Eastern Iowa Farmer Spring 2017

The Eastern Iowa 

Farmer 

Spring 2017 

Managing 

Your 

SOIL 

Your farming neighbors share 

their strategies for protecting 

and maximizing their dirt 

Life lessons: What my grandpa taught me 

and other valuable lessons learned from eastern 

Iowa’s farming veterans. 

An app for that: Area farmers have 

found many solutions in the palm of their hand. 

Growing money: Micro loans are now 

playing a big role for many small operations. 

Checking off: Local cattlemen expect 

state fund to promote marketing and research. 

Four pages of photos featuring your 

PLUS: agriculture friends and neighbors!

EVERY STEP. 

EVERY RECOMMENDATION. 

EVERY SEASON. 

THAT’S SEEDSMANSHIP AT WORK ® . 

These local experts will be there throughout the season, every 

season, with customized recommendations on products placed to 

perform in your fields. Learn more at www.Channel.com. 

Follow us @ChannelSeed 

Channel ® and the Arrow Design ® and Seedsmanship At Work ® are registered trademarks of Channel Bio, LLC. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 

©2016 Monsanto Company. 5125

Expert Channel Seedsmen in Your Area 

Karl Butenhoff 

Agronomist 

507-923-0311 

Logan Goettsch 

Channel Seedsman 

Calamus, Iowa 

563-370-6315 

Geoff Aper 

District Sales Manager 

Bettendorf, Iowa 

309-945-5222 

Bob Gannon 


De Witt, Iowa 

563-357-9876 

Max McNeil 


Preston, Iowa 

563-357-2381 

DEALER 

DEALER 

DEALER

Patti and 

Larry Hager, 

Bellevue 

We wanted to work 

with Dale on our new 

building because he 

is a locally grown boy 

with a great reputation. 

He listened to our needs 

and worked with us 

to design the building 

we wanted.” 

— Patti Hager 

Full-time LOCAL jobs 

Call Marilyn at 563-872-4166 for more information

If you want 

the best... 

• Commercial Warehousing 

• Retail Sales/Show Rooms 

• Mini-Warehouses 

• Municipal Garages/Shops 

• Offices 

• Airplane Hangars 

• Fairground Buildings 

• Manufacturing Facilities 

• Machine Storage 

• Insulated Shops 

• Horse Barns/Riding Arenas 

• Utility Buildings 

• Garages 

• Apt./Garages 

• Dairy Barns 

• Calf Housing 

• Cattle Sheds 

• Churches 

DALe 

Junk 

Dale & Marilyn Junk, owners 

23501 415th Avenue, Bellevue, IA 52031 

buddej@iowatelecom.net 

We use exclusive, computer-designed 

supertrusses, pressure-treated columns 

and screw-fastened roof and siding 

panels. We’ll work with you to develop 

a customized design that meets your 

specific needs. 

Dale 

Junk 

563-872-4166 

877-451-3007 

starting at $35,000/year

First class seed. 

First name service. ® 

Mark 

Miller 

MarTy 

Burlage 

MarTin 

scHueller 

allen 

olTManns 

Dean 

BarTels 

JeriMiaH 

cHrisTensen 

563-590-6845 

maquoketa 

319-465-5230 

monticello 

563-690-8630 

dubuque 

563-357-7339 

delmar 

563-212-2438 

charlotte 

563-357-1117 

maquoketa

800.772.2721 | krugerseed.com f 

Selected For You. 

At Kruger TM 

Seeds we have focused on the success 

of Iowa farmers for over 50 years. 

We know Iowa farmers, their fields and how to maximize 

their productivity with economical solutions. 

Our team of local experts will help you select and place seed 

products with the best traits and genetics for your farm. 

I plant Kruger products on my 

own farm and know they work! 

JereMy 

Miner 

agronomist 

319-480-1465 

Williamsburg 

Mike 

Dicken 

district 

manager 

641-420-5394 

Blue grass 

Joe 

Bullock 

563-652-3819 

maquoketa 

TiM 

Heilig 

563-219-6326 

Lost nation 

roger 

Wilke 

563-357-9627 

andover



Directory of advertisers 

adamson-lindsey agency, inc..........93 

ADM...............................................................54 

American Mutual................................119 

Backyard Vinyl.......................................25 

Bellevue State Bank............................17 

Bellevue Vet Clinic..............................54 

Brandenburg Drainage.....................40 

Breeden’s Vermeer...........................108 

Cascade Lumber....................................60 

Channel seed.............................................2 

Citizen’s first bank..............................46 

Citizens state bank..............................56 

Clinton/Jackson 

Dairy Assoication..............................61 

Clinton National Bank........................88 

Clover Ridge...........................................82 

Cornelius Seed......................................58 

County Line Ag........................................19 

Dale Junk - Wick Buildings...................3 

Dedicated Community Solar.........111 

deep creek applicators....................52 

delaney ag service...........................126 

delaney ag service..............................68 

delaney auto & ag..............................127 

delmar grain...........................................18 

dewitt bank and trust....................132 

dosland auction...................................50 

east Central consulting.................67 

East Iowa Realty...................................20 

eastern Iowa propane.......................51 

eberhart farm center.......................86 

engel agency.......................................117 

farm bureau federation................103 

Farm bureau financial 

services.................................................62 

farm credit services..........................16 

fidelity bank............................................15 

franzen family tractors 

& Parts LLC.............................................38 

Green Tech............................................112 

harksen aerial spraying...................23 

heritage mutual....................................66 

highway 64 auctions............................38 

Hostetler precision ag.....................69 

iowa concrete.......................................63 

Iowa Title & Guaranty.........................31 

Irv’s repair...............................................31 

J&S automotive....................................100 

jackson County fair board.............65 

jeff reed - state farm.....................123 

k9 comfort...............................................33 

keeney welding.....................................18 

kruger seed...............................................5 

kunau implement...................................85 

low moor ag............................................26 

mahindra tractors..............................98 

maquoketa financial...........................84 

maquoketa livestock sales............29 

Maquoketa lumber...............................74 

maquoketa state bank........................36 

mayberry appliances..........................35 

miner, gilroy & Meade.........................55 

nissen-caven...........................................27 

ohnward farm management............92 

ohnward tax & accounting..............22 

ohnward wealth & retirement......70 

Park Farms computer systems.....59 

Peoples company...............................128 

Peters beef genetics.........................76 

petersen Insurance.........................113 

pioneer seed...........................................44 

pioneer seed...........................................75 

PMC agri services..............................116 

prairie creek seed...............................83 

prairie hills assisted living.........114 

R&R sanitation........................................87 

regency retirement........................110 

river valley cooperative.................78 

rob-see-co...............................................99 

roeder implement................................11 

rolling meadow farms...................115 

scherrman’s implement.....................53 

schmidt ag services............................41 

schoenthaler, bartelt, 

kahler & reicks...................................57 

schueller & Sons 

reconstruction................................34 

schuster & Co........................................72 

scott & Oberbrockling..................106 

sheets construction.........................89 

solar planet...........................................77 

spain ag......................................................79 

spain painting.......................................109 

stickley electric.................................30 

sycamore media..................................122 

the feed & Grain store......................28 

the insurance group.......................107 

theisen’s.................................................111 

Thiel motors...........................................80 

Tom & Kevin grain bin........................101 

veach diesel repair.............................24 

Vicker’s ag................................................73 

warthan brothers ford..................47 

Wausau homes.....................................102 

welter seed & honey...........................14 

wheatland manor.................................91 

white front seed..................................90 

wyffELs seed..........................................71 

zirkelbach appliance.......................120 

8 Eastern Iowa Farmer | spring 2017

Story Index 

managing 

your soil 

48 




Life 

Lessons 

12 

What my grandpa 

taught me and other 

lessons learned from 

farming veterans 

Checking 

off 

39 

Local cattlemen 

expect state fund 

to promote marketing 

and research. 

Growing 

Money 

42 

Simple application 

process makes 

microloans 

attractive option 

32 Ag education started grandpa’s lap 

‘You’ll never hit the snooze button if you love what you do’ 

37 Is it a lease or a purchase? 

With farm equipment, the difference really matters 

94 An app for that 

agriculturalists have found solutions in the palm of their hand 

100 Ag bytes 

upcoming events in the agriculture related world 

104 Homestyle desserts 

recipe for making memories: Baking 

118 FSA loans can help with financing needs 

several options available depending on situations


The Eastern Iowa Spring 2017 

MANAGING 

YOUR 

SOIL 






Iowa’s farming veterans. 

An app for that: Area farmers have 




Business profile: ADM – a look at what 

they do with your corn inside that giant plant. 

PLUS: agriculture friends and neighbors! 




Sycamore Media President: 

Trevis Mayfield 

Advertising: Stephanie Birkinbine, 

Deven King, Melissa Lane, 

Kim Galloway, Trevis Mayfield, 

Rosie Morehead, Luke Renner 

Creative Director: Brooke Taylor 

Editorial Content: Kelly Gerlach, 

Kate Howes, Deven King, Tom Lane, 

Kaitlin Luett, Nancy Mayfield, 

Trevis Mayfield, Kendra Renner, 

Kristine Tidgren 

Photography Content: Nick Joos, 

Trevis Mayfield, Brooke Taylor 

Editors: Kelly Gerlach, Larry Lough, 

Nancy Mayfield, Trevis Mayfield 

Published by: Sycamore Media 

108 W. Quarry St., Maquoketa, IA 

563-652-2441 

Cover: Trevis Mayfield, Brooke Taylor 

Roger Taylor, hand model 

The Eastern Iowa Farmer is a specialty 

publication of Sycamore Media Corp., 108 

W. Quarry Street, Maquoketa, Iowa 52060, 

563-652-2441 or 800-747-7377. No portion of 

this publication may be reproduced without the 

written consent of the publisher. Ad content is 

not the responsibility of Sycamore Media Corp. 

The information in this magazine is believed to 

be accurate; however, Sycamore Media Corp. 

cannot and does not guarantee its accuracy. 

Sycamore Media Corp. cannot and will not 

be held liable for the quality or performance 

of goods and services provided by advertisers 

listed in any portion of this magazine. 

Message from the Publisher 

Many fields now taking 

advantage of technology 

Embracing technology is something that 

seems to come easy to the farming 

community here in eastern Iowa. 

The more our staff talks with area farmers 

(you, that is), the more it becomes obvious 

just how technologically savvy today’s 

growers have to be to compete in the 

global market. 

We have interviewed people who 

help to engineer hybrid seeds. We have 

met those who have found new ways 

to manufacture feed bunks that reduce 

bacteria growth and improve the health 

of cattle. Others who have appeared in 

this magazine are experts at testing soil 

and determining exactly what it needs 

to grow the best crop possible. And 

then there are 

the farmers 

themselves, 

who have to understand 

all of it so that 

they can apply all 

this technology and 

know-how in a way 

that allows them to 

survive in a tough 

environment. 


