialed in on diesel repair for so many years, Mark knew the key to their business was to have parts on hand. “If a customer calls once or twice and you don't have it, they're not going to call back again. Even if they think your price is too high this time, knowing you have parts in stock will get them to call back the next time.”

Today, there are about 40 used balers on their work site, purchased from many sources, including insurance companies and auctions; and even from machinery dealers who need to unload excess inventory. They’ve bought balers from as far away as western Nebraska and Oklahoma.

Mark’s wife, Becky, is usually the first person customers talk to. She said it’s been a real learning experience discovering the ins-and-outs of shipping and credit card processing, plus many other logistics. Becky took the first step towards giving the company a national footprint. She joined a John Deere baler group on Facebook. “I put out a post just to see how it would go. The first night I was overwhelmed with messages.”

Jessy said, “We built all of this as a side business. Dad is still doing some diesel repair work and custom farm work. Up until recently, I was full-time at Sudenga. I just switched to be a crop adjuster for RCIS so, in the spring and winter months,

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I’ll have more time to work here.” His wife, Kaylee, is also involved in the business, helping Becky with the shipping end; plus she plays an important role promoting the business on Facebook and even on Tik Tok. Kaylee works full-time at Sudenga Manufacturing writing technical manuals.

KNOWLEDGE, GENEROSITY AND INNOVATION According to Mark, “We know these balers inside and out.” While they may eventually start selling parts for other brands, John Deere balers are their expertise and they’re finding plenty of business sticking with just the green.

Becky said her husband and son have been generous sharing their knowledge with customers and noncustomers alike; which usually results in people calling them for parts later on. According to Mark, “A lot of guys are told they need to replace a bunch of parts. But often I’m able to tell them, ‘No, try this first.’ Quite a few of them have had problems with their net wrap system.

Sometimes it’s as simple as getting different net wrap – not spending $5,000 in parts to fix it.”

Stueven Ag engineered and manufactures a redesigned rotor for John Deere balers.

The three-tine rotor increases speed and capacity over the standard two-tine rotor.

The first photo shows the part in the midst of fabrication and the second photo shows the completed product.

By knowing the balers so well and listening to the needs of their customers, Stueven Ag has expanded its product line by designing and manufacturing new baler parts. Jessy said, “With my engineering background, I designed some aftermarket parts that we've been adding onto these balers. There’s some cosmetic stuff and some wear liner parts. Our best product is an entirely redesigned rotor that goes into the pickup to increase the speed and capacity.” Instead of the standard JD two-tine rotor, the Stueven rotor has three tines, helping to get more even feeding into the bale chamber. Becky said, “One thing we didn't really plan is that the bales come out more square on top since it

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spreads the stalks out better. That’s important, especially for loading.”

Another one of the upgraded parts they have designed is a heavy-duty drive shaft. Stueven Ag is continuing to work on designing other upgraded parts to sell in the future. They have also started carrying other new and aftermarket parts as a convenience for their regular customers.

ON THE ROAD According to Jessy, “There are a lot of people who bale stalks locally and we thought our market would be about a four-county area. But as soon as we actually started advertising on Facebook, it expanded very quickly.”

Mark and Becky Stueven of George.

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The initial growth was driven by the depth of the supply chain problems.

Becky said, “Farmers couldn’t even get a deliver-by date. They didn’t know if they were going to get their

The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | February 2024

parts in two weeks or a month or if they’d ever get it.” But Stueven’s salvaged parts were available when farmers needed them.

People have driven eight to 12 hours from Oklahoma, Michigan and far eastern Iowa to pick up parts, returning home immediately to get back to work the next morning.

Those customers have followed up with sincere thanks. “How many businesses are going to allow you to come pick up parts at 12:30 at night?

It’s not something we want to do every night, but we do want to be a little more available for our farmers when they are in a dire situation,” she said.

The last two winters, Mark and Becky have delivered and picked up parts in a loop down to Alabama, Mississippi and Texas and back up through Oklahoma. With a laugh, Becky described the trip as their “vacation.”

February 2024 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

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Jessy and Kaylee Stueven of Little Rock.

Ashley, Kaylee, Jessy, Mark, Becky and Gregory Stueven.

Supply chain and tariff issues caused the price of new steel to skyrocket, raising prices on baler parts by 40 percent from 2020 to 2022. Mark said, “To keep their costs down, a lot of guys are postponing the trade-in of their balers and running them longer. That increases the need for parts. When they do decide to get a new one, the dealers aren’t giving the farmer much in trade for the old one. That's where we come into play, buying the old balers for a good price.”

