The Farming Families of Plymouth County Sept 2020

John and Debra’s newest grandchildren: Kiaan Permeswaran and Madison Vittetoe.

the end of the day and let her know how the day has gone.

John’s brothers also like to stay informed. He’s got cousins where we farm their ground. And I’ll send texts with pictures telling them we were harvesting their fields today. They really appreciate that. Cell phones are awesome. I can communicate with 10 people in short order.”

Service is Our Business

Daniel said the family has a long-term plan for the future of the farm south of Le Mars, although they’re always in the midst of discussing it and modifying it as circumstances change. John said, “We don’t have too many regrets on decisions we’ve made. At a given time, you wonder why you didn’t get a piece of ground. But, in the long term, it almost always ended up turning out all right.”

Lots of communication amongst family members was something Debra brought to the farm when she and John were married 31 years ago. John said, “My dad wasn’t much of a talker – you said what you had to say and you were done. When we were first married, Debra didn’t go to bed until her sister called, her dad called, and her grandma called. Sometimes it was 10:30 at night and I’d say ‘Will you call your grandma so we can go to bed?’ Cause you knew that call was coming.”

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The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | September 2020

Debra said, “That was just the way it was in my dad’s family and even in my mom’s. When our twins were born, my dad would call in the morning and ask ‘How was the night? How’d