President 

Sycamore Media Corp. 

For that, we offer 

a tip of the hat. 

We are trying to 

follow your example, 

too. 

While there is no replacement for the feel 

of a magazine in one’s hand, we have decided 

to follow your lead and take a baby step 

toward embracing new technologies. 

Well, maybe not new technologies, exactly, 

but technologies we hadn’t adopted until now. 

For the first time, beginning with this issue 

of The Eastern Iowa Farmer, we are offering 

a digital version that can be read via computer, 

tablet or smartphone. The platform 

is what is known as a “PDF reader,” which 

means it will look almost exactly the same as 

it does in its print form, except the image will 

be composed of electronic pixels instead of 

paper and ink. 

Our goal with this new technology is to 

give you an additional way to enjoy our 

work. 

As you have probably already noticed from 

the cover of the magazine in your hands, this 

The Eastern Iowa Farmer homepage offers readers a chance to 

submit information as well as view the magazine with a PDF reader. 

issue is dedicated to exploring the 

best soil-management practices in eastern 

Iowa. That’s not to mention a wide range of 

other stories that celebrate our farming community. 

We have met a lot of great people 

while working on this issue, and we have 

enjoyed every minute of it. 

As always, we hope you find it entertaining, 

folksy, and at least a little bit educational. 

And thanks to our new digital platform, it 

should be easy for you to let us know what 

you think. 

If you direct your electronic device to eifarmer.com, 

you will find not only the digital 

version of this magazine, but also an easy 

way to let us know what you think. Just click 

and type. 

Lastly, as always, I’d like to thank all the 

advertisers who helped to make this magazine 

possible. 

Thank you so much, and we hope you 

enjoy this issue. 

Sincerely, 

Trevis Mayfield, 

Sycamore Media president 


When it comes to planting season, time is money. 

We know it’s vital to keep you running. 

that’s why we 

got these guys 

The Roeder Implement service team will always be ready when you need them 

Call Today To sChedule youR spRIng maInTenanCe 

www.roederimplement.com 

2550 Rockdale Rd. 

Dubuque, IA 52003 

phone 

800-557-1184 

FAx 563-583-1821

Life Lessons 

eastern iowa farmer photo / Brooke Taylor 

Life Lessons 

What my grandpa taught me and other valuable 

lessons learned from eastern Iowa’s farming veterans 

Three generations of Petersens farm together in Goose Lake. Joel, Ray and Jay are proud of keeping the farm’s 76-year history alive. 

Life lessons learned on the 

farm and passed down from 

generation to generation run 

through the veins of the people 

living in Eastern Iowa. 

From learning to care for 

animals to preparing a favorite 

family recipe to preserving 

harvest bounty, people carry 

on traditions that tie the past to 

future generations. 

Lessons learned from a 

grandma or grandpa, a great 

aunt or an uncle are part of the 

fabric of rural life. 


Life Lessons 

Learning by 

Example 

Grandpa instilled 

strong work ethic, 

concern for animals 

From the time 

Jay Petersen 

was a little boy, 

his grandpa knew he 

was born to farm. 

“I could see it,” Ray Petersen said. 

“Even when he was in grade school, he 

was as much into farming as I was. It was 

in his blood.” 

As it turns out, grandpa was right. 

Now 30 years old, Jay works side-byside 

with his dad, Joel, and grandpa taking 

care of the family farm just north of 

Goose Lake. 

It is a destiny Jay believes he was 

meant to fulfill. 

After graduating early from Northeast 

High School in Goose Lake in December 

2003, he attended Kirkwood Community 

College in Cedar Rapids, where he earned 

an associate’s degree in ag production. 

But his plan had always been to return 

home to the farm. 

Ray is proud to have Jay keeping the 

farm’s 76-year history alive, and Jay is 

grateful to be able to look to his grandpa 

for guidance. 

Just as he has since he was a little boy. 

Confident he would be leaving things 

in capable hands, Ray decided to take 

a step back and let Joel and Jay take on 

most of the responsibility. 

But farming is still very much a family 

affair, one in which Ray still plays a role. 

He sold Joel the farm’s 240 acres, and 

Jay has 80 acres of his own. Sixty-eight 

of the 800-head of cattle are at Ray’s farm 

(located just south of the family homestead 

where Joel and his wife, Beth, live). 

Jay Petersen, then 9, helps his grandpa, Ray Petersen, put shingles on an out building. Ray has been Jay’s farming 

mentor since he was a little boy. Now 30, Jay still looks to Ray for advice when it comes to operating the family farm. 

Ray 

feeds them the 

old-fashioned way – with ears of corn he 

has picked from the field. 

Jay has learned any number of rudimentary 

instructions from his grandpa as 

to how to maintain operations day-to-day 

and season-to-season. 

“Jay is a very 

aggressive farmer. 

He looks to the future 

and is interested in all 

the new technology 

for the farm. He 

does a great job.” 

— Ray Petersen 

But nothing can compare to the example 

79-year-old Ray has set as a diligent 

and determined farmer, and the work ethic 

he has helped to instill in his grandson. 

“He’s definitely a hard worker,” Jay 

said. “I hope when I’m his age, I’m as 

good as he is. He’s like the Energizer 

Bunny.” 

Ray 

insists he is one of 

the lucky ones. 

“I feel very satisfied,” he said. “All my 

years of farming aren’t going to waste. I 

can turn everything over to my son and 

grandson.” 

It has been 10 years since Jay started 

farming full-time. 

As the years go by and his oldest son, 

7-year-old Jed, begins to develop his own 

interest in agriculture, Jay thinks back to 

when he was a boy watching his grandpa. 

“The first thing that comes to mind is 

him taking care of the animals,” Jay said. 

“He was a really good teacher that way. 

He always said, ‘If you take care of the 

animals, they will take care of you.’” 

At one time, the Petersens had both 

cattle and hogs. 

Ray said that when it comes to raising 

farm animals, a person needs to understand 

only one thing. 

“Taking care of livestock is a 365-daya-year 

job,” he said. “That’s just the way 

it is. There’s no getting around that.” 

Something else Jay said his grandpa 

has always impressed upon him is staying 

safe. 

While farmers help to feed the world, 

farming is an industry that is one of the 

spring 2017 | Eastern Iowa Farmer 13

Life Lessons 

most hazardous in the world. 

Ray said he has endeavored to teach 

Jay to work as cautiously and sensibly as 

possible. 

“I’ve seen what can happen,” Ray said. 

“If there’s any one thing I hope he learns, 

it’s that he needs to be careful.” 

Ray’s father, August, immigrated to the 

United States from Germany. In 1940, he 

bought the family farm for $50 an acre. 

In 1954, August was diagnosed with 

leukemia. With his father too sick to work, 

Ray had to do most of the farming. He 

took care of the hogs, cattle, milking cows, 

and 240 acres of cropland. 

Ray had two brothers, but they were 

both enlisted in the Army, leaving him to 

shoulder the responsibility of keeping the 

farm afloat. 

Fortunately, the Petersens’ neighbor, Ed 

Cain, stepped in to help. 

“He showed me how to operate the tworow 

corn planter,” Ray said. “All the other 

machines I knew how to run, but I’d never 

planted corn. I really looked up to Ed. He 

taught me a lot.” 

Ray’s father died in 1958. Cain continued 

to be there for Ray and his mother, 

Erna. Years later, in the mid-1990s, Cain’s 

shirt sleeve got caught in a power take off 

on a machine. He fell, breaking vertebrae 

in his neck, and became paralyzed from 

the neck down. 

The accident and the debilitating effect 

it had on his neighbor, friend, and mentor 

still haunts Ray. 

He wants to make sure practicing safety 

on the farm is part of his family’s tradition. 

“He’s always been very serious about 

safety issues,” Jay said. “I remember Ed’s 

accident. After that happened, grandpa’s 

always made sure I keep that kind of stuff 

in mind.” 

As the Petersens’ operation continues 

to grow and evolve, Ray will continue to 

farm with his son and grandson. 

While he enjoys watching Joel and Jay 

take on the lion’s share of duties, Ray also 

appreciates the significance of his situation: 

Being able to work alongside two 

generations of his family. 

“We cooperate well together,” Ray said 

as a smile began to spread across his face. 

“Most of the time, anyway. 

“Jay is a very aggressive farmer. He 

looks to the future and is interested in all 

the new technology for the farm. He does 

a great job.” 

Jay said he likes working with his dad 

and grandpa. 

They share a lot of the same interests. 

And, if not for his family and the legacy 

his great-grandpa started more than 75 

years ago, Jay would not be able to pursue 

his dream job of being a farmer. 

He credits his grandpa for giving him 

the tools he needs to keep that legacy alive 

for his own children. 

“He’s always doing what needs to be 

done,” Jay said. “He’s been a good example 

and always has shown me what to do, 

how to do it, and to make good decisions. I 

couldn’t ask for more than that.” n 

— kate howes, 

eastern iowa farmer 

WELTER SEED 

& HONEY CO. 

Offering the widest 

selection of seed 

in the tri-state area 

• Alfalfa 

• Pasture 

Mixes 

• Corn 

• Soybeans 

• Small Grains 

• Lawn Seed 

• Cover Crops 

• Custom 

Mixes 

• Seed for 

CRP 

• Pollinator 

Mixes 

Celebrating 60 

Years in Business! 

17724 Hwy. 136 • Onslow, IA • (800) 470-3325 

Front Row Left to Right: 

Les, Stephanie, Dustin, 

Jake, Jim, Dan 

Back Row Left to Right: 

Nathan, Denise, Karen, Ken 

Missing: Nick, Chris, and Mike 

www.welterseed.com 


Life Lessons 


Joan and Gene Gerardy grind cornmeal using their electric mill. 

Living off the 

Land 

Joan Gerardy brushes 

off the excess ground 

corn from the sides of 

her electric Magic Mill. 

“Gene [her husband] ground some 

corn a few days ago and didn’t clean 

it out,” she said, sweeping away the 

cornmeal granules with a well-worn 

paintbrush. 

“My dad always told us kids we could 

use whatever we wanted in the garage, 

just be sure to put it all away like you got 

it when you’re done,” Joan said with a 

laugh. 

AGRICULTURE 

LEADING THE WAY 

Fidelity Bank’s ag lending 

experts Mike Kilburg and 

Brian Schwager can help 

you lead the way to a 

successful agriculture future. 

Call 563-652-6660 

or stop in and ask how 

we can assist you. 


Life Lessons 

That’s just one piece of advice the 

Gerardys learned from their parents and 

passed on to their children. 

In this day and age of instant gratification, 

it’s simple and convenient to drive to 

the store and buy what you need – everything 

from food to soap. 

But the Gerardys find instant satisfaction 

living off the land, carrying on those 

family traditions. 

“It’s waste not, want not,” Joan said. 

