Welcome to Country Acres South

from Country Acres South - June 4, 2022

Minnesota’s fi st breakfast on the farm

As you receive this paper in your mailbox for the fi rst time, we would like to welcome you to Country Acres South! You’re about to experience what our Country Acres readers in Central Minnesota have been enjoying since 2012. This is our premiere issue in southeastern Minnesota that includes the counties of Fillmore, Goodhue, Houston, Olmsted, Wabasha and Winona.

As our name might indicate, we’re all about the country and the people who live here; every issue is packed with their unique stories. You will read about people of every age and walk of life who share the bond of country living in southeastern Minnesota.

Our writers love nothing more than to get out there and meet new people. They come back from interviews inspired, ready to introduce these people to you, our Country Acres South family. You will read about farm life, nature, hobbies, animals, collections … you name it, you’ll fi nd it here.

You’ll meet people like the Bishop family of Harmony, who own and manage Niagara Cave, where underground trails wind through stalactites, stalagmites and 450-million-year-old fossils. An underground stream and a waterfall that plunges 50-feet only enhance the story that only enhance the attraction that was discovered in 1924 when several pigs on the farm disappeared.

The Baughmans, of Cannon Falls, encourage people to ask goat questions; they are always willing to mentor those looking into raising goats. They started their goat endeavors 15 years ago as a way to clean buckthorn from their woods and to provide a source for ethnic food interest in the area.

In Winona, Dave and Gail Griffi n started raising bison on a dare in 1992, and now, they graze their herd of 100, along with their calves, on their

scenic pastures overlooking the Mississippi River. Rounding out our fi rst issue of Country Acres South, we take a look into the history of a dairy tradition that started in Olmsted County and has since caught wind across the state. Equally important to the stories and other content of each issue of Country by Diane Leukam Acres South are our advertisers, who Editor, Country Acres will become a growing family with the passage of months and years. We encourage you to look closely at each and every advertisement, because these businesses bring the paper free to those of you with 15 acres or more in our six-county area. Not only that, but our advertisers are the backbone of our rural communities. They are our friends and neighbors who pay local taxes, donate to the many organizations that come calling, and welcome our support in return. Be sure to tell them you saw their ad in Country Acres South. Country Acres South is scheduled to run 24 issues a year, the fi rst and third Saturdays of each month. Here at Country Acres and now, Country Acres South, we love what we do and it’s all driven by the people we’ve been blessed to call our family. Now, our family is growing and we are excited to be growing with you. Many things have changed since we hit the ground running back in 2012; rural living and agriculture itself have evolved to a degree. But one thing remains the same, and that is the amazing, vast, wonderful array of people who live and work in the country. And so, to all our new readers, welcome aboard; welcome to the premiere issue of Country Acres South!

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Star Publications

Fax: 320-352-5647

NEWS STAFF

Mark Klaphake mark.k@dairystar.com Diane Leukam, Editor diane@saukherald.com Jennifer Coyne, Writer jenn@dairystar.com Kate Rechtzigel kate.r@dairystar.com Sarah Colburn Staff Writer Grace Jeurissen Staff Writer Christine Behnen FreelanceWriter

Story ideas send to:

mark.k@dairystar.com grace.j@star-pub.com

SALES STAFF

Julia Mullenbach, 507-438-7739 julia@star-pub.com Laura Seljan, 507-250-2217 laura.s@dairystar.com Missy Traeger, 320-291-9899 missy@saukherald.com Mike Schafer, 320-894-7825 mike.s@dairystar.com Warren Stone, 320-249-9182 warren@star-pub.com Jaime Ostendorf, 320-309-1988 Jaime@star-pub.com Bob Leukam, 320-260-1248 bob.l@star-pub.com

PRODUCTION STAFF

Pat Turner Amanda Thooft Nancy Powell Maddy Peterson Cheyenne Carlson

Deadlines:

Country Acres South will be published the fi rst and third Saturday of every month. Deadline for news and advertising is the Thursday before publication.

ST R

Publications bli ti

“Committed to being the eyes and ears of our communities.”

Bishop

from front

The explorers leased the land from Kennedy and made improvements to the cave such as leveling the walkways, installing staircases and bridges. They powered electrical lights with a diesel generator and eventually, in 1934, the cave became accessible to the public.