GROWING UP Mark grew up stacking square bales for his dad, which explains his

appreciation for round bales. “My dad and uncle baled about 8,000 to 10,000 small squares every year and put them all in the barns. It was a lot of work.”

Becky grew up as a “town girl.”

“It’s not like George is a big city, but I’d never driven a tractor, nor done any kind of farming.” But she learned well and helps in the field regularly. The couple has been married for 28 years.

Jessy and Kaylee have been married for 6½ years. They met at Lakeside Lab, a regional science event, when he was a senior in high school and she was a sophomore. She’s from the Ireton area. Her father, Ivan

Schreiner, is a hog farmer and also works for Crossroads Farm. Her mom, LeAnna, works for West Sioux Schools. Kaylee said, “Since I was four or five years old, I was always helping out my dad. So my background is on the livestock side.

I knew how to run a skid loader, but never drove a tractor until I started dating Jessy.”

Mark and Becky also have a daughter, Ashley, who will be graduating in May from Buena Vista University with a degree in music education. Their younger son, Gregory, is a senior at George Little Rock High School and he plans to study computer science and Spanish at Buena Vista.

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FINANCIAL FOCUS

LONG-TERM PLANNING MORE CRITICAL THAN EVER

By Bob Fitch

The temperatures may not reflect it now, but spring and another crop season are on the horizon. Developing a long-term plan to remain financially sustainable has never been more crucial, according to Brad Cave, vice president in ag and commercial banking at Northwest Bank in Le Mars.

“I’m stressing to farmers to really look at their cash flows,” Cave said.

“Fertilizer prices have dropped, but seed and chemical prices really haven’t. Put those factors in correlation with the fact that our prices have dropped almost $2.50-$3 on corn. Coming down from $7.50 corn is an adjustment to reality farmers must figure out.

Look at your cash flow and ask ‘What am I going to have to cut back on?’” Working capital is limited because of the decreased valuation of crops. Continued high land prices will limit the ability for many to expand.

The cattle market is the bright news over the last several years and he expects it to continue in 2024. Cattle feeders have been profitable, but tougher markets will eventually come back. “Based on placements and three years of drought from Texas all the way up to the Minnesota border, I still think we have a ways to go rebuilding our cow herds.”

More heifer retention means buying feeders has become expensive. On the other end, packers are trying to

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push down the prices they’re paying for finished animals.

However, the reality is the numbers just aren’t there to push prices too low. While the market may vary a little, Cave believes there’s an opportunity to make money on cattle the entire year.

Unfortunately, the corn market isn’t that promising. While he expects there will be opportunities to sell, the price of corn won’t swing much, even though supply is probably more limited than official reports state. Cave knows producers find the situation frustrating. “Honestly, I don't believe all the numbers that USDA tells us anymore. Traders seem to find a way to make money by messing with the prices.”

He again emphasized the need for farmers to look beyond this spring and forecast what their cash flows are going to be over the next five years. “The farming industry is continuing to change, we all know that. But it's changing faster than most people realize. Everybody needs to look at more future planning within their operation.

In both the near- and long-term, is what you're doing sustainable?”

The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | February 2024

In the last 12 months, Cave has seen many unusual income-producing ideas from farmers. “That tells me everybody's wheels are spinning and they’re asking, ‘How do I get ahead of everybody else? How do I make more money?’ Maybe it's driving a semi off the farm or growing something organic. There’s been more one-off ideas of how to make their operation sustainable long term.”

The worst news is in pork production. Independent hog producers are becoming few and far between. “For my big hog guys who still have ownership, it's been two years in the red. There's been very limited opportunities for profit across the board. And they're continuing to bleed money. When the hog market does flip, we're not going to make back what we've lost over the last two years anytime soon.” Those producers who decide to switch from ownership to contract feeding (and are able to get their barns full) will find the contracts paying the bills, but it won’t allow them to recoup what they lost, Cave said.

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AROUND THE BEND PHOTO BY BRETT DAVELAAR, BD PHOTOGRAPHY

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SIOUX COUNTY FAMILY

READY TO LEND A HELPING HAND

By Bob Fitch

“When the day comes and you’re down, in a river of trouble and about to drown, just hold on, I’m comin’!”* This old lyric captures the essence of mutual support found within the family of Gary and Jeralyn Westra, who farm near Hull.