Gene was a homebody with an eighthgrade 

education who planned to be a 

bachelor farmer. He attended school part 

time, always at his father’s beck-and-call 

to work the fields, especially during planting 

and harvest seasons. 

That’s where the Gerardy family 

learned its work ethic – passed down 

through generations. 

“Farming was my thing, by golly,” 

Gene said. “I was the oldest in my family. 

Dad would wake me up in the morning 

and tell me to come home [from school] 

at 10, 11, because he had this and that for 

me to do.” 

He met Joan Reuter one night when the 

Oklahoma Cowboys were playing a dance 

at a nearby granary – quite appropriate 

given the decades of farming in their 

future. They married 62 years ago. 

Gene’s family homestead – 216 acres 

east of Springbrook – yielded most of 

STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 

The Gerardys get their organic corn from son 

Vince Gerardy. They prefer to be chemical free. 

Gene Gerardy removes the kernels by hand, 

letting the husks fly away in the breeze. 

The kernels are placed in an electric mill, ground 

between two stones, and come out as cornmeal. 

AGRICULTURE IS LIKE 

NO OTHER BUSINESS, 

WHICH MAKES US LIKE 

NO OTHER LENDER. 

nobody finances agriculture like 

farm credit services of america. 

Financing agriculture isn't just one thing 

we do – it's all we do. So along with our 

attractive rates, money-saving services 

and management tools, you can benefit 

from an entire organization dedicated 

to your business and people who work for 

your success. Discover the difference. 

it pays to know agriculture. 

see for yourself by calling 

800-659-5141 

1621 11th st. 

DeWitt, IA 52742 

Seth Smith 

Coon River Farms, Inc. 

Conventional & Organic 

Grain & Cattle Producer 

fcsamerica.com/smiths 


eastern iowa farmer photo / contributed 

Life Lessons 

their needs, growing corn, hay, wheat and 

oats back then. 

The couple learned one of their most 

important life lessons from Gene’s father 

on his deathbed more than 40 years ago. 

Gene said his father died from liver 

problems – problems the doctor said 

were likely caused from exposure to 

manmade chemicals in a day when few 

safety precautions were used. 

“That was it right then, by golly,” 

he said. 

From then on, the couple has 

grown everything in an organic way 

– free from pesticides and herbicides. 

“You know what’s in your food 

then,” Gene said. 

The big move 

In September 1992, the Gerardys 

moved from the family farm 

to a sizable property south of 

Bellevue. It offers a great view of 

the Mississippi River as well as plenty of 

room for Gene, 84, and Joan, 81, to grow 

their own fruits and vegetables. 

In the summer and fall, their backyard 

bursts with potatoes, beets, peppers, to- 

ma- 

toes, radishes, 

carrots, onions, gourds and grapes. 

The trees bear apples, pears, peaches, 

Joan and Gene 

Gerardy examine a few 

ears of corn circa 1987. 

Lenders With Experience 

That Comes Only With Time 

Over 24 years of experience 

as an Ag Lender in Jackson 

County serving on various 

community and agricultural 

committees and boards. 

Rick Prull 

Vice President 

37 years in banking and 

active in various 

community organizations 

in Jackson County. 

Paul Peterson 

Executive Vice President 

PAUL PETERSON 

RICK PRULL 

ppeterson@bellevuestatebank.com 

rprull@bellevuestatebank.com 

Office: 563-872-4911 • Fax : 563-872-4198 

200 S. 2nd St., Bellevue, IA Member FDIC 


Font: Palantino 

Colors: 

Gold PMS 140 

Russet PMS 491 

Yellow PMS 124 

Burnt Orange PMS 471 

Black 

Life Lessons 

cherries and walnuts. 

“That’s what we raised 

when I was growing up,” Joan 

said. 

If they must buy fruits or 

vegetables, they scour them 

with organic, perfume-free, 

dye-free soap. 

One garage stall houses 

shelves bursting with homemade 

canned vegetables and 

fruits. Clear jars show jelly 

made from zucchini, beets and 

grapes. There’s salsa, pickled 

everything, canned deer meat, 

cherries, grapes. 

The deep freeze holds 

frozen soups, vegetables and 

meats they can thaw whenever 

family and friends visit. 

Milling around 

Their electric tabletop mill 

moved with the Gerardys. 

They used to grind their own 

wheat for flour and corn for 

cornmeal. Their ancestors 

milled as well. 

They still grind their own 

cornmeal. Son Vince Gerardy 

grows organic corn for 

them, and they store it in their 

breezeway. Gene strips the 

dried yellow kernels from the 

cob and lets the wind blow 

away the husks. 

He pulls open the lid on 

the wooden mill and drops 

in a couple of handfuls of 

kernels. When he flips the 

power switch, the kernels 

fall between the side-by-side 

millstones that grind them to 

the desired texture – fine for 

Canned beets 

aren’t just tasty, 

but colorful, too. 

eastern iowa 

farmer photo / 

Brooke Taylor 

humans, cracked for birds. 

Within minutes, the silver 

bowl under the mill is filled 

with silky-smooth cornmeal 

ready for baking. Or, add 

some water then stir, and 

it tastes just like cream-ofwheat. 

Gene once tried growing 

triticale, a wheat-rye hybrid 

that is rich in protein. Its tall 

height, however, was not wind 

friendly, and it blew over before 

he could harvest it. 

He also cracks black walnuts 

harvested from the trees. 

The couple’s new and 

antique grinders and sausage 

stuffer await use in the garage. 

As her mother, grandmother 

and generations before her, 

Joan makes the couple’s soap, 

carefully mixing lye and either 

lard or tallow with no scent or 

coloring. Joan used her mother’s 

recipe until she moved to 

town. 

“We always used homemade 

soap for washing clothes 

and bedding,” she said, adding 

Delmar Grain Service Dealer 

for ADM Animal Nutrition! 

Keeney 

Welding 

Big and small 

we feed them all 

livestock producer • show exhibitor 

equine enthusiast • companion animal owner 

SINCE 1953 

Steel Fabrication 

Portable Service 

Steel Sales 

MIlES, Ia 563-682-7699 

You’ll 

find 

what you need 

at 

GREAT FEED! 

GREAT DEALS! 

Delmar Grain Service, Inc. 

502 1/2 Main Street, Delmar, Iowa • 563-674-4261 

www.admani.com ADM Alliance Nutrition, Inc., Quincy, IL 


Life Lessons 

that it cleans better than bleach. 

The almanac 

But sometimes the best advice never 

makes sense when it is given. 

Gene said he never understood his 

father’s belief in farming almanacs or 

following directions from the signs of the 

zodiac printed in Blum’s Almanac. 

“We never used it when we farmed,” 

Joan said, chuckling as her husband 

flipped through the trusty almanac that is 

always by his living room chair. 

“I pretty near live by it now,” he said. 

He’s even planned trips to his favorite 

fishing hole by looking at the almanac. 

And it worked. 

“And you plant beets as doggone early 

as you can,” he advised. 

More tips? 

Sprinkle chili or cayenne powder 

around cabbage plants when they’re starting 

to grow. It will take care of cabbage 

worms, Joan said. 

To avoid wormy carrots, pulverize kelp 

(seaweed) into a powder and sprinkle in 

the row of carrots. It’s a source of iodine. 

Tying cinnamon or garlic around fruit 

trees kills bugs and keeps them from 


In Gene Gerardy’s well-organized shop, there is a place for everything. 

eating the fruit. 

“Garlic keeps people from bugging 

you, too, by golly,” Gene said, laughing. 

Gene also passed on his family’s surefire 

way to control pesky rabbits that can 

decimate a garden. 

“A .22-caliber rifle; take aim and 

shoot,” he said with a big belly laugh. But 

in reality, killing a rabbit, squirrel or deer 

also meant more food on the table. 

Sometimes, however, it’s good to buck 

County Line 

Your 

Ag 

® 

Seed Dealer 

Janell Johnson 563-357-4057 

® Curry is a registered trademark of Pioneer. © 2014, PHII. 


Life Lessons 

tradition a bit. 

Joan and Gene have 

nine children – seven 

boys and two girls (one 

deceased). With all those 

boys, Joan needed some 

help around the house. 

“I taught all seven boys 

to sew, and they can all 

put zippers in clothes if 

they need to,” said Joan, 

proud of her sons’ self-sufficiency. 

“They all learned 

to cook and clean and do 

their own laundry.” 

Another lesson learned 

through the generations? 

Neighborhood gatherings. 

“You couldn’t get some 

things done without your 

neighbors and friends,” 

Joan said. “That something 

our parents passed on to us 

and we tried to teach our 

kids. Help people.” 

It’s part and parcel of 

living in the country. 

For instance, everyone 

got together to butcher 100 

chickens for a neighbor’s 

wedding. Joan was in 

charge of cutting off the 

heads. 

Neighbors had threshing 

parties, taking turns going 

from one farm to the next 

to bring in the crop. 

Or, they butchered 23 

hogs in a day. Again, the 

neighbors toted their hogs 

to one central location so 

many hands could make 

light work to prepare the 

meat, clean the casings (intestines) 

for sausage, etc. 

“One of the things we 

carried in from the farm 

and down through the 

generations – we’re even 

more dependent on God for 

rain for our gardens, for our 

health, you name it,” Gene 

said. n 

— Kelly gerlach, 


Rich Gerardy 

unloads ear 

corn circa 

1987. Rich is 

the youngest 

of nine in the 

Gerardy family. 

eastern iowa 

farmer photo 

/ contributed 

Let me make your 

land dreams come true 

Whether you’re buying farm ground or selling it, Chuck Schwager 

can help you assess your options and maximize your value. 

Chuck Schwager, Broker 

563-599-4277 

eastiowaland.com 

For all of your real estate needs, 

East Iowa Realty has you covered. 

Call one of our agents today! 

563.652.0000 

Lesley 

Caven 

Linda 

Bailey 

Elizabeth 

Hayward 

Joe 

Veach 

Katie 

Yaddof 

125 S. 2nd St. Maquoketa, IA 

EastIowaRealty@gmail.com 


Life Lessons 


eastern iowa farmer photo / brooke taylor 

Memories 

and Lessons 

(Top) Cassidy Moore, 3, of rural Maquoketa trudges back 

to the dairy parlor juggling two empty milk bottles after 

feeding calves on his parents’ dairy and beef farm. 

(Above) As a youngster, Heather Moore finds a cozy place 

to take a nap in the dairy barn. 

Farm life with husband, sons built 

on things learned from grandparents 

It might be the fresh 

scent released from 

a bale of hay as the 

twine is snipped and 

the hay falls loose in 

the manger. 

Or maybe it’s the sweet smell of 

warm milk squeezed from a Holstein’s 

teats or the muscle memory 

of placing the milkers there. 

