Farming Families. January 2025

January 2025 | www.AgeMedia.pub

Faith / Family / Friends / Farming

MEET

of Hutchinson County

JOHNSCHNEIDER & CAROL Carol and John Schneider at their home north of Oyen, along with the parade display for the Le Mars Rotary Club behind their 1953 Farmall Super H. Story begins on page 18.

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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

DEDICATED TO HONORING YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS We know the future of our food supply is in good hands with local farmers.

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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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LYON COUNTY FAMILY

Mike and Beth Dubbelde with their sons, Lee, James and Curtis, and daughter-in-law, Danika.

DUBBELDE DUO DEDICATED TO DOUBLE-MUSCLED CATTLE

By Bob Fitch

Selling farm-to-table beef is nothing new, but it doesn’t hurt to live on the doorstep of Sioux Falls, the largest city in the tri-state region, where there is a solid set of customers who place a premium on knowing who is producing the meat they put on their dinner tables.

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Mike and Beth Dubbelde of Dubbelde Meats raise Piedmontese cattle west of Larchwood, just a dozen miles or so from Sioux Falls. Their small herd of cattle are processed at the Canton Locker in Canton, South Dakota. “My cattle are born here, fed here and finished here. That’s important to our customers,” said Mike. “The main ration is grown either here on our land or from our neighbors. People also like the idea that the cattle aren’t squished in pens. We calf in April and May and the calves go out to the pasture with the moms until they are weaned. We background

The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | January 2025

the calves in the fall on grass bales and a little bit of corn silage. We finish them on corn silage and some ground shell corn.”

Mike’s grandparents built the family farm from scratch in the late 1930s and early 1940s. “It’s too bad it’s so hard for young people to start farming from scratch today,” he said.

Beth added, “There are too many zeroes involved to start if the farm isn’t already established. By the time you have the credit score, you’re too old to get started.”

The couple raise corn, soybeans and pasture grass on the cropland that is

still owned by his parents, Don and Louise Dubbelde, who are retired and living in Larchwood. Mike and Beth purchased the home acreage and cattle herd, and also farm all the cropland.

PIEDMONTESE YIELD MORE MEAT FROM SMALLER BONE STRUCTURE Mike’s dad was an early fan of the Piedmontese breed, first purchasing semen for crossbreeding purposes in 1987. Dubbeldes cross their Piedmontese bull with several other breeds, especially readily-available Angus heifers.

Piedmontese are native to northwestern Italy. The breed began to develop 25,000 years ago when Brahman cattle migrated from Pakistan to the Piedmont region of Italy.

Blocked by the Alps Mountains from moving further, the cattle stayed and intermingled with the Auroch breed. Over thousands of years in the harsh terrain, the breed developed the ability to adapt in a range of environments.

Beth’s frequent companion and protector, Radar, is a Blue Heeler mix.

Piedmontese cattle carry a unique gene mutation identified as an inactive myostatin allele that causes unrestricted muscle development, commonly called “double muscling.” Muscle development in the breed averages 14 percent higher than most other breeds plus contributes to consistent tenderness and flavor. According to Mike, “The beef is lower in cholesterol.

There’s a higher lean-to-fat ratio – you get more pounds of meat from a smaller bone structure.” Beth said the beef from their Piedmontese-cross animals cooks up similar to elk, moose or deer, so they make sure to provide preparation tips to new customers who are used to beef with more marbling.

GOOD DOG AND GOOD WISHES Beth likes that this cattle breed is generally very docile with a good disposition. “I can get in the pen easily without fear most of the time. But you still can’t trust the new mama’s.” She said their Blue Heeler-mix dog named Radar is protective of her

This calf exhibits the classic deep pale fawn color of newborn Piemontese.

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and “has saved me a few times when he’s had to jump on the snout of an ornery mama.” Radar is strictly an outdoor dog.

He burrows into a round bale every night to sleep and has a blanket he drags all around the yard like Linus. “He keeps us entertained. If I’m helping Mike with gates, Radar keeps me occupied while I’m waiting.”

Not only does Radar help keep Beth entertained and busy outdoors, but he’s a good reminder of the importance of pets when she’s working at Avera Behavioral Health in Sioux Falls.