“There have only been two times when it was closed, once in World War II and once during COVID-19 in 2020,” Bishop said.

The three cavers ran the business from its inception until Al Cremer and his family bought them out and operated the cave until 1981, then Ron Vikre and his family bought and operated the cave until the Bishops bought the cave in 1995.

Not long after the Bishop family took over, they added LED lights and updated the electrical power from rural electricity to solar energy.

“We were the fi rst cave in the U.S. to be entirely powered with solar energy in 2015,” he said. “Every aspect of the busi-

PHOTO BY KATE RECHTZIGEL Four porcelain pigs sit outside of Niagara Cave’s lodge on May 5. These pigs mark the discovery of the cave in Fillmore County by Phil Todd’s three pigs.

ness from the lights in the cave to the water in the well pumps, is 100% powered by solar energy.”

The cave itself is believed to have been formed 450 million years ago when much of North America was covered by what was called the Ordovician Sea. While it was still submerged, sediments settled onto the fl oor and began to pile up. And then as it rose and shifted northwesterly, the sediments hardened and formed the limestone bedrock which covers the cave.

The limestone used to cover much of North America but was eroded from wind, fl owing water, rain, ice, deposition of new materials, tectonic activity and other geological factors. Due to the solubility of limestone, dolomite or marble carbonate rock, they are more likely to have near surface caves.

The cave is located in what is known as a driftless area, as it was not covered by ice in the last ice age and exposed to surface activity.

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Fine cracks occurred in the limestone during the uplifting and shifting of the earth’s surface and were expanded chemically by water which was slightly acidic from decaying plant and animal material. A subsurface stream also began to fl ow downward through several sinkholes in the area, widening the cracks through erosion. The driftless area is also home to steep hills, forested ridges, deeply carved river valleys and karst topography.

“Karst is known for sinkholes, disappearing rivers, springs and caves,” Bishop said. “That is likely how the cave was formed.”

The cave also has three types of limestone bedrock which were hardened into the cave; Dubuque, Stewartville and Prosser. And fossils such as gastropods, cephalopods, brachiopods, horn coral, fi sherites, trilobites and others.

“The fossils are a cross section of what was in the cave that existed 450 million years ago; shells, plants and other animals,” Bishop said. “They lived right in this shallow sea near the equator.”

Over hundreds of thousands of years, cave passages were fi lled with sediment from the surface and eroded by stream waters charged with chert particles. Chert is a sedimentary rock, but has silica and an irregular crystalline structure giving it abrasive quality and more resistance to erosion. Seeping water expanded the cave’s passageways and helped to form the different types of speleothems; stalactites, stalagmites, columns, botyroids and fl owstone. Rain water also traveled through the topsoil, becoming slightly acidic, and dissolving calcium carbonate or calcite, which would deposit some calcite on the surface and accumulate to further help create the speleothems.

“It is a natural limestone cave,” Bishop said. “So that’s how the stalactites and stalagmites are able to form in various shapes and sizes.”

Stalactites are formed as weather drips from the ceiling of the cave, they start out as tiny ringlets on the ceiling and later grow downward into a soda straw as water travels through the center and deposits calcite from the tip onto the fl oor. Stalagmites, on the other hand, build as water drips onto the fl oor and the calcite builds upward. If undisturbed,