Sometimes it happens when 

Heather Moore watches her sons 

race around the milk barn or 

watches the cows graze in the 

pasture before she herds them to 

the barn. 

It might even be the pungent 

smell of manure on a humid summer 

day. 

Wrap them all up in a bit of déjà 

vu and it spells home for Heather 

and her rural Maquoketa family. 

“Even now, milking cows or 


Life Lessons 

feeding calves, there are sights or sounds or smells that send me 

back to that old limestone barn,” Heather said. 

The barn she speaks of sits on her family’s home in Crawford 

County, Wisconsin, where three generations grew to love the land, 

the cows, a hard day’s work, and each other. 

The Moores now have their own barn, built in the spring of 2014, 

where they milk 50 Holsteins as her family before her. 

Decades of dairy life engrained itself in her heart, even when 

Heather met cattleman Brandon Moore. They married each other 

and their love of livestock. 

Heather brought with her the memories and lessons learned from 

her Wisconsin home. 

“My great-grandparents moved to my home farm in 1937, and 

I lived there until 1996,” she said. “We all [three generations born 

there] worked alongside our parents and grandparents, milking 

cows and dairy farming. 

“Both sets of grandparents milked Holstein cows in Crawford 

County, Wisconsin, and our barn today is full of Holsteins. 

“They were thrifty, always made do with what they had – something 

that I try to do to this day,” she said. 

Sometimes the most valuable lessons learned are the ones not 

learned at all. 

Heather said that growing up, she never knew there were girl 

jobs and boy jobs. There were just jobs, and somebody had to do 

them. 

“We all learned to put our head down and do what needed to be 

done – girls worked outside and boys worked in the house. That’s 

Where EVERYONE counts 

OhNWaRd Tax, accOuNTiNg & 

BusiNEss sERVicEs OffERs: 

- Payroll services 

- financial statement services 

- Bill Pay services 

- sales Tax services 

! 

- accounts Payable services 

- farm Record Keeping services 

- strategic Planning services 

Keep on farming and leave the numbers to us. 

We are committed to your success and helping your 

business grow. Contact us today so you can spend 

more time in the fields and less time in the books. 

22 Eastern Iowa Farmer | spring 2017 

(866) 872-3979 

www.ohnward.com 

otabs@ohnward.com

Life Lessons 



(Above) Heather Moore’s childhood memories and 

current dairy practices began in this limestone barn. 

In this photo from decades ago are neighbor Joe 

Hammerly, with Moore’s great-grandfather Orvin H. 

Anderson and grandfather Orvin L. Anderson. (Left) 

Moore works in her modern-day dairy barn. 

Agricultural Aviation Specialists 

Since 1970 

Our Services Include: Fungicides, Insecticides, 

Foliar Applied Nitrogen and Micro-Nutrients 

on Corn and Soybeans, and Cover Crops 

We fly a 602 Air Tractor 

so rates of 2 or 3 gallons per acre are possible. 

GPS mapping is available. 

Bring your own chemicals or we have them 

available for purchase. Competitive pricing. 

With 45 years of experience, we would like to continue to serve our 

customers and protect your crops with our Aerial Application Services. 

Harksen Aerial Spraying, L.L.C. 

2689 380th Avenue, Camanche, IA • Scott & Kay Harksen • 563-522.2171 


Life Lessons 

followed through to our home today,” 

she said – whether sons Tucker, Cassidy 

and Cooper are helping mom milk, 

helping dad feed beef cattle, or baking 

in the kitchen. 

That baking includes Christmas 

traditions passed on from her family. 

“Christmas Eve was always on the 

farm, and we always served Norwegian 

meatballs,” Heather said. “I make them 

every year at Christmas, and this year 

Tucker learned how to make them for 

Christmas dinner. 

“We also still make traditional lefse 

and my Grandpa Duha’s classic homemade 

noodles for chicken noodle soup. 

You knew it was going to be a good 

meal when grandpa got the rolling pin 

out.” 

One the family’s fondest traditions, 

Heather said, is the waiting for the 

sound of the whippoorwill. 

“As soon as we heard the whippoorwill, 

Grandma would let us run around 

barefoot. My boys love to go barefoot 

in the summer, and we always wait to 

hear the whippoorwill first.” 

The simple appreciation of those 

who came before fill the Moores’ daily 

routines when they get up to milk the 

cows, wash udders and milkers, and 

scrape manure. 

“It’s something I work to instill in 

my boys,” Heather said. 

“There’s a quote that hangs in my 

barn, straight from a book written by 

one of our neighbors on the ridge: 

“Once you have lived on the land, 

been a partner with its moods, secrets, 

and seasons, you cannot leave. The 

living land remembers, touching you 

in unguarded moments, saying, ‘I am 

here. You are a part of me.’ When this 

happens to me, I go home again, in 

mind or in person, back to a hilltop 

world in southwestern Wisconsin ... I 

was born there, cradled by the land, 

and I am always there even though I 

have been a wanderer.” 

“That’s the number one lesson from 

the generations before me,” Heather 

said, “and I hope that wherever my 

children may go in life, that they end 

up coming back to a farm in Eastern 

Iowa in quiet moments.” n 

— Kelly gerlach, 


A Pony 


Life Lessons 

for Brodi 

Grandpa instills love of equine 

in four-year-old Calamus girl 

Brodi Bousselot 

takes a moment to 

visit with her horse 

on a sun-drenched 

afternoon. 


Four-year-old Brodi 

Bousselot stands turned 

around from view in 

her jean jacket, her little hands 

over her eyes with an animated 

smile of anticipation forming 

on her face. There’s a surprise 

coming, and she finds her eyes 

peeking through her fingers. 

Her Grandpa Ray Pennock sees Brodi’s 

auburn curls against her jacket, her little tennis 

shoes dancing in the dirt, as he sneaks behind 

her with a quarter horse pony. Grandpa Ray 

tells her she can open her eyes, and she whips 

around to her new friend and passion for the 

equestrian world. 

Bousselot and her grandpa were in for more 

than they bargained for when they realized the 

• Custom Vinyl Fences and Rails 

• Westbury Aluminum Railing 

• AZEK PVC Decking 

• Custom Vinyl Pergolas 


Life Lessons 

Brodi Bousselot 

sits atop her 

first horse, 

Lucy, while her 

grandpa Ray 

stands close by 

to assist. 

eastern iowa 


contributed 

Ted and Sharon Witt, 

Owners 

sassy pony, just introduced to Bousselot as her own, 

was pregnant. Soon thereafter, Bousselot’s second 

gift from Grandpa, Spirit, was born. A few years 

later, Pennock took another older horse under his 

wing, believing it to be malnourished and wanting 

to restore it to health. That horse ended up fathering 

Lucy’s second colt, Thunderbell, who was born in 

the middle of a storm. 

Now a sophomore at Iowa State University with 

a major in animal science, Bousselot has dreams 

of working with the Budweiser Clydesdale horses. 

That dream was jumpstarted the day she got her 

first horse, Lucy, from her grandpa. 

“He taught me the basics,” she said. “How to 

feed them, how to brush them, how to take care of 

them in general.” 

Grandpa Ray wasn’t a horse expert, but was a 

modern-day cowboy with a love for nature, animals, 

and hard work. 

Each time Bousselot would go to her grandpa’s 

“shop” near DeWitt to ride her new pony, Grandpa 

Ray was there to guide the new cowgirl. 

“The biggest thing was he taught her how to take 

care of them, respect them,” said Bousselot’s grandma, 

Joyce Pennock. “Those horses just thought the 

world of him. No matter where they were, when he 

drove in, they’d come flying up to the fence.” 

Bousselot says although she believes she would 

have grown up with horses even without grandpa 

We Value Our Farmer Friends 

Our customers are our friends, and our friends are our customers. 

For the last 20 years, we have operated as an independent ag retailer. 

Our personal commitment to excellence and 

providing a quality product is what we do! 

Low Moor Ag Service wishes you a safe harvest season. 

Low Moor 

AG SERVICE, INC. 

563-522-2063 

Fertilizer and Ag Chemicals • Rock Hauling and Ag-Lime 


Life Lessons 

Ray gifting her Lucy, he made a dream a 

reality at age 4. 

“He definitely sparked my interest once 

I was hands-on,” Bousselot said. Grandpa 

Ray helped spark a connection between the 

little freckled-faced girl and her fiery new 

companion, a therapeutic bond Bousselot 

says is difficult to describe. “You make a 

connection with the horse. It’s really hard to 

explain unless you’ve felt it.” 

Pennock, who passed away in 2013, spent 

the last 10 years of his life visiting and 

tending to his “shop” horses every day. 

“His first stop was to feed those horses,” 

Joyce said. “They were just like dogs when 

they came to get treats from him.” 

Bousselot grew up riding not only Lucy 

but another horse named Sweetie, who 

passed away just last year. In addition to 

leisurely riding, Bousselot has shown draft 

horses at the Iowa State Fair as well as 

learned a lot from her uncle, who is a hitch 

driver for the Budweiser Clydesdales. From 

riding a temperamental pony to a sweet old 

beauty, Bousselot plans to be involved with 

horses for a long time. 

“My ultimate goal would be to work 

“Looking back on it now, Grandpa taught me 

a lot, even though I was just sitting on a horse.” 

— Brodi bousselot 

alongside Uncle Doug, but I’d also like to 

get into equine dentistry,” Bousselot said. 

“I’m also taking genetics classes to see if I 

want to be a breeder.” 

Although guided by many other resources 

along the way, Bousselot attributes her first 

horse memories to Grandpa Ray, who did 

not knowing all the cool tricks and trades 

of riding horses, but taught her how to treat 

them with love and care, perhaps the best 

lesson of all. 

“Grandpa Ray taught me the basics about 

horses, but what he also taught me was how 

to be thoughtful and kind,” Bousselot said. 

Currently, Bousselot is looking for a 

young horse to call her own. In fact, she 

wants to break the horse herself so that it is 

“custom” to her. 

“You spend literally every hour with 

them,” she said. 

“Looking back on it now, Grandpa taught 

me a lot, even though I was just sitting on a 

horse.” 

Bousselot’s love for horses may have 

even began in thanks to her Uncle Doug, 

hitch driver for Budweiser. 

“The first horse I rode was a Clydesdale,” 

Bousselot said with a laugh. 

Clydesdales are known for their large 

stature and majestic carriage – a big horse 

for little Brodi Bousselot. 

However, she remembers where it all 

started: at her grandpa Ray’s shop, with her 

hands over her eyes. 

Bousselot’s studies have an equine focus. 

Although horses are her passion, she knows 

she wants to continue the family farm business, 

3DB Farms. 

Ray Pennock’s lessons about animals 

and his love for them, as well as his gentle 

spirit, have been engrained onto his granddaughter. 

n 

— kendra renner, 


Dear Dad, 

Because of your example 

and generosity, the 

Nissen-Caven Agency has 

always had the highest 

standards for honesty, 

customer service and 

community leadership. 