“Sometimes I find patients who can’t go to sleep because they miss their pets so badly. I’ll say, ‘Is there somebody at home who can get your dog on Facetime?’ We’ve got the technology, let’s take advantage of it. Pets are good for mental health.”

Beth and Mike during a recent trip to Alaska.

In her role as a dietetic assistant, Beth audits patients’ diets and any allergies they might have to certain foods. She began working as a food service ambassador at Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center in 2020 during the height of the pandemic. When she brought food trays to patients, she found they were just as hungry for conversation – “anything that was a non-clinical interaction.” Hospital stays are almost always isolating and difficult and that was even more apparent during the pandemic. She remembered her own son’s extended hospital stay when he received cards, drawings and good wishes from friends, family and people in their community. The cards raised his spirits and helped in his recovery. “So when I noticed patients who were in the hospital on their birthdays and holidays, I thought handwritten cards from staff could be a very simple thing that brightens their days.” She started the ministry by purchasing birthday cards for patients and then enlisted the help of co-workers.

Her idea took root and is now flourishing throughout Avera in Sioux Falls. The health care system’s food service department sponsors the project. Staff design the cards using a program called Canva, and then cards are printed through the Avera print shop. “Patients are touched that someone will take the time to handwrite a note,” said Beth. “It makes a positive impact on their emotional health, it allows human dignity and just lets them know someone is thinking of them.”

Beth tries her best to keep a smile on the faces of patients.

“Nobody goes into the hospital for fun. But I wear a goofy, ridiculous hat on Christmas that makes everybody smile. It’s fun. I run into people in public who remember how I got them a card or a cupcake when they were in the hospital.”

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Mike and Beth met in 1993 on the campus of Western Iowa Tech in Sioux City, her hometown. They were married in 1995.

Mike started helping out on the farm after his father had a stroke in 1999. They moved to the family acreage in 2005, not long after he finished a tour in Iraq as part of his 21-year hitch with the Iowa Army National Guard, based in Sheldon. He decided to be on the farm full-time not long after Covid hit. By

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that time, they were empty nesters – all three of their sons were gone from home, so the workload with the cattle was greater.

He also helps out neighbors with field work and vaccinations.

Their oldest son James lives in Sioux Falls with his wife, Danika. He works for Dakota Fluid Power in manufacturing and sales.

She’s a chemical engineer for POET. James is also a member of the South Dakota Army National Guard.

Even after crossbreeding, the Piedmontese influence often comes through, showing in a white to light grey coat, as well as black coloring around the eyes, ears, tassle of the tail, hooves and horns.

Middle son Lee lives in Marshall, Minn., and is an “IT guru,” primarily working on cyber-security for cities, counties, and other governmental units through the Southwest West Central Service Cooperative. Their youngest son, Curtis, is active duty in the U.S. Air Force. He’s a wheeled vehicle operator, driving trucks, payloaders and buses.

Sources • Piedmontese Association of the United States (www.pauscattle.org)

• Wikipedia.org. “Piedmontese cattle.”

• North American Piedmontese Association (www.piedmontese.org)

• Avera Health.

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KEEPING LOCAL HISTORY ALIVE

On board the Corn Gospel Train. Lecturers explain techniques of seed corn selection to a group of Iowa farmers. Photo from Iowa State University archives.

‘SEED CORN GOSPEL TRAIN’ WAS THE FORERUNNER OF EXTENSION SERVICE

By Bob Fitch

The word “pioneer” is frequently associated with the early farmers who came to Iowa and other Midwestern states in the late 1800s. Professor Perry G. Holden, a professor of agronomy at the Iowa State College of Agriculture in the early 1900s, was himself a pioneer by bringing education to the hometowns of the early generations of Iowa farmers.

P.G. Holden was an early innovator in the dissemination of researchbased education to farmers, creating a model that would ultimately become the Cooperative Extension Service. His teaching philosophy spoke directly to Iowa farmers and to the role of the taxsupported state college: “… every person who lives in the state is in 12

reality a pupil or student of the college … Go to the people, and help them where they are, as they are, under their own conditions with their own problems.”