“We're fortunate to be a close family,” said youngest son, Kyle.

“When someone needs help, we just like to be right there. That’s just kind of how we've always worked.”

Last year, Kyle and his older brother, Steve, never hesitated to fill in the gaps when their brother, Brett, was putting in a new cattle yard and doing a major rebuild and addition to his house. He and his wife, Britney, lived in a trailer house for 22 weeks with their three children and one on the way. He was grateful he could count on his dad and brothers to say “Hold on, I’m comin’.”

The Westra family. In the back: Grayden, Calvin, Jackson, Hannah, Whitney and Saylor. In the front: Carter, Britney holding Brennan, Brett, Teagan in Emily’s arms, Kyle, Jeralyn, Tonia, Gary, Steve, Marissa and Thomas. Inset: The newest Westra is Brennan.

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The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | February 2024

Gary has worked his whole life with his younger brother, Bruce.

Steve, Brett and Kyle have always leaned on their uncle for help, just like he can lean on them. Gary and Bruce own hogs together; the family harvests together; Bruce owns some of the cattle being fed *Lyric borrowed from “Hold On, I’m Comin’,” written by David Porter and Isaac Hayes.

Originally performed by Sam & Dave (Sam Moore and Dave Prater).

at Brett’s place; and they farm ground with him in various combinations. According to Kyle, “He's like our second dad. He’ll run the combine in the fall while we’re hauling liquid manure. He’ll do tillage while we’re hauling bales.”

Gary’s own “worst river of trouble” started one night in the late fall of 2008. He’d just finished baling his last stalks when a neighbor asked for help because his baler had broken down and snow was coming. Gary got the neighbor’s stalks baled and when he returned home about 2 a.m., the snow was really coming down. After he closed the gate, he noticed some snow on the baler which he didn’t want to see freeze and cause damage. “I thought I’d sweep it out a little bit. Well, the baler was still running and it sucked my hand up against the bearing. And I was stuck.”

The baler’s belts were running repeatedly over his hand. “I thought it was just going to burn my hand off. I was able to phone my wife who was in the house. It rang once – but then it said ‘dead battery.’ Fortunately, she heard the phone ring that one time. When it didn’t ring again, she stuck her head out the door, and then she could hear me screaming.” He subsequently spent

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February 2024 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

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time at Avera Hospital in Sioux Falls and at Mayo Clinic. The belts had torn away many of the tendons in his hand, which the doctors had to re-build. The initial skin grafts didn’t take and it became infected, so it was a long road back.

Custom baling has always been a big part of the Westra’s livelihood.

The year after the accident, Steve and Brett bought a second baler to help keep the business going while Gary was out of commission. Later, Kyle bought into ownership of Gary’s baler. The corn stalk baling business has grown substantially in the last dozen years to where they now run a rake and three balers.

Luckily, Brett said, “We probably get along better than most.”

GOD’S HELPING HAND IN THE HARD TIMES "We have been blessed, that's for sure,” said Gary. “There's been good times and hard times. God's always helped us get through the hard times.”

“Thoughout the various trials we’ve had, our faith, family, friends, community and church have always been there to help,” he said. All the family attends services at Calvary Protestant Reformed Church in Hull. “So even on Sunday, we don't get a day off from each other,” joked Brett. Every other Sunday after church, they all get together for a big family dinner, where they try to avoid business talk.

The younger grandkids attend Hull Protestant Reformed Christian School, while the older ones attend Trinity Christian High School in Hull.

‘MOM KNEW ALL THE TRICKS’

Tonia and Steve (back center) with their children: Carter, Whitney, Grayden, Marissa and future son-in-law Thomas.

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The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | February 2024

Gary and Jeralyn were married in 1978 and moved to the farm in 1979. He worked in town delivering propane and feed. They started round baling in 1982 as part of a long-term goal for him to transition to full-time farming. Another

important reason he started baling was to help pay tuition for a Christian school education for all six of their children.

Jeralyn has played a key role in the farm’s success. When they purchased a Balzer stalk chopper, she became the “stalk chopper lady.”

It blew the stalks into windrows and part of her job was to estimate how many bales Gary would get on a pass. In that era, farmers only wanted a specific number of bales versus today when most ask for everything to be baled. He said, “People didn't want to be short, but they didn't want to pay for more. If it came up short and I had to go back to a field, I thought ‘She should have known better.’ So I was probably hard on her. But we made it work.”