Donald Nissen 

1927-2016 

Chris Nissen 

You will be missed, but 

the values you instilled will 

live on in everything we do. 

Your son and partner, 

Chris Nissen 

563.652.5171 

NISSEN-CAVEN 

INSURANCE & REAL ESTATE Established in 1925 


Life Lessons 

Using Your Resources 

The Kilburgs have been preparing 

their own meat for five generations 

Kilburg Corners was 

a buzz with activity 

when butchering days 

arrived. Everyone had multiple 

jobs to do so they would have 

plenty of food for winter. 

A fire roared underneath a cauldron of 

churning water, waiting to scald the next 

hog. 

Butchering is grueling, exhausting, 

grimy work, but it’s been worth it for 

at least five generations of the Tony 

and Rosella Kilburg family and their 

offspring in rural Jackson County. They 

have sausage, pork chops, pork loin, tenderloin, 

headcheese, bacon, yips, blood 

sausage, brain – enough (hopefully) to 

last for a year. 

And you sure didn’t waste it. 

“It was way too precious to sell it or 

waste it, and it was too much work!” said 

Larry Kilburg, who still lives on the family 

farm northwest of Andrew with his 

wife, Julie. They no longer butcher as his 

parents did, but his siblings and offspring 

carry on the tradition. 

Larry Kilburg still lives on the family farm 

northwest of Andrew with his wife Julie. 

For years the family has raised and prepared 

its own meat. 


hiGh expecTaTionS 

“Because of 

your support, 

we are 

investing in 

the future. 

Come see 

the new mill!” 

— Sam & Joanne 

The Feed and Grain Store 

Sam and Joanne Lee 

415 1st St, DeWitt, IA 52742 Phone:(563) 659-9236 


Life Lessons 

Scrapers were 

used during 

the scalding 

process to 

remove the hair 

from the meat. 

Hooks were 

used to hang 

the animals 

in the Kilburg 

butchering 

operation. 

eastern iowa farmer photos / Brooke Taylor 

Maquoketa 

Livestock 

Sales, Corp. 

BoB Larkey, owner 

18140 33rd Street | Maquoketa, IA 52060 

Barn: 563-652-5674 

Cell: 563-357-0113 

Sale Hours: Wednesday 11 a.m. 

Special Winter Saturday Sales 11 a.m. 


Life Lessons 

high 

standards 

at your service 

563-652-2439 

Email: stickleyelectric@hotmail.com 

Fax: (563) 652-2430 

113 Western Ave., Maquoketa, IA 52060 

Duane 

Stickley, 

Owner 

Stickley Electric 

Service, Inc. 

The Kilburgs butchered hogs and beef simply for food, but 

now it’s also for quality family time. 

Marian Sprank of Springbrook, Larry’s sister, remembers the 

frenetic pace of the day, but loved getting into the house at night 

to eat fresh sausage and eggs. 

Sandra Gerlach, Marian’s daughter, is also still involved in 

the family butchering. They don’t kill and bleed the animals 

anymore, but they still do the cutting and sausage stuffing. 

“It really is a social event,” Sandra said. “Everyone brings 

food, and we have a chance to get together.” 

Day 1 

The family farm has seen its share of butchering since Tony 

Kilburg’s family bought the land in 1889. But the process has 

changed since siblings Marian, Larry and Rosemary Roling 

were children. Many Christmas vacations were spent butchering 

hogs. 

Without refrigeration in the early years, butchering day – 

days, actually, with 11 kids to feed – was a calculated affair. The 

temperature needed to be cold enough to cool the fresh carcass 

yet not so cold that it would freeze. Snow on the ground was a 

bonus. 

The Kilburgs butchered five hogs at a time twice a year, or 10 

at a time once a year with refrigeration. 

The process started in the wee hours before milking. Larry or 

a sibling started a roaring fire outside by the machine shed, then 

filled the butchering kettle with water. It took two or three hours 

to reach the temperature necessary to scald hair off a hog. A bar 

of Rosella’s homemade soap was placed in the water to make it 

cleaner. 

The 300-pound gilts provided the choicest cuts, so the boys 

would ride the hogs to the shed and flip them on their backs. 

With two boys holding the hind legs, a third would stick the hog 

in the throat, drawing blood and 

killing the hog, said Larry, 74, 

closing his eyes as he relived 

the process. 

“We had to catch the 

blood for the blood sausage,” 

Rosemary said. “You had to 

put salt in the pan and stir it 

up so it didn’t clot, then rush it 

to the house. You’d put it in a 

snowbank to cool.” 

The next hog was ready for 

the scalding pot. And there is a 

precise method to it. 

“It didn’t make 

no difference 

how tired you 

was. You did it.” 

— larry kilburg 

“You dipped it in head and front legs first so you could hold 

onto the tail and back legs,” Larry explained. “Then you put the 

head hook in under the jaw to dip the front. You have to dip it 

two to three times.” 

Why scalding? To burn off the hog’s bristly hair. It was such a 

tedious task. 

The hogs would then be gutted – you had to do that while 

they were warm – hung up on poles, and left swinging from the 

windmill. 

The women cleaned and soaked the hog intestines for later 

use as sausage casings. 

Then it was dinnertime. 

Their stomachs filled, the Kilburgs returned to work. Choice 

bits from the head, along with the heart, feet, lungs and more 

were made into blood sausage. Meat scraps became headcheese. 

Larry remembered the choice his father gave to his siblings: 


Life Lessons 


Gwen Sprank is the fourth generation of the Tony and Rosella Kilburg family to help stuff sausage 

and package meat during butchering days the family holds every year. 

use their last bit of energy to carry the 

meat inside the house for the night, or 

stand outside guarding it for the evening 

against hungry wildlife. 

“It didn’t make no difference how tired 

you was,” he said. “You did it. You knew 

how precious [meat] was, so you didn’t 

want to lose it.” 

Day 2 

All the pork chops, hams, bacon, and 

other meat were cut off the carcass. 

With no refrigerator, they fried some 

meat, such as the ribs and bacon, stored it 

in crocks with salt, slathered it with lard, 

covered it, and stored it away from the 

Iowa TITle & 

GuaranTy Co. 

Park Plaza Building - 115 S. 2nd Street 

Maquoketa, Iowa 52060 

Phone: 563-652-6081 Fax: 563-652-3544 

Abstracts of Title to all Real Estate 

in Jackson County 

Member Iowa & American Land Title Association 

“Insured Abstracting” 

elements and wild animals. 

They also canned some of the meat to 

preserve it. “Your pressure cookers were 

keeping flying all day long,” Rosemary 

said. 

“That’s why we had to butcher two 

times a year – without a refrigerator, 

you couldn’t get enough fresh meat for a 

family of 11,” Larry said. 

Sausage stuffing began, with the 

odds and ends of the hog ground up and 

stuffed in casings. 

Marian remembers the butchering 

process taking up to a week when all of 

the cutting was done by hand. She spent 

hour upon hour slicing bacon. 

TYM Tractors 

Day 3 meant canning meat and rendering 

lard, which Marian still does, for use 

year-round. Then came cleanup. 

These days 

There are still at least three, sometimes 

four, generations lending a hand at butchering 

time. 

The whole family is involved – using 

the heated corn crib of Marian’s son to do 

the work, doing each other’s farm chores, 

saving bread bags for wrapping. 

With modern technology and many 

hands, the families butcher 10 to 12 hogs 

in one day. Their handwritten logs detail 

who brought which hogs and how much 

meat they get. 

Like their aunts and uncles, “We still 

try to have it in the smokehouse by noon 

and smoke it about as long,” Sandra said 

– and there are still two brothers who go 

home to milk cows. 

“Mom remembers cooking big meals 

when she was at home and it was butchering 

day,” Sandra said. “Everyone came 

in and sat down to a family-style meal. 

We still have a lot of food, but we don’t 

sit very long.” 

They still use the vintage sausage 

stuffer that Marian and husband Peter 

bought when they married more than 66 

years ago. 

Sandra and sister Lori Kilburg of rural 

Bellevue remember “Saturday bones” – 

bones that were not easy to trim but had 

meat on them. They became the Saturday 

meal. 

“To this day, when we butcher I give 

Mom all of my bones and the ribs, too,” 

Sandra said. “She gives me pork chops 

in return. I know I am getting the better 

deal, but she still likes the bones and 

thinks it is a fair trade!” n 

— kelly gerlach, 


Tractor, Truck and 

Lawn Mower Sales 

Service and Parts 

Hustler Mowers 

New and Used Equipment for Sale 

2004 Camanche Ave 

Clinton, IA 

563-243-6400 

4160 170 th St 

Clinton, IA 

563-593-0643 

Irvsrepairinc@yahoo.com 

701 Calvert Ave 

Chadwick, IL 

815-684-5131 


Life Lessons 

Deven King sits 

with her grandpa, 

Howard King, in 

the living room 

where he often 

watched RFD-TV 

and shared his 

knowledege of 

cattle with her. 

eastern iowa 


Contributed 

Ag education started grandpa’s lap 

‘You’ll never hit the snooze button if you love what you do’ 

At the young age of 23, after four long years of 

high school and a complicated college career, 

I can easily explain where my drive, passion 

and character come from. I grew up with a single 

mother, and my grandparents played a vital role in 

helping to raise me. In the very short 14 years I spent 

with my Grandpa Howard, I found exactly who I 

wanted to be and set forth to be just that. 

He grew up in the country and spent his life raising 

five daughters on a 2,000-acre farm with 200 head of 

cows in Michigan. Needless to say, I was bred to love 

anything agriculture. From as early as I can remember, 

Grandpa had record books and magazines about 

cattle sitting next to his chair in the living room. 

RFD-TV (Rural Free Delivery TV) was always on the 

television, with the occasional switch to a Michigan 

State ball game. Sitting on his lap, I learned a lot 

Deven King 

Eastern Iowa Farmer 

about not only evaluating cattle 

but also what it takes to run 

an operation. At the time, I’m 

not sure I even knew I was 

learning, but as I have taken 

on many of my own challenges, 

his words often linger in 

my mind. 

Grandpa was my biggest 

fan and toughest critic. He 

never missed an opportunity to 

watch me show cattle or hogs. 

He never shied from telling 

me what I could have done better – until the day came 

when he just said “good job,” a memory that told me 

I was really good in his mind. 

From the outside looking in, many people thought 


Life Lessons 

K9 Comfort 

owners, 

Jason and 

Carrie Rowan 


As an adult, Deven King still draws on lessons learned from her grandpa 

when showing cattle. Here she shows the Thorson family’s heifer at an open 

show on behalf of Wilson Kedley Cattle Co. 

he was a very knowledgeable 

man who never bit his tongue 

and called it just how he saw 

it. While that is fairly accurate, 

I also knew the gentle 

soul who let me sit on his lap 

in the big recliner in the living 

room, the man who cried at 

the simple things, always followed 

his own dreams (even 

if it meant making someone 

mad), and cursed the rain and 

snowfall. He died when I was 

a freshman in high school. 