In the 1890s, Holden was a professor at the University of Illinois, conducting experiments in corn breeding and then, in 1900, he went to work for the Illinois Sugar Refining Company. Designated to improve growing practices among the company’s sugar beet suppliers, Holden developed the idea of the “short course,” an intensive session designed to help beet growers improve their yields. In the midst of this position, he met Eugene D. Funk Sr., founder of Funk Bros. Seed Company. Holden helped Funk turn his large farm near Bloomington,

The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | January 2025

Illinois, into a corn-breeding laboratory. In 1902, while presenting a short course in Iowa for the Funk Co., Holden was offered a faculty position on the spot by Iowa State College President W.M. Beardshear.

The college president knew he needed individuals such as Holden to bring the innovations of the college laboratory to the Iowa farmer.

ISU EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH STARTED IN ORANGE CITY In 1903, soon after his arrival in Ames, Holden traveled to Orange City to discuss seed selection and cultivation with an audience of farmers. Some listeners disputed his claims, insisting that results

produced at the Ames experiment station could not be duplicated in the state’s northwestern counties. Holden took their doubts as a challenge, and quickly organized an experiment station in Sioux County. This was the first of many demonstration farms and corn shows organized by Holden to teach improved cultivation methods.

This interaction with farmers spurred Holden to create what came to be known as the “Seed Corn Gospel Trains.” In spring 1904, he set out on a train tour of northern Iowa to present lectures and demonstrate how farmers could test their own corn in germination boxes. Holden was an appealing speaker with “dashing style and showmanship,” but nonetheless was a bona fide educator. Lectures presented by him and his colleagues centered on: (1) Where to secure the best seed corn; (2) The most convenient way of testing it; and (3) The best method of securing a full stand of three stalks to the hill.

Each lecture was followed by a demonstration of a germination box. Taking six kernels of

Professor P.G. Holden at this desk. Photo from Iowa State University archives.

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Inn August 1905. P.G. Holden brought the Corn Gospel Train to Brighton, Iowa.

corn from each ear of seed corn — two from the butt, two from the tip, and two from the middle — Holden instructed farmers in the proper method of placing the seeds in the germination box. He concluded with a brief summary of standards for judging the quality of the seeds after germination.

He told farmers, “Four weeks of seed-corn testing at the proper time could do more for Iowa than Congress, the Commerce Commission, and the tariff would do in the next 20 years."

In a period of 67 days in 1904, 1905, and 1906, the Corn Gospel Train covered 11,000 miles and made 789 stops. A total of 1,265 lectures were given to 145,700 people. While it’s impossible to give all the credit to the Corn Gospel Trains, there was a dramatic increase in the state’s corn production in the following years. The total corn yield for Iowa in 1903 was 230.5 million bushels,

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an average of 31 bushels per acre.

By 1906, yields increased to 388.8 million bushels, an average of 41 bushels per acre.

HOLDEN WAS NOT AN IVORY-TOWER INTELLECTUAL Iowa State College trustee J. B. Hungerford later recalled that “Holden’s work showed him to be a live wire, a man of pep. More of the lecturer than the scientist, he had the faculty of imparting enthusiasm to his hearers and enlisted their interest like a true crusader.” His easy manner assured listeners that he was one of them, not some ivorytower intellectual. Few men of his time did more to bridge the gap between scientific discoveries and their practical application on the farm.

A report in the Sioux City Journal in March 1906 said a representative of the Plant &

The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | January 2025

Breeding Department of the U.S. Department of Agriculture attended a session of the Corn Gospel Train in Sioux City. The article said USDA might adopt the model, especially for the cotton states of the south. In 1906, the Iowa legislature passed the Extension Act of 1906 – eight years before Congress created the national Extension program.

Holden’s appointment later that year as the Iowa Extension Department’s first superintendent surprised no one.

Sources • “The Corn Gospel Train,” by Jacob A. Swisher.

Published in The Palimpsest, November 1, 1947.

Archived by the State Historical Society of Iowa.

• “P.G. Holden and the Corn Gospel Trains,” by Rosanne Sizer. Published in The Palimpsest, May 1, 1981. Archived by the State Historical Society of Iowa.

• “The Seed Corn Evangelist,” by Diana Pounds.

Published in Inside Iowa State: A Sesquicentennial Look Back, June 7, 2007. Iowa State University.

• “Corn Gospel Train.” Published in The Journal of Education, February 9, 1905. Sage Publications Inc. • “Government Is Watching.” Published in the Sioux City Journal, March 12, 1906.

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WINTER ON THE FARM.

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January 2025 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

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PLYMOUTH COUNTY FAMILY

Carol and John Schneider of Le Mars.