Steve said, “Mom was one of the best operators of the chopper. There were tweaks she could make – if people wanted their ground black, she could make it really nice. Once us boys started doing it, then we'd plug that thing up. We thought we could go a gear faster or be dragging it through the dirt. Mom knew all the tricks.”

Gary agreed and said, “She knew how to put the spacers or the cylinder just right.”

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Hannah, Brett, Britney holding Brennan, Calvin and Jackson.

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Even those grandchildren who aren’t old enough for field work can spot a good bale or bad bale from the road, Jeralyn said. “They’ll comment on the bales being flat, while the ones Grandpa makes are nice and round.”

Jeralyn and her daughters-in-law (Tonia, Emily and Britney) keep extra busy in the fall running meals to crew members located here and there across the area, whether they’re combining, raking, tilling, applying manure or baling stalks.

QUALITY FAMILY TIME Over the years, time spent together during baling and bale hauling season is a valuable commodity. According to Steve, “Some of the best family times have been spent with kids in the cab of the truck or tractor with their dad, uncle or grandpa. It gets the kids involved. Baling is monotonous enough the way it is, so it’s good to have your kids or nieces or nephews out with you.”

Between combines, balers, manure tanks and trucking rigs, Westras might have eight tractor or truck combos going at a given time in the fall. “It’s always a good day when you can get everything rolling at once. If we’ve got enough help, we can get a lot of work done,” Steve said.

Kyle and Emily with daughters, Saylor and Teagan.

“Well, this is really nice. I don't think I've heard these compliments before,” she replied with a smile.

Besides the field work and raising six children, Jeralyn also fed 100 head of bottle calves for 30 years.

The calves moved from huts to inside a barn when Brett was a baby. “We had a baby swing in the office in the barn. He would swing in there while I was doing chores,” she said.

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Gary said, “She and the kids did a lot of work in the calf barn.

Feeding those calves supported us well for a long time; it helped get us through a lot of tough spots.”

Steve’s wife, Tonia, now is part of the baling crew, plus does the bookkeeping for the farm and related operations. Their son, Carter, 17, also helps with baling and other work when it doesn’t interrupt sports. “It’s fun getting to work with the grandkids now,” Gary said.

The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | February 2024

There seems to be no end to the demand. A high percentage of their bales go to a major local feeder, plus several other cattle feeders, and to the expanding feedlots of Brett and Kyle. In the last year or two, the Westra team has added a service wherein they’re brokering sales of bales to local cattle feeders. That also puts them in the middle of transporting the product, one of the most timeconsuming tasks.

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KEEPING LOCAL HISTORY ALIVE

Downtown Merrill as it looked in the 1920s and 1930s. Photo from the collection of Grinnell College Libraries.

QUIET DAYS IN MERRILL – UNTIL THE BANDITS ARRIVE Merrill was a typical small Iowa town in the 1920s and 1930s. Incorporated in 1894 and named for the state’s seventh governor, Samuel Merrill, it had grown rapidly from its population of 389 in 1900 to 633 in 1920. The photo above shows a thriving commercial district, even in the midst of the often-troubled financial times farm country experienced during these years.

Most weeks in the 1920s and 1930s, the news from Merrill as reported in the Sioux City Journal* consisted largely of reports about the local sports teams, such as: • “MERRILL HAS GOOD RECORD. High Quintet Has Lost But Two During Season. The Merrill high school cagers closed their season by winning a championship title in the Morningside College invitation basketball tournament.”

(March 19, 1922) • “MERRILL CLUB A REAL CONTENDER. One of the Strongest Teams in Intercity Baseball Meet.”

Going into the tournament at Stock Yards Park, the team’s record was 9-4. (Aug. 28, 1926)

• “MERRILL FIRST AT TRACK MEET. Eight records were broken and two others equaled Thursday when the Merrill High School track team piled up 60 points to win first place in the annual Little Eight conference carnival held at Bass Field.” (May 9, 1930) Wedding announcements about local young couples were regularly featured, although this headline was deceiving: “BROTHER AND SISTER IN DOUBLE WEDDING.” No, the siblings didn’t marry each other, but Marie Carstensen married Milo Hughes; and Marie’s brother, Felix, married Lucille Newman. (Feb. 8, 1930) It was an era when some of the area’s earliest pioneers were pass-

ing away: “Death Friday afternoon claimed James A. Ahern, 68 years old, a farmer residing near Merrill.”