Fresh out of high school, I 

left the state I grew up in to 

join the Livestock Judging 

Team at Black Hawk College 

East in Kewanee, Illinois, a 

solid five hours away from 

everything I knew. With his 

memory heavy on my heart 

and always on my mind, I 

wanted nothing more than 

to be successful. I worked to 

achieve a livestock-judging 

career that I thought he would 

be proud of. 

I then enrolled at Kansas 

State University, where I obtained 

a degree in agriculture 

communications and journalism 

with a minor in animal 

science. It may seem weird 

that for as much as I loved my 

grandfather, I didn’t choose to 

spend every day of my life on 

the farm as he had done. I did 

something different. I worked 

to combine our passions of 

a hardcore work ethic and 

writing, so I could tell the 

whole world about his ability 

and the passion that he passed 

on to me. 

He taught me that in the 

rain and snow, there is never 

an excuse to put off your 

work. 

He taught me that honesty 

is always the best policy. His 

tears taught me that people’s 

feelings and how you treat 

them says a lot about who you 

are, and you should always 

take that into consideration. 

He taught me to love a good 

ball game, especially Michigan 

State. 

But most of all in that big 

recliner, he taught me to chase 

my own dreams; love the 

farm; always bed the cows 

heavy; always evaluate structure 

when picking out stock; 

write down everything pertaining 

to breeding, vaccines 

and feeding; and, if you want 

to find someone you can relate 

to, tune into RFD-TV. 

Above all, he taught me that 

family is first, and you should 

always make it a priority to 

support them. 

He always told me, “You’ll 

never hit the snooze button if 

you love what you do.” 

His impact and love drove 

me to a life with no snooze 

button. n 

— Deven king, 


Bring all the 

comforts of home 

7 Exercise Yards 

Certified Trainer 

on Site 

Quiet, Stress Free 

Environment 

Deluxe Boarding • Dog Training 

Grooming 

32824 - 216th Street • Bellevue, IA 

Phone: (563) 872-3518 • (563) 212-7510 (cell) 

www.K9-comfort.com 


The Upgrade YoU’ve 

Been Looking For 

trust schueller & sons reconstruction to build the hoMe or addition you’ve alWays Wanted 

Pictured left to right: 

Jim Bisinger, Jarod Manning, 

Deb Bisinger, Tom Schueller, 

Kayla Bisinger, Pete Schueller, 

Caitlin Bisinger (and dog Candee) 

and Fisher Bisinger. 

503 West Platt • Maquoketa • 652-2962 

sPecialists in renovation & reModeling 

general contractor - neW hoMes

ROOM 

FOR 

ALL 

THIS? 

Farm wife, 

Sue 

Mayberry 

OF COURSE! 

I’VE GOT A 

MAYTAG 

Remember us when you are 

updating your kitchen appliances 

MAYBERRY 

Home Appliance Center 

Serving farm families 

563-652-6577 for 37 years 

117 S. Second St. • Maquoketa 

www.mayberryhomeappliances.com

Your Ag lending speciAlists 

Maquoketa State Bank’s experienced ag lending 

professionals are here to help you succeed. 

Whatever your ambitions, we’ll be right there beside you. 

Give us a call or pay us a visit – it will be 

the best financial decision you’ve ever made. 

Pictured left to right: Laura Farrell, Joel Lasack, Jan Kahler and Brian Nabb. 

203 North Main • 112 McKinsey Drive 

Maquoketa, Iowa 

563-652-2491 

3 North Elliot 

Preston, Iowa 

563-689-3535 

Each depositor insured to $250,000 

16 West Benton Street 

Andrew, Iowa 

563-672-3575 

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION 

Maquoketa State Bank is 

an FSA preferred Lender 

www.maquoketasb.bank

About 

CALT: 

n The Center for 

Agricultural Law and 

Taxation (CALT) at 

Iowa State University 

was created in 

2006. 

It provides timely, 

critically objective 

information to 

producers, 

professionals and 

agribusinesses 

concerning the 

application of 

important 

developments in 

agricultural law and 

taxation (federal and 

state legal opinions 

of relevance, as well 

as critical legislative 

developments) and 

is a primary source 

of professional 

educational training 

in agricultural law 

and taxation. 

Contact CALT: 

Iowa State 

University 

2321 N. Loop, 

Suite 200 

Ames, IA 50010 

Phone: 

(515) 294-5217 

Fax: (515) 294-0700 

www.calt.iastate.edu 

By Kristine A. Tidgren 

Staff Attorney 

Center for Agricultural Law & Taxation 

Iowa State University 

eastern Iowa farmer 

Farm income might be down, but the need for 

farm equipment continues. Options for farmers 

looking to buy equipment have expanded in light 

of changing times. 

Some of those options, while offering attractive 

benefits to some producers, could lead to 

serious tax liability for others. Because lease or 

purchase contracts can be plagued with pitfalls, 

it is crucial that producers understand the tax implications 

of any agreement before they sign it. 

It is important to begin with the principle that 

a “lease” is not always a “lease” in the eyes of 

the IRS. What matters in interpreting a contract 

for the acquisition of equipment is not the name 

given to the transaction by the dealer, but the 

economic realities of that transaction. If a “lease” 

doesn’t act like a “lease,” the IRS won’t treat it 

as one for tax purposes. 

True equipment leases are often referred to 

as “operating leases.” An operating lease is one 

where the farmer is paying for the use of the 

equipment for a term, nothing more and nothing 

less. An operating lease is not a rent-to-own 

agreement or a gateway to ownership. If the 

producer does wish to buy the equipment at the 

end of the lease-term, the purchase price will be 

essentially the fair market value of the equipment 

at the time of the purchase. If equipment 

is leased pursuant to a true operating lease, the 

farmer can deduct the rental payments from 

income as ordinary and necessary business 

expenses. 

Contrast that with a “capital lease,” which is 

truly a conditional sales contract or a financed 

purchase. Although it might be called a lease, 

a capital lease is really a purchase over time. 

The IRS has stated that if any of the following 

factors are true about an agreement to acquire 

equipment, the agreement is a conditional sales 

contract, not a lease: 

Is it a lease or 

a purchase? 

With farm equipment, 

the difference really matters 

n The agreement designates part of each 

payment toward an equity interest that the farmer 

will receive in the property. 

n The farmer gets title to the property after 

paying a stated amount of “rental” payments 

required under the agreement. 

n The amount the farmer must pay to use the 

property for a short time is an inordinately large 

part of the amount he or she would pay to get 

title to the property. 

n The farmer pays much more than the current 

fair rental value for the property. 

n The farmer has an option to buy the property 

at a nominal price compared to the value of the 

property when that option is exercised. 

n The farmer has an option to buy the property 

for a small amount compared to the total amount 

paid under the agreement. 

n The agreement designates some part of the 

payments as interest, or parts of the payments are 

easy to recognize as interest. 

For tax purposes, a capital lease is treated as a 

purchase. Payments (except for interest payments) 

are not deductible. Instead, the cost of the 

equipment is capitalized and depreciated over 

time. In many cases, the purchase might qualify 

for the enhanced IRC Section 179 deduction and/ 

or bonus depreciation. 

These transactions can get especially complicated 

when a farmer trades in equipment as 

a down payment on a capital lease or to cover 

a portion or all of the required lease payments 

under an operating lease. Here, properly distinguishing 

between an operating lease and a 

capital lease is crucial to avoid an unexpected 

tax bill. 

Capital Lease Example 

Often, if a farmer trades in a piece of used 

equipment, that equipment will have been fully 

depreciated. In other words, it will have a tax 

basis of zero. If the lease is a capital lease, the 

farmer may take advantage of IRC Section 1031 

like-kind exchange rules to avoid recognizing 


HigHway 

64 auctions 

Specializing In Farm 

& Construction Equipment 

2017 Sale Calendar 

March 25 

9:00 am 

June 10 

9:00 am 

August 26 9:00 am 

December 2 9:00 am 

Auction Yard Location: 5498 Highway 64, Baldwin, Iowa 

FRANZEN FAMILY 

TRACTORS 

& PARTS, LLC 

563-673-6631 

Fair prices and honesty have been our trademark since 1976. 

ContaCt uS today 

Highway 64 Phone: 563-673-6400 

Mike Franzen: 563-673-6631 

Dan Powers: 608-439-5764 

Scott Franzen: 319-480-3604 

http://www.hwy64auctions.com

ecapture income from that trade. 

Sam Brown trades in a tractor 

with a $100,000 fair market value 

for a new tractor. The net present 

value of the purchase price 

is $350,000. Sam’s trade-in has 

a tax basis of zero. Because the 

transaction is properly structured 

as a capital lease, Sam can use 

like-kind exchange rules to avoid 

recognizing recapture income 

from the trade-in. Sam can begin 

depreciating the new tractor with 

a starting basis of $250,000. If appropriate, 

Sam can use IRC §179 

or bonus depreciation to immediately 

expense that amount. Sam 

can also deduct the interest paid 

yearly under the agreement. 

Operating Lease Example 

Contrast the above result with 

that flowing from an operating 

lease. Any used equipment offered 

by the farmer to the dealer as a 

payment toward the lease price 

will be considered sold (not 

traded) to the dealer. Consequently, 

if the tax basis in the used 

equipment is “zero,” the farmer 

must pay ordinary income tax on 

the value of the tractor traded to 

recapture depreciation already taken. 

He will be able to deduct the 

lease payment, but only over the 

term of the lease, not all up front. 

Sam Brown trades in a tractor 

with a $100,000 fair market value 

to lease a new tractor (with a 

value of $350,000) for a four-year 

lease term. Sam’s used tractor 

has a tax basis of zero. Under an 

operating lease, Sam will have 

sold his tractor to the dealer in this 

transaction. Consequently, he will 

recognize $100,000 in ordinary 

income (no self-employment tax) 

in the year of the sale because of 

rules requiring depreciation recapture. 

Sam will be able to deduct 

from his income the amount of the 

lease payment, spread out over the 

term of the lease, or $25,000 each 

year (assuming a full calendar 

year lease term). 

As with all complex business 

transactions, producers are 

advised to consult with a trusted 

tax professional before entering 

any agreement to use or acquire 

farm equipment over time. An arrangement 

that might benefit one 

producer might be detrimental to 

another. The details matter. n 

eastern iowa farmer photo / Nick Joos 

Andrew farmer Charlie Peters was one of 1,700 Iowa cattlemen who voted for a state beef checkoff. He hopes 

the funds generated will help bring a unifying voice to the industry with research and marketing. 