SCHNEIDERS FOCUS ON SERVICE ABOVE SELF

By Bob Fitch

Community service and fellowship are the focus of life these days for John and Carol Schneider, who farm north of Oyens.

The couple belongs to a long list of organizations, but the Le Mars Rotary Club and Rotary International are at the center of their wagon wheel of volunteerism.

Carol is president-elect of the local club and recently received the Rotarian of Distinction Award for Area 10. She’s long been supportive of John in his many Rotary leadership positions over the last 40 years of membership. He’s been club president two times, manages

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the club’s major fundraiser at the Plymouth County Fair, and was the chair of the multi-state district conference held in Le Mars in 2017.

“Someone asked me where I got the expertise to put the district conference together. I said I might be a just a pig farmer, but being involved in the Plymouth County Pork Producers, I helped organized a lot of those banquets. On the Le Mars Chamber of Commerce Ag Committee, I helped put together a lot of luncheons. So the district conference wasn’t my first rodeo,” John said. Leadership training by the Iowa Pork Producers Association also helped build his skills.

“I learned a lot about community

The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | January 2025

service leadership in high school FFA. I gained more confidence during my freshman year in college when I was the state FFA vice president. Combined with my fraternity activities, I think that’s where I learned how to help bridge the gap between people who didn't necessarily get along.” His parents were also big community leaders and set a great example. Carol said, “His mom was on the school board back when women didn't do things like that.”

The couple ramped up their involvement with Rotary International when John became governor of the district (which includes northwest Iowa, southwest Minnesota and all of South Dakota)

and subsequently as chair of the district’s Rotary Foundation. Local clubs and district foundations financially support the Rotary program called End Polio Now. Since 1979, Rotary clubs and members have made a polio-free world their signature charitable effort. In collaboration with partners such as the World Health Organization and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Rotary has helped immunize more than 2.5 billion children in 122 countries and reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent.

In addition to End Polio Now, Rotary provides grants to help local communities and people in need. As chair of the district’s foundation, John has administered grants to combat human trafficking on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation; assistance for flood victims who may need to rebuild, relocate or replace furniture; and improvements at the Le Mars YMCA and parks. Contributions from area clubs have also supported medical projects in Kenya and Uganda and a

Top: An aerial photo of the Schneider farm in 2008. Bottom: John’s great-grandfather, M.P. Bogh, founded the farm in 1884. Pictured is the Bogh family around 1900: Peter (on the white horse); parents M.P. and Sena who is holding baby Celia; Andrew, Marius and Lilly (in front of their parents); Chris, Mary and Serena; and nephew Chris from Denmark. (Andrew Bogh is John’s grandfather.)

water project in Sudan. In addition to many financial contributions, Carol said local Rotarians also “have skin in the game” by helping with the Rock Valley-based Hope Haven program that distributes wheelchairs to Third World nations.

Every Monday, John and Carol and others gather at a work site in Orange City to make parts for the wheelchairs. “When I get there, it's just like magic – I think, ‘This is where I belong.’ We have fun doing it and we feel good when we leave

January 2025 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

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there. And we've met a new circle of friends,” she said.

FELLOWSHIP AND LEADERSHIP

John and Carol’s son Andrew and his wife, Brooke, with their children, Coraline and Nolan.

They live in Cedar Falls.

When John was Rotary district governor, he and Carol traveled to Australia, Houston, Chicago and Minneapolis for training and leadership conferences.

They participated in the Rotary friendship exchange program in Denmark and helped host Danish Rotarians here. This fellowship aspect of Rotary, along with community service, is reflected in the Schneiders’ other volunteer involvement. They are both active on the Ag Committee of the Le Mars Chamber of Commerce. John has been a chamber ambassador for 20 years and has been a member of the Le Mars Municipal Band since 1972 (he’s the band’s treasurer in addition to playing baritone sax).

He’s the president of the Northwest Iowa Farm Business Association, president of the Le Mars Model Railroaders and treasurer of the Prairie Lakes Model Railroaders Association, and past president of the Floyd Valley Medical Foundation.

John relished his time on the board of the Le Mars Business Initiative Corporation. “People are so forward thinking. They want to grow the community, share great ideas and be supportive of one another. That was the most enjoyable board I was ever on.”