Mr. Ahern moved with his parents to the Merrill area in 1870, when he was just 12 years old. (Sept. 11, 1926) Everything from horse pulls to welfare to tragedy shared space in the newspaper: • “HAIL AND WIND STORM RESULTS IN BIG DAMAGE.” (Sept. 8, 1930) • The Kale Café was looted of cash and cigarettes twice in one week.

(April 8, 1932) • Depression relief work was noted … “MERRILL NEEDY TO GRAVEL 36 BLOCKS OF STREETS.” (March 24, 1933)

*All excerpts in quotes are from the Sioux City Journal via newspapers.com. The date of publication is cited after the text.

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• “FIRE DESTROYS MERRILL LUMBER YARD.” (April 15, 1939) • The pulling contest was one of the favorite events at the town’s annual Agricultural Days (Sept. 16, 1939).

BANK ROBBED Apart from wind storms and fires, there’s nothing like a daylight bank robbery to shake things up in town. The crime spree that infected the Midwest in the 1930s descended on Merrill in 1936.

The headline and story in the Sioux City Journal on June 4, 1936 read: “THREE BANK BANDITS GET $1,200 AT MERRILL. In a daring daylight robbery, three young bandits entered the Farmers’ State Bank at Merrill, and escaped with $1,200 in cash. In making their escape, the robbers abducted two officials of the

Lumber yard in Merrill burns down. Sioux City Journal, April 15, 1939.

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bank and drove south from Merrill on Highway No. 75. The two bank workers were liberated one and one-half miles from the scene of the holdup.” The story said “clews” were investigated in the theft of counter cash and money from the vault.

“The bandits were successful in evading capture although Plymouth County authorities and Sioux City police scoured the city in an attempt to learn their whereabouts.”

Bank employees Lois Hedges and M.O. Nelson were taken as hostages but were quickly released unharmed. Four customers were in the bank at the time of the crime: C.C. Hauff, O.W. Crouch, Pauline Gardner and Dorothy Betsworth.

Police were dispatched on Highway 75 and the Perry Creek Road.

They were on the lookout for a blue 1936 V-8 Ford sedan. In descriptions provided by witnesses, two of the robbers were in their mid-30s

Sioux City Journal, June 4, 1936.

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and about 150 pounds.

But the third bandit was a little more distinguishable: “Mr. Nelson said that one was about 20 years old, weighed about 250 pounds, was about 5 feet 9 inches in height and wore coveralls.”

Sioux City detectives said the description answered that of three of the four bandits who walked into the Morningside State Bank on May 20, 1936, and escaped with $3,292.

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The crime went unsolved for many months until a similar heist occurred in Cold Springs, Minnesota.

George King, the operator Sioux City Journal, September 8, 1930. of a paint store in Rochester, Minnesota, confessed to the robberies in Merrill, Sioux City and Cold Springs. He squealed on two of his accomplices, Clair Gibson of Ohio and Robert Markwood of Missouri.

(Nov. 29, 1936)

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Bob Brownlee of Merrill won the pulling contest at Merrill’s Agricultural Days.

Brownlee’s team of Ted and King weighed a combined 3,750 pounds and pulled a load of 2,800 pounds. Sioux City Journal, September 16, 1939.

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FROM THE KITCHEN

SMOKY CORN CHOWDER Recipe from Kelsey Byrnes, Dance Around the Kitchen

INGREDIENTS: 1 pound bacon, diced 1 cup diced yellow onion 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1 tablespoon flour 4 cups chicken broth

BD PHOTOGRAPHY B R E T T

D AV E L A A R

4 cups corn 2 cups Yukon gold diced potatoes 1 teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon black pepper 2 teaspoons smoked paprika 1 cup heavy whipping cream

DIRECTIONS: 1. Add the diced bacon to a large pot on the stove top over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring frequently until bacon is crisp. Use a slotted spoon to remove the bacon to a bowl; set aside.

2. Add the onion to the bacon grease and cook for two minutes. Stir in the garlic and then the flour and stir for one minute.

3. Add the broth, corn, potatoes, salt, pepper and paprika.

Bring the mixture to a boil then let it simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the heavy whipping cream.

4. Top the finished soup with the crumbled bacon.

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of Sioux County

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The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | February 2024