East Valley Farms

TELLING STORIES AND BUILDING COMMUNITY

By Bob Fitch

Merry Christmas! On behalf of publishers Garrett and Mindy Gross, and our photographers, we hope you have a joyful holiday season!

Looking back over 2021, how does the team at The Farming Families measure whether or not it was a successful year? Two easy measures for us are: (1) Did we deliver 12 monthly issues of the magazine to the farming families in Hutchinson, Turner, Lincoln and Minnehaha Counties?; and (2) Did we get all the bills paid? Thankfully, the answers to both questions is yes.

In our 12 issues, we featured 38 families, 12 history stories, 12 scenic centerfold photos; and several other feature stories on youth and our valued advertisers. My rough estimate is we published more than 77,000 words and 225 photos.

But we don’t measure success by word count or photo count. Our bottom line measure of success is: Did we faithfully impart the joys, sorrows, struggles and successes of the families who generously shared their personal stories? Furthermore, did we help build the spirit of community among farm families and their agribusiness partners?

If you think the answers to these two questions is “yes,” then we believe we can mark 2021 down as a success.

Thanks to all of the families who let us tell their stories in 2021. If you have ideas for farm families we should feature in the coming year, send their names and a cell phone number to me at bob@agemedia.pub.

Best wishes for a safe and prosperous 2022!

Bob Fitch, Editor

We are aggressively looking for new wean to fi nish barns to fi t into our operation. Give us a call about your new construction plans for 2022.

We o er very competitive yardage rates and long-term contracts, as well as one of the best barn prices in the area. East Valley Farms is a family farm that has been raising swine in northwest Iowa for over 50 years.

Josh and Shannon with their daughters Chauncey, Kaycee and Sage.

THE NEUHARTH FAMILY THE KNUTSON FAMILY

Hutchinson County, January 2021

Good, old-fashioned help from your neighbors and friends is important to the Neuharth family of Menno.

“There are a group of guys around here … we help each back and forth, especially during calving season,” said Josh Neuharth, who farms with his parents, LueAllen and Pam Neuharth north of Menno. Josh and his wife, Shannon, have three daughters, Sage, Kaycee, and Chauncey. Shannon grew up on a west river ranch. Today she works at Heritage Pharmacy, cares for their daughters, and helps work the cattle.

Josh said, “Our commercial herd is just big enough to keep full-time calving in the spring, but not enough to keep us tied up all summer.” On the crop side, they dove deep into hay about five years ago. Looking for a way to increase his cash flow, he started a small seedstock operation. After building his herd, producers who have given his stock a chance liked the results, telling him, “Man, your bulls are lasting twice as long as what I got from so-and-so.” Lincoln County, January 2021

Loren Knutson said life is easy when you’re doing a job you love. “You might not make a million dollars, but it’s easier to be happy if you’re doing something you enjoy. I’ve always enjoyed farm work.” Loren and his brother Michael have farmed together for 35 years north of Canton. Their father, Milo, farmed with them for many years.

Likewise, Milo started off farming with his own father. “Mom asked me if I wanted to go to college when I graduated from high school. I said ‘Nope. I want to be a farmer and that’s it.’ I rented my first land in 1958. I farmed with my dad for almost 30 years. I never had a problem working with my dad or my sons.”

Milo said when Loren and Michael completed college, “They both came home and wanted to farm. They started just like I did. I didn’t have to borrow money to buy machinery – Dad had enough machinery. I did the same thing for my boys. They used mine and even some of their grandpa’s.”

Jeff and Karen with their dog, Josie.

JEFF THOMPSON AND KAREN MEDEMA

Minnehaha County, January 2021

“We’re a size that just the two of us can handle what we’ve got,” said Jeff Thompson “We’re secure in our crop acres. Why chase acres with how nuts the cash rents are getting? We’re comfortable with where we’re at.” Jeff and his wife, Karen Medema grow corn, soybeans and alfalfa near Lyons.

Jeff graduated from SDSU in 1983. He came back to farm with his dad, but also worked at various positions off the farm, including driving a fuel truck and working at a Sioux Falls cabinet shop, plus eight years at Central States Fire Apparatus. Karen was a school librarian for 30 years, four of those at West Central Schools and then the next 26 years at Axtell Park Middle School in Sioux Falls.

Jeff has been active on the South Dakota Soybean Association board, plus is the third generation of his family to serve on the Valley Central Coop Elevator board and he’s been a part of the Lyons Fire Department since 1992.

THE HAGENA FAMILY

Turner County, January 2021

LaRohn and Dianne Hagena farm north of Davis with their sons, Jarrod and Steve. LaRohn said the family has been feeding cattle in Turner County for over 77 years. “My dad moved onto this farm in 1943. I started farming in 1970. The boys started farming in 1996. The opportunity came up to rent some ground and everything fell into place. They started in feeding cattle, although at a different scale than we do now.”

About half their corn, soybean and alfalfa crops are on irrigated land. “We have nearly 30 center-pivot irrigation systems,” Jarrod said. LaRohn said, “Dad started irrigating in 1956 with hand-moved sprinklers. Then he went to whirlybirds, then center-pivots. He was one of the earlier ones to be irrigating. I’ve been irrigating my whole life, so I don’t know any different.” Even with all their cattle, they still grow more corn than they can feed.

Jarrod and his wife, Shannon, have one daughter, Vivian. Steve and his wife, Angela, have three children: Andrew, Ashlyn, and Colton.