Carol and their daughter, Jo Ellen, have recently joined the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) chapter based in Sioux City. “We can prove our lineage to my sixth great grandfather, who fought in the American Revolution. I'm really proud of that heritage. It intrigues me to think that I might have relatives all over the country. Our chapter is starting to talk about local commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. The DAR’s goal

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is to preserve American history.”

Although mother and daughter have been in the organization for just a year, Carol has already taken on a leadership role as board secretary.

TEACHING AND EXTENSION

John and Carol’s daughter Jo Ellen Harvey and her sons, Andrew, Jonathan and Matthias.

They live in Orange City.

Carol grew up on her parent’s farm at Gilbert, Iowa, near Ames. She moved to northwestern Iowa 44 years ago to work for the Plymouth County ISU Extension Service as a 4-H staff member (and later as a home economist). She and John met at a local gathering of Iowa State University alumni. She later joined Remsen Union Public School as a teacher. The Extension Service came calling again and she became the director of the Plymouth County office. Finally, she returned to teaching, this time at Le Mars Gehlen Catholic Schools. In all, she worked 30 years for Extension and 14 years as a teacher. “It was a great career,” she said.

Carol is particularly proud of helping to the start the Plymouth County 4-H Foundation and the Community Foundation of Greater Plymouth County. The community foundation receives gambling revenue from the state of Iowa. The

John and Carol’s grandchildren, Christmas 2023: Matthias, Nolan, Coraline, Jonathan and Andrew.

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31 23

first year, the foundation’s gifts to local community organizations were about $35,000. In recent years, the figure has grown to about $180,000.

The money helps support the Plymouth County Fair and other worthwhile nonprofit organizations.

Carol and John raised two children.

Son Andrew and his wife, Brooke, live in Cedar Falls. He is a product agronomist for Pioneer and she is a homemaker and homeschools their children, Nolan and Coraline.

John and Carol’s daughter, Jo Ellen Harvey, lives in Orange City with her three sons, Andrew, Jonathan and Matthias. Jo Ellen is a teacher at Orange City Christian School.

PORK PRODUCER WITH DANISH HERITAGE For many years, John was a pork producer, moving from farrowto-finish to iso-wean-to-finish to custom finishing, and now as a barn John and Carol Schneider at the Rotary Club stand at the Plymouth County Fair.

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The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | January 2025

owner, free of the daily grind. “We have never been a big farm, but we were a pretty big pork producer for the time in the ‘80s and ‘90s,” he said. The hog operation was modern, with inside gestation, artificial insemination and all-in/ all-out production. Carol said they did voluminous record-keeping (and were the second farmers in the county to have a home computer).

When John’s first crop of pigs out of his two new finishers sold for only $12/hundredweight in 1998, he added an additional job as an ag loan officer at First National Bank in Le Mars. Then he served one fouryear term on the Plymouth County Board of Supervisors.

“After I quit being county supervisor, I raised hogs by myself a couple years. But after I had a second back surgery, that put an end to me being an active pork producer.

So I haven’t helped with the hog chores or vaccinated a pig since

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three miles south. For almost a century, the neighborhood Danes shared labor to bale hay and harvest the fall crops.

Their farm recently commemorated its 140th anniversary. The anniversary party guests were primarily neighbors with Danish ancestry in honor of the farm’s founders, John’s great grandparents, Marius Petersen Bogh and his wife, Sena. Marius (known as “M.P.”) left Denmark when he was only 17 in the 1870s after the Germans took over the southern half of Denmark.

He found a home in Clinton, Iowa, where he acquired a team of horses and made a living hauling freight. In 1882 or ’83, he and Sena secured a rail car to move all their belongings to Plymouth County and, in 1884, purchased the farm where John and Carol live now. He paid $8 an acre for the farmland. The entire neighborhood was Danish and there was a Danish Lutheran church just

Every year on Christmas Eve, the Schneider family celebrates the ancestral heritage of everyone in attendance. They enjoy Danish open face sandwiches, Swedish rice, Norwegian lefsa, Irish cheese, Dutch saucijsjes (pigs in a blanket), and any number of different German dishes.

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25

SIOUX COUNTY FAMILY

POLIO DIDN’T STAND IN THE WAY OF MELVIN HULSHOF’S PURSUIT OF FARMING

By Bob Fitch

Editor’s Note: On March 8 and May 24, 2024, I interviewed Melvin Hulshof at the request of his family in order to capture his memories for them to cherish.

