Rice County farm family plants a legacy

By SAM WILMES samuel.wilmes@apgsomn.com

LONSDALE — As the sun began to set on a gorgeous fall evening, farmer Dan Pumper and his family gathered around a tractor and marveled at the colors of the changing leaves.

The scenery, something Pumper has relished for decades since he started helping his father with fieldwork as a child, reminds him of his love for farming, a profession and passion four previous generations of his family have lived by since 1906.

A consistent presence

Pumper’s great-great grandparents purchased the property his father Gary now operates in 1906, originally farming corn and soybeans. Today, Dan is joined by his younger brother, JC Caron; his uncle, Kevin; and Gary, who all farm near each other., still growing corn and soybeans. This year, the Pumper family received Century Farm status.

“It’s important that that stuff stays intact,” Dan said of continuing the family tradition. I think there’s a sense of legacy with it, not necessarily pressure to continue doing it, but almost an honor to be able to do it.”

Dan’s childhood memories of helping his father include driving a tractor and combine when he was only 11 or 12. He started operating his own acres when he was 15. “It was interesting,” he said. ”They’d come bring me to a field, they’d go around the field once on the outside, then they’d leave me, and they’d go to another field and then I’d finish that one.” “Like a purpose, like you had something to do, that you were helping with the family thing,” he added. Beyond physical farming work, some of Dan’s fondest childhood memories came when his mother would bring him lunch and the entire family would bond in the long hours they spent together during spring planting and fall harvest. Even with other

PUMPER FARMS

1906: the original Pumper Farm is founded in rice County

1993: Dan Pumper graduates from montgomery-Lonsdale High school

1998: Dan marries his wife Jessica

2002: Dan becomes an insurance agent through Farm Bureau Financial services

obligations and into adulthood, Dan consistently helped his family during the spring and summer months.

Those memories are shared by Dan’s father. Gary Pumper remembers walking in the pasture as a child and seeing cattle and pigs. He would even sometimes chase cows down the road. Sometimes, he was responsible for driving a tractor and stacking hay on a wagon when he was just 6 years old. As he grew older, he would milk cows before school and then finish daily chores after returning home.

“A good life,” Gary said of his childhood.

“It’s a good life for my children to grow up around, the freedom to move around … I don’t know. It’s just the family farm.”

Dan married his wife, Jessica, in 1998. She would ride along during harvest when they were dating. Being so close to the farming industry has given her a unique appreciation for farmers and the origin of food products. After a brief stint in Lonsdale, Dan and Jessica built a new home in 2004 on the original Pumper farm site on Millersburg Boulevard outside Lonsdale.

‘It’s in your blood’

After graduating from MontgomeryLonsdale High School in 1993, Dan attended South Central College in North Mankato and later worked for four to five years as a mechanical drafter. He then entered the insurance business in 2002 as an agent through Farm Bureau Financial Services after considering careers in banking insurance and real estate. His position allows him to sell to farmers, coverage that includes auto and home insurance on outbuildings, cattle, pigs, equipment and crops. Now, he leads a team of six Farm Bureau Financial Services employees with two offices in Faribault and Farmington.

Pumper was selected as a member of the 2014 Farm Bureau Hall of Fame for consistently performing as a top achiever for 10 years or more. Pumper has also earned 2015 PC Agent of the Year, Century Club Award, 2015 Pacesetters and Super Pacesetters, 2015 Super All American and Agent Council member.

“I like the team approach to helping

people and getting people the protecKevin, Dan, Griffin, Jessica, Gary, and Dan’s brother, JC Caron, stand near a John Deere tractor on a recent fall evening. the family comes together during the fall and spring months to plant and harvest their annual yields. (sam Wilmes/southernminn.com) tion that they need and their families, and avoid liquidation or foreclosure. Despite the problems facing the protheir assets,” Dan said. In 2019, there were nearly 600 such fession, Dan Pumper still finds joy in bankruptcies, an increase on the 498 fieldwork. The couple’s oldest daughter, Georgia, is in her second year of college filed in 2018. Pumper in a vet tech program. Griffin, Continued on page 9 11, attends fifth grade at TriCity United Schools and helps on the farm during the spring and fall. Farming has not been an easy way to earn a living over the Farming is your livelihood, last decade. Across the region, farm income, though peaking and it’s our in 2013 during a short period of strong prices and good yields, business to has since trended much lower, protect that. forcing farmers to refinance debt when they don’t earn enough to pay back the loan they take out each year to plant crops. Technology is advancing on an unprecedented scale, and Our companies were founded more than 80 years ago to serve the needs of farmers and ranchers. Today we’re the #1 ag insurer, delivering Smarter Insurance for Agriculture. ® Call me today to see how I can help protect your operation, family and future. fewer are entering the industry.

Data released by courts across the U.S. reportedly shows the number of farm bankruptcies across the country grew by 20% in 2019. The data refers to Chapter 12 bankruptcies which are part of the federal bankruptcy code that’s designed to allow family farmers and fishermen to restructure their finances

Dan Pumper

1220 7th Street Ste A Faribault, MN 507.331.2345 danpumper.com