State checkoff looks to 

boost Iowa beef industry 

50-cent-a-head, 

refundable fee 

to start March 1 

Charlie Peters is an avid supporter of Iowa 

Beef and the farmers who dedicate their 

lives to producing it. 

That’s why the multi-generational Andrew 

farmer is excited about the potential 

changes and growth that could come from 

the Iowa Beef Checkoff that was reinstated 

in 2017 after more than 30 years. 

Cattlemen in the state voted in favor of a 

50-cent assessment for each head of cattle 

sold in Iowa. It will be collected starting 

March 1. 

Estimated to potentially bring in between 

$1 million and $1.5 million a year, 

the assessment will be used for production 

research and marketing Iowa’s beef industry. 

Peters believes the assessment could raise 

an amount of money that would “unify a 

voice for the industry.” About 56 percent of 

some 1,700 Iowa cattle producers voted in 

favor of the measure in late November. All 

of Iowa’s producers were eligible to vote. 

The state checkoff is mandatory for all 

sellers, but a refund is available if filed for 

within 90 days, according to the Iowa Cattlemen’s 

Association. 

While many cattle producers are eager 

to see what the designated money will go 

page 89 


For all your agriculture drain tile, 

clearing and land improvement needs 

Agriculture DrAin tile 

repAir AnD instAllAtion 

Trenching with GPS Mapping & RTK Control 

Installed over 9 million feet of agriculture drain tile 

for rural farmers throughout the great state of Iowa 

tree cleAring AnD 

vegetAtion mAintenAnce 

Clearing and Maintenance experience 

of over 6,500 MIles 

BullDozing & excAvAtion 

land Improvement: 

Waterways, Terracing, land Clearing 

563.689.5334 

2236 312th Ave. Maquoketa, IA 52060 

www.brandenburgdrainage.com

From Planting 

to Harvest... 

• Beck’s Seed 

• Ag Chemicals 

• Bulk Fertilizer 

• Full Service Grain Elevators 

in DeWitt and Low Moor 

563-522-2300 • DeWitt, Iowa 

www.schmidtag.com

Funding a 

family farm 

Simple application process makes microloans attractive option 

eastern iowa farmer photo / Trevis Mayfield 

Stacey and William Borrenpohl walk through the hog lot of their 13-acre farm, part of which was funded by a USDA microloan. 

A 

few years ago William 

Borrenpohl and 

his wife, Stacey, 

were living and working 

in Dubuque. 

The couple, who grew up on farms, decided 

to return to their rural roots – partly 

for the opportunity to raise their own food 

for health reasons and to give their kids 

an opportunity to grow up on a farm. 

“We said, Why don’t we move back 

and grow our own food?” William recalled. 

But they decided to take the project 

one step further and start a niche business 

marketing their naturally raised meat 

products. 

With their four children, they moved 

to a small farm north of LaMotte, where 

they tend goats, chickens, hogs and cattle. 

They recently expanded the operation to 

13 acres, thanks in part to the USDA’s 

microloan program. 

Under that program, farmers are able to 

borrow up to $50,000. Because the loan 

amount is smaller than many conventional 

loans, the application process is simpler 

with less paperwork to complete, said 


Barbara Reed, a loan analyst 

with the USDA Farm Service 

Agency in DeWitt. 

The Farm Service Agency 

(FSA) developed the microloan 

program to better serve 

the financial needs of new, 

niche and small- to midsized 

family farm operations. 

Microloans offer more flexible 

access to credit and serve 

as an attractive loan alternative 

for smaller farming 

operations, like specialty crop 

producers and operators of 

community supported agriculture 

(CSA). 

“It just opens the door for so 

much more for many producers,” 

Reed said. 

“It just opens 

the door for 

so much more 

for many 

producers.” 

— barbara reed 

On a frigid snowy day in 

late December, the Borrenpohl 

family suited up in their 

coveralls, boots and warm hats 

and gloves to show visitors 

their operation. 

Clayton, 13, Ellie, 11, 

Lance, 9, and Anita, 7, along 

with their parents, greeted the 

livestock with easy familiarity. 

They checked on how their 

newest additions, some Berkshire 

pigs, were faring, and 

also searched for any eggs left 

by their chickens. 

William pointed out the 

ground that they recently 

bought and talked about plans 

for improving it and using it 

for rotational grazing. 

“The microloan helped us 

do that,” he said, gesturing to 

the area behind the barn. 

For Reed, building a 

relationship with farming families 

such as the Borrenpohls 


The Borrenpohls of rural LaMotte wanted their children to grow up on a farm. Above, Clayton, 11, moves one of the 

family’s chickens while searching for eggs. 


THANK YOU 

for choosing Pioneer® brand products for your operation! 

We appreciate your business and look forward to bringing 

you even more service and agronomic support in the 2017 season. 

Wishing you a safe planting season. 

Jason Spain 

Welton, IA 

Don Swanton 

Goose Lake, IA 

Larry McCaulley 

Maquoketa, IA 

Mike Delaney 

LaMotte, IA 

®, 

, SM Trademarks and service marks of DuPont, Pioneer or their respective owners. ©2016 PHII 16-1044 


The Borrenpohls, 

Clayton, William, Anita, 

Ellie, Lance and Stacey, 

defy the cold while giving 

visitors a tour of their 

farm. At the same time, a 

few eggs were gathered. 

eastern iowa 

farmer photos / 


MORE ABOUT 

MICROLOANS 

There are two types. 

Operating microloans 

can be used for operating 

expenses such as initial 

start-up; annual expenses 

(seed, fertilizer, utilities, 

land rents); marketing 

and distribution; living 

expenses; purchase of 

livestock, equipment and 

other materials essential 

to farm operations; minor 

farm improvements, such 

as wells and coolers; hoop 

houses to extend the 

growing season; essential 

tools; irrigation and delivery 

vehicles. 

Ownership microloans 

can be used for all 

approved expenses such 

as to buy a farm or farm 

land, enlarge an existing 

farm, construct new farm 

buildings, improve existing 

farm buildings, pay closing 

cost, and implement soil 

and water conservation 

protection practices. 

is an important part of her job. 

“It’s about building a rapport,” she said. It 

allows her and the clients to come up with 

creative options. 

“My goal is when I sit across from you 

the very first time, I want to do that loan. We 

don’t want to set you up to fail. Our goal is a 

successful farm operation,” Reed said. 

The microloan program is one of several 

loan programs the FSA offers, including loans 

for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers 

and larger loans to help family farmers 

start, buy or expand their farming operations. 

“The microloan program broadens our options,” 

Reed said. 

She currently is working with a farmer who 

is buying cows, the offspring of which will be 

grass fed for market. 

Another beginning farmer raised her first 

corn crop in the fall and wants to put a crop 

out next year. The loan will help her buy her 

inputs for the spring. 

Reed built a relationship with her, and she is 

confident the farmer has the knowledge to carry 

out her plan and repay the loan. That kind 

of communication is very important. 

“I’m willing to learn about any type of operation 

my client is passionate about,” she said. 

Often times, people applying for the loans 

are educating themselves on a specific practice 

– such as grass-fed beef, 

sweet potatoes, corn/ 

bean rotation, hogs and 

other specialty crops. 

Reed gets the details 

of the operation, keeping 

in mind that some factors 

– like an unexpected 

commodity price drop – 

cannot be controlled. 

She’ll ask the questions. 

For example, for 

Barbara Reed 

a loan to raise specialty 

pigs, she would find out where the pigs will be 

kept, what type of upkeep will be needed, what 

the business plan is, and what are the expenses 

for the vet, for feed, and for labor. 

The client will do a simple write-up on the 

operation to convince Reed or another loan 

analyst that the operation will work. 

“You are going to sell me on this operation,” 

Reed said. 

And the process is quick. 

The application from start to loan approval 

can take as little as a couple of weeks. 

“Every application is unique,” Reed said, 

“and I think the possibilities are endless.” n 

— nancy mayfield, 


Visit fsa.usda.gov/ 

microloans or contact 

your local FSA Office 

Cedar County 

Tipton Service Center 

205 W. South St. STE 3 

Tipton, IA 52772-1658 

563-886-60601 

Clinton County 

DeWitt Service Center 

1212 17th Ave. 

DeWitt, IA 52742 

563-659-3456 

Dubuque 

Epworth Service Center 

210 Bierman Road 

Epworth, IA 52045 

563-876-3328 

Jackson 

Maquoketa Service Center 

603 E. Platt St. 

Maquoketa, IA 52060-2416 

Jones 

Anamosa Service Center 

300 Chamber Drive 

Anamosa, IA 52205-2109 

319-462-3517 


cultivating 

Your SucceSS! 

Your Ideas, 

Our Service 

Loan officer Evan Trenkamp, 

Senior Vice President Keith Hook 

and Loan officer Lori Welsh won’t 

milk your cows or pick your corn, 

but they will help you get what you 

need so you can do it yourself. 

(563)243-6000 

1442 Lincoln Way, Clinton, IA 52732 

1329 N 2nd St. Clinton, IA 52732 

403 S Washington Blvd, Camanche, IA 52730

You have a BIG job. 

We have BIG TRUCKS to help you with that. 

n Full line of 

Ford Trucks 

n Check out our 

used inventory 

n Great Service 

Department 

n Satisfaction 

Guaranteed 

The WaRThan BRoTheRS Team SalUTeS 

Those Who Feed America 

www.MaquoketaFord.com 

South Main St., Exit 156 

Hwy. 61, South • Maquoketa, Iowa 

1-877-758-0944 

Showroom Hours: 

Monday 8:30 am - 8:00 pm 

Tuesday 8:30 am - 6:00 pm 

Wednesday 8:30 am - 8:00 pm 

Sunday Closed 

Thursday 8:30 am - 8:00 pm 

Friday 8:30 am - 6:00 pm 

Saturday 8:30 am - 4:00 pm

managing your soil 


Jim and Dawn 

Carstensen of 

rural Preston 

talk about the 

conservation 

advantages of 

strip tilling. 

Manag 

s


ing your 

oil 

For years, soil quality was equated with 

chemical and physical properties. But research 

and experience are showing that biology – 

plant roots, bacteria, fungi, worms, ants and 

more – plays a huge role in soil health. 

Farmers are using techniques that not only build soil health 

but also fight erosion. Cover crops, rotational grazing, 

tillage practices, plant diversity, fertilizer application, 

residue management and more affect soil health. 

On the following pages, local farmers share practices 

they are using to protect their most valuable natural 

resource.


One pass is 

all you need 

Strip tilling reduces fuel consumption, soil compaction 

Jim Carstensen sees a lot 

less of his crop ground 

from the tractor seat than 

he used to since he started 

strip tilling. That’s because 

this method of farming allows 

him to apply all his fertilizer 

and do all his tillage in just 

one trip down a field. 

“One pass and everything you need is 

there, all concentrated in one little row,” 

said his wife, Dawn, who farms with him. 