With their permission, I’ve adapted the family memoire for print here. Melvin passed away on October 5, 2024, at age 93.

Melvin Hulshof was born on his parents’ farm near Ireton in 1931. As an infant, he contracted polio, leaving his right leg markedly shorter than the left. His teachers and doctors told him he’d never farm. But Melvin never thought of doing anything else.

“In high school, the teachers were always on me to go on to a trade school or college. I’d talk about farming and they’d say ‘Oh, you’ll never farm.’ I think I was the only one in my class who did end up on

26

The late Melvin and Dorothy Hulshof of Ireton in 2012.

the farm,” he said with a grin and a little laugh.

“I was (at Mayo Clinic) in Rochester in 1947 and they talked about lengthening my leg. Dr. Henderson was the head bone specialist and he said, ‘You’re getting along pretty well the way you are. I don’t think we should fool around with doing anything.’ Before we left, I met Dr. Pascoe and he said, ‘When you get home, you better get yourself a good education; because if you don’t, you'll be standing on the street corner selling peanuts and pencils.’ I told him I was planning to farm and Dr. Pascoe said, ‘Oh, you’ll never farm.’ So I talked to Dad about

The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | January 2025

that on the way home. My dad says, ‘Oh, we’ll figure something out.

That guy don’t know much about farming.’ And it worked out good for me. I never had any trouble. I could run and climb. I never even had as much as a sprained ankle.”

Melvin didn’t let his doctors or teachers place any limitations on him. “My dad always said: ‘Corn and cattle and hogs and sheep and soybeans, they don't care if you're crippled. They'll grow just as good for you as they will for the next guy.’ And I always remember that.

I always said I had more work than I could get done. So I didn't have anything to complain about. Most

people see me as a cripple, but I don’t see myself that way.”

A FAMILY LEGACY IN IRETON Melvin’s paternal grandfather immigrated to the United States from Gelderlands, The Netherlands, in 1888. After a 22-day passage across the Atlantic Ocean, he traveled from New York to Maurice, Iowa, where he worked for a farmer who sponsored him. When he went out on his own, he settled in the Carmel area. Over time, Grandpa Hulshof acquired several farms in the Carmel vicinity and one near Ireton. Melvin’s father, Herman, and his mother, Hendricka, were married in 1920 and settled on the farm near Ireton.

Melvin said, “Dad didn’t have much land, just 160 acres; but he fed quite a few feeder pigs. At that time, lard was in demand. A lot of them bought 200-pound stock pigs and

Herman and Hendricka Hulshof with their sons, Jacob, Melvin and Everett.

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27

Dorothy and Melvin Hulshof in the 1970s with their children, Lyle, Dennis and Glenda.

raised them to 350-400 pounds just for the lard. Dad also fed some cattle and he fed some sheep.” Melvin’s mother and father were early members at Ireton Reformed Church. In fact, Hulshof family members are today the longest-lasting members in the church. When Melvin was born in 1931, he was baptized there, just as his older brothers had been. The church was still having services in Dutch when Herman and Hendricka first moved there. “My dad did some business at the Craig elevator. The manager there was a German named Smith and he couldn’t talk English. He spoke low German and my dad spoke Dutch, so they could converse together.”

SCHOOL DAYS AND TAKING CARE OF MOM “When I graduated from eighth grade, my mother had cancer. And it was terminal. We couldn't get help at that time because they didn't have nursing homes back in 1944. So I stayed home most of that year to help take care of her. That was a struggle when I went back to school, because I think in a year's time, I probably never even wrote my own name. I don't know how come they passed me, but they did it anyway. At that time, you got a little algebra and stuff in the last months the eighth grade. I didn't get any of that. When I got to high school, it was just completely green to me.”

Lyle, Melvin and Dennis Hulshof were featured in an article in the Le Mars Daily Sentinel in 1983.

The Hulshof farm in 2020.

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The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | January 2025

His mother had cancer in 1936 and again in 1942. She died in 1944. “They took Mom to Rochester every three months for x-rays and radium treatments. The only reason they did it was to curb the pain.” That was during World War II when rubber was rationed, so the tires on the car were smooth. His dad got a permit from the rationing board for two new tires. He could take the permit along to Rochester, and if he had a blowout, the permit allowed him to get a new tire. If he didn't use it, he had to bring the permit back.