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Located: Hamilton Auction Co. off Interstate 90 at Dexter, MN exit #193 then 1/4 mile east on Hwy 16 (130 State Hwy 16) MARVIN LADWIG FARM RETIREMENT: 1997 Case IH 2166 Axial Flow Combine, 2003 Case IH 2206 30” 6 Row Corn Head, 1997 Case IH 1020 20ft Bean Head, International 820 Bean Head w/Cart, Case IH 950 Cyclo Air Planter, 1973 International Fleet Star 2050 Grain Truck, 1977 International Fleet Star 2050 Grain Truck, 1971 International 1600 Load Star Grain Truck, 1975 Chevy C65 Grain Truck, John Deere 4650, Oliver 770, Massey Harris 44, Massey Harris 22, Oliver Super 55, Oliver 770, 2005 Interstate Enclosed Trailer BUNGUM FARM ESTATE: Farmall 560, Minneapolis Moline 49Z, Gehl Forage Box, H&S Forage Box, New Holland 456 Sickle Mower, IH 56 Silage Blower, Oliver 3 Bottom 16” Plow, Oliver 3 Bottom Pull-Type Plow, Oliver 83, Walsh 300-gal Pull-Type Sprayer, Minneapolis Moline Corn Sheller w/Elevator, Alumacraft 16ft Boat, IH 3pt 4 Row Cultivator ANTIQUE TRACTORS: John Deere 430W, John Deere 520, John Deere 420W, 1940 John Deere A, 1951 John Deere B, 1948 John Deere A, Farmall M, 1952 John Deere A, 1964 John Deere 4020, 1947 Farmall M, 1958 John Deere 730, 1951 John Deere M, TRACTOR: New Holland TC33D CONSTRUCTION: 2006 John Deere 650 J Dozer LGP HAY EQUIPMENT: New Holland 575 Square Baler w/Thrower, Vermeer MC 3300 Discbine, New Holland 848 Round Baler, John Deere 430 Round Baler, New Holland 479 & 1465 Haybine, GRAIN TRUCKS/SEMIS: 2015 Volvo VNL64T630, 2007 Freightliner Columbia w/Mid Roof Sleeper, 1997 Mack RD Quint Axle Dump Truck, 1996 Ford L8000 Dump Truck w/plow & sander, 1965 Chevy C80 409 V8 TRAILERS: 2007 Trail King RGN 48ftx102 Trl, 2008 XL Specialized RGN Trl,2008 XL Specialized RGN, 2000 Wabash Step Deck Trl, VEHICLES: 2003 Ford F550 V10, 1994 Dodge 1-Ton w/59 Cummins Diesel, 2005 Ford Ranger XLT, 2003 Ford F-450, 2005 Ford F-150 Crew Cab, 2003 Ford F-350 Crew Cab, 2008 Chevy Trail Blazer, 2005 Ford 500, 1998 Ford Ambulance, 2000 Chevy 1/2 Ton, 1995 Chevy 1/2 Ton, 2007 Chevy 1/2 Ton, 1989 Mercedes 300CE Convertible, 2001 Chevy S10, 1997 Dodge Ram 2500, 2008 Ford F150, 1993 Mercedes Benz Convertible RECREATIONAL: 2014 Kubota RTV X900, 2012 John Deere 825i Gator, 2007 Holiday Rambler Savoy SL, 1976 24ft Terry Travel Camper LAWN & GARDEN: Bolens 1476, Kubota GF1800E Diesel Front Mower INDUSTRIAS AMERICA: 84” & 96” Material Buckets, 96” Snow Bucket, (5) Tree Puller, Box Blades 7ft, 8ft, 10ft & 12ft, Portable Loading Dock 96”x20ft & MUCH MUCH MORE!!!! The echo chamber is pictured May 5. Inside the echo chamber, the cavers discovered what was believed to be the bones of a prehistoric bear.

they can actually grow together and form a column.

Botryoids, otherwise known as cave popcorn, are formed when water seeps uniformly out of the limestone wall and precipitates calcite or when water drips from the ceiling or walls and splashes on

PHOTOS BY KATE RECHTZIGEL (Above) Inside the cave lies an underground stream and a waterfall that drops 50-feet. This waterfall led to the naming of the cave, Niagara Cave, as it reminded the cavers of the famous Niagara Falls in New York. the fl oor or ledges along the walls. Flowstone forms when water rich in calcite fl ows along the walls or fl oor of the cave, depositing layers of calcite. The cave is still living and developing and will take years for the fi nal outcome to be discovered. But Bishop and his family truly enjoy taking care of the cave and opening to others with tours. “It’s really hard to pick one favorite part about the cave,” he said. “From the waterfall to the fossils and stalactites and stalagmites, it’s all incredible. I enjoy working with my family and watching people’s reactions as they come out of the cave.” Bishop is thankful for the opportunity to be the proprietor of the only privately-owned cave that offers tours in the state. And, he’s had the opportunity for his kids grow up and take part in the cave and cave operations. They offer tours April through October. Check their website, niagaracave.com, for a tour schedule. “They’ve really kind of followed in my footsteps,” he said. “I’ve really enjoyed sharing Niagara with my family, locally and with the rest of the world; typically, we got (people from) all 50 states and 60 to 80 different countries preCOVID.”