Melvin was well-traveled during his country school days, catching rides with family members and neighbors and even driving the younger neighbor kids in a pony cart.

Circumstances had him attend three different country schools, a Christian school and the Ireton High School. “I never moved, but went to five different schools.” There wasn’t much in the way of entertainment in those days.

Even on the nights the stores were open,

““My dad would go to town, but Mother and I would stay home. He’d bring the grocery slip to the store; they’d box it up and he’d pick it up before he came home.”

Even though he was only five years old, he has faint memories and strong recollections from family members about the scorching summer of 1936. “We didn't have a crop in our area. The corn only got about that tall and they cut it with a grain binder. My dad was buying corn in the neighborhood for $1 an acre and they put 130 acres in the silo. It was so terrible hot all summer. The Fourth of July was the day that killed the corn. It was 114 degrees. That night in the dark, Dad said you could smell the corn dying.”

NEVER DREW A PAYCHECK “I've never drawn a paycheck in my life,” said Melvin.

“My dad and my brother were farming together when I was in high school. (His other brother was in military service at the time.) When I was a senior, the first of January, they took me in as a partner. So I was 18 years old. Later on, my brother and I farmed together. We worked together for 10 years.” His sons, Dennis and Lyle, continue to operate the family farm; and his daughter, Glenda Van Wyhe, also resides at Ireton.

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Melvin’s dad was a cattle dealer, often gone to sales in Orange City, Le Mars, Rock Valley, Hawarden and Yankton. One time, his dad and a friend got stopped on suspicion of bootlegging when their car trunk was hanging low. But when the police officer opened the trunk, all he found was three heifers they were taking to market.

Melvin married Dorothy Lockhorst on November 14, 1958. They lived on the family farm, now a century farm, and raised their family there.

Melvin physically retired from the farm in 2000, when he and Dorothy moved to Ireton. But Dennis and Lyle said their dad, in his heart, was still farming until his final days.

In the fall of 2014, he moved to Mica Hill Estates in Hawarden to be by Dorothy’s side at Hillcrest Health Care Center. Dorothy’s final years were tough because she had dementia. She died in 2017 at age 84.

Dennis, Lyle and Glenda frequently remark on how dedicated their dad was to their mother, her constant companion even when she no longer communicated verbally.

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January 2025 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

29

FROM THE KITCHEN

HOMEMADE CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP From TasteofHome.com

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INGREDIENTS: 2-1/2 pounds bone-in chicken thighs 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1 tablespoon canola oil 1 large onion, chopped 1 garlic clove, minced 10 cups chicken broth 4 celery ribs, chopped 4 medium carrots, chopped 2 bay leaves 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme 3 cups uncooked kluski or other egg noodles (about 8 ounces) 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley 1 tablespoon lemon juice Optional: Additional salt and pepper

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Add chicken in batches, cook until dark golden brown, 3-4 minutes. Remove chicken from pan; discard all but 2 tablespoons drippings.

2. Add onion to drippings; cook and stir over medium-high heat until tender, 4-5 minutes. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add broth, stirring to loosen browned bits from pan. Bring to a boil.

Return chicken to pan. Add celery, carrots, bay leaves and thyme. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, until chicken is tender, 25-30 minutes.

3. Transfer chicken to a plate. Remove soup from heat.

Add noodles; let stand, covered, until noodles are tender, 20-22 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, when chicken is cool enough to handle, remove meat from bones; discard bones. Shred meat into bite-sized pieces. Return meat to stockpot. Stir in parsley and lemon juice. If desired, adjust seasoning with additional salt and pepper. Discard bay leaves.

30

The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | January 2025

of Sioux County

OUR PHILOSOPHY There was a farmer who grew excellent quality corn. Every year, he won the award for the best grown corn. One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors. “How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?” the reporter asked.

“Why sir,” said the farmer, “Didn’t you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn.

If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn.”

So is with our lives... Those who want to live meaningfully and well must help enrich the lives of others, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.

-Author Unknown

Call it power of collectivity.

Call it a principle of success.

Call it a law of life.

The fact is, none of us truly wins, until we all win!

One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.

Proverbs 11:24-25

January 2025 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

31

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