In strip tilling, a 6- to 8-inch wide 

cultivated seedbed is placed between 

undisturbed crop residue. That means the 

Carstensens use less fuel and reduce soil 

compaction with fewer trips across the dirt 

than they did before adopting the practice 

in 2012. 

Strip tilling also provides many soil 

health benefits, as the crop residue prevents 

erosion, protects water quality, and 

adds organic matter to the soil as it decomposes. 

Those are just some of the benefits. 

The Carstensens had their best crop 

year ever in 2016. While they have no 

good way to compare strip till versus the 


Strip tilling allows crop residue to remain on the 

field. That not only prevents erosion, it also helps 

build organic matter underneath the surface. 

we’ll find a buyer for 

anything you want to sell! 

From the heart of Clinton County Iowa, 

we bring our love for the auction 

business to you! We strive to provide 

professional, quality service. 

• General 

• Estate 

• Farm 

• Liquidations 

Calamus, Ia 

563-212-0545 

Col. Curtis Dosland Professional Auctioneer 



way they farmed before, they 

believe their yields have been 

at least as good since they 

adopted the practice. 

Most their 1,600 acres of 

corn and 200 acres of hay go 

to feed the yearling steers they 

buy. 

They studied several alternatives 

to the conventional method 

they had been using to farm 

their land in the Preston area, 

knowing they needed to find 

a way to combat the gullying 

and soil degradation that was 

happening in their fields. 

“I was doing things the way 

everyone else was,” Jim said. 

“But my ground was too hilly. 

I had to find a different way.” 

The rolling hills that are 

a hallmark of the driftless 

region in eastern Iowa pose a 

challenge to farmers who have 

more erosion issues because 

of the landscape. While strip 

tilling hasn’t taken off in eastern 

Iowa, it is one method of 


Carstensen uses a Krause Gladiator 1200 that does 16 30-inch rows. It has a Montag dry fertilizer box mounted on it to apply 

the dry fertilizer (phosphate, potash and sulfur) six inches deep and directly under the corn row. It also pulls the anhydrous tank. 

conservation that is advocated 

by experts. 

In Carstensen’s case, he 

didn’t want to do strictly no 

till as he does corn on corn and 

has manure from the cattle to 

use as fertilizer. 

“I committed to this and 

jumped in with both feet,” he 

said. “I’m just surprised there’s 

not more interest in doing it.” 

One of the biggest things 

they have noticed is that their 

soil is staying put rather than 

being washed away by rain, 

wind or snow. 

“It’s really taken the pressure 

off the waterways,” Jim 

noted, and improved the aggregate 

stability of the land. 

Before they began strip 

tilling, waterway repair and 

upkeep was a constant maintenance 

issue. 

“Now I just don’t have that,” 

he said. “I would have never 

believed it.” 

One of the challenges in 

onE CALL for ALL 

your fuEL nEEDs! 

4 Propane 

4 Gasohol 

4 Dyed Diesel 

4 Highway Diesel 

EAstErn IowA 

ProPAnE & 

PEtro, LtD 

Proudly serving 

residential, 

commercial 

& agriculture 

customers 

since 1983! 

Mike Kroymann and Andy Burmeister 

4540 Lincolnway |Clinton, IA 

563.242.2921 

800.397.2921 

easterniowapropanepetro.com 



strip tilling is coming back into the 

field with the planter and getting it 

lined up with the strip that’s been 

prepared, he said. A monitor on his 

system keeps track of the pattern, 

“I committed to 

this and jumped 

in with both feet. 

I’m just surprised 

there’s not more 

interest in doing it.” 

— Jim Carstensen 

which is valuable because it is important 

in strip tilling to stay on the row. 

The downside is the cost of the 

machine to do it, the Carstensens said. 

They have a Krause Gladiator 1200 

that does 16 30-inch rows. It has a 

Montag dry fertilizer box mounted on 

it to apply the dry fertilizer (phosphate, 

potash and sulfur) six inches 

deep and directly under the corn row. 

It also pulls the anhydrous tank and 

injects that eight inches under the row. 

“I can make one pass with this 

machine, and then I’m ready to plant 

corn,” Jim said. 

He and Dawn are happy with 

their decision. They explained that 

it requires a different mindset and a 

long-term view. For many strip-tillers, 

it takes several years before you can 

see the benefit of reduced soil erosion 

and better water infiltration. 

Strip-tilled ground, just like notilled 

ground, also doesn’t jibe visually 

with what was considered a “good” 

field for many years because of the 

residue left behind. 

“No till never looks good to start 

with,” Jim said. 

But he likes his yields and what he 

sees when he monitors the health of 

the ground. n 

— Nancy mayfield, 


Don’t waste 

a gooD thing 

Dustin Eberhart, 

Owner 

Your farm’s manure is a 

great source of nitrogen, 

phosphorus and potassium. 

Let us pump it out of your pit 

and inject it into your ground 

It’s a great way to reduce 

your crop input costs! 


Office: (563) 678-2837 

Cell: (515) 460-2553 




Lori Schnoor, conservationist for the 

Jackson County Soil and Water Conservation 

District, takes a soil sample from the pasture 

of Jamie Hostetler, where he uses a rotational 

grazing method. 

Scherrman’s Implement 

www.scherrmansimplement.com 

Grazing the field 

Rotational grazing promotes robust plant life 

It’s just after 2 p.m. 

on a fall day, and it’s 

time to move the 

cows on Jamie Hostetler’s 

farm near Bellevue. 

Two of his sons, along with trusty 

dog Sally, a border collie/hanging 

tree crossbred, herd the Red Devons 

across several rolling fields to a new 

spot where they will graze for the next 

24 hours, eating the rich, lush, diverse 

blend of grasses and a few forbs that 

are dense in nutrients. The mama cowherd 

is on a 24-hour rotation, and the 

grass finishing group is on a 12-hour 

rotation. 

The shorter the rotation, the greater 

the animal impact on the pasture and 

the more consistent the level of nutrition 

for the cattle. When doing a normal 

daily move, it may take as little as three 

to five minutes to set up a new paddock 

with the grazing system they use. 

Then the cattle will move on to 

another pasture to continue foraging, 

allowing the plants on the ground 

they’ve already grazed to regrow and 

for depleted nutrients to be restored. 

Rotational grazing is a cornerstone of 

Hostetler’s farming strategy. It is a regenerative 

agriculture practice in which 

the producer manages the harvest of 

vegetation with grazing the herd, moving 

them around on a schedule that is 

determined by the size of the herd and 

its nutrition needs, the amount of and 

condition of the grazing land available, 

and the needs of the farmer. 

“One of the primary goals on our 

“Planted in Heritage, Harvesting the Future” 

See us for 

all your 

Sales, 

Service, 

and 

Parts 

Needs 

Pictured left to right: 

Brandon Schrader, 

Tim Gott, John F. Vacek, 

Vic Kray, and Mitch Heims. 

Back row: Adam Zirkelbach, 

Gene Hosch, Jeff Blunt 

and John M. Vacek 

Monticello, IA • 319-465-3519 

Dyersville, IA 563-875-2426 




farm is to sequester carbon in the soil,” 

Hostetler said. “We believe one of the 

best ways to do that is to use adaptive 

grazing, a diverse blend of forages, 

disturb the soil as little as possible, and 

remove as few nutrients through mechanical 

means as is feasible. Where 

hay is harvested for winter needs, we try 

to feed our hay back on those harvested 

acres from the previous summer to 

replenish as much as possible with the 

cattle. 

“I’ve always been a big believer that 

nature teaches us a lot about soil. If we 

can learn how to unlock nature’s secrets 

utilizing biology, nutrient cycling, and 

pulling from history, we can find ways 

to build the soil,” said Hostetler, whose 

operation also includes organic chickens. 

A major benefit of rotational grazing, 

according to the USDA, is soil erosion 

reduction, as the forage provides a cover 

crop that adds stability to the topsoil and 

builds a healthy organic life below the 

“If we can learn how 

to unlock nature’s 

secrets utilizing biology, 

nutrient cycling, and 

pulling from history, 

we can find ways to 

build the soil.” 

— jamie hostetler 

ground. It also improves or maintains: 

n Forage species composition and 

plant health 

n Quantity and quality of forage for 

grazing animal health and productivity 

n Surface and subsurface water quality 

and quantity 

n Riparian (wetlands adjacent to rivers 

and streams) and watershed functions 

n Quantity and quality of food and 

cover available for wildlife 

n Sequestering soil carbon and rebuilding 

organic matter 

When Hostetler and his family moved 

to hilly eastern Iowa from the relatively 

flat fields of northwestern Illinois in 

2011, he saw how people farmed the 

sides of hills and how shallow the topsoil 

was in the ridges. He was intrigued by 

how to best farm this type of land while 

building the soil health and reducing 

erosion. 

He decided to use adaptive grazing, 

which requires a plan that is adjusted 

as needed. If an area has lost a lot of 

organic matter, for example, it’s treated 

differently than other areas. 

“We use information and observation 

to make decisions day to day,” Hostetler 

said, explaining that he and his sons can 

see whether an area has been trampled 

or when new growth is appearing and 

Connecting the 

Harvest to the Home 

Archer Daniels Midland Company is 

one of the world’s largest agricultural 

processors and food ingredient 

providers, transforming crops into 

products for food, animal feed, 

industrial and energy uses. 

Learn more at www.adm.com. 

1251 Beaver Channel Parkway 

Clinton, IA 

563-242-1121 

Bellevue/ 

Preston 

Veterinary 

Clinic 

Dr. Chris Paulsen 

Dr. Susan Pond 

Dr. Paul Bulman 

563.872.4710 

563.689.3121 



rotate the cattle based on that 

information. 

“We try to be diligent about 

not grazing new regrowth,” he 

said, adding that he prefers to 

wait until the grass is 12- to 14- 

inches tall. He also will “flash” 

graze cattle in the timber to 

contribute to regrowth. 

“As we started to understand 

the mechanics of how to build 

organic matter, we started to 

work hard to see how to develop 

and increase it,” he said. 

Hostetler calls his foray into 

rotational grazing “a work in 

progress.” It requires having a 

good handle on your ground’s 

paddocks, acres, types of plants, 

projected grazing needs and 

structural improvements such as 

fences, water developments, etc. 

“I know if I get soil health 

right, most everything else will 

come into line. That is exciting 

for us,” he said. “The journey 

is exciting. For me to see nature 

harmonize, to me that’s one 

of the beauties of what we do. 

We are trying to make a contribution 

to soil health, not take 

anything away.” n 



Developing a 

Grazing Plan 

n Take a resource inventory that identifies: 

Existing plant health and quantity 

Opportunities to enhance plant conditions 

Paddocks, acres and the location of 

structural improvements such as fences, 

water developments, etc. using a plan map 

Ecological sites or forage suitability groups 

when available 

n Take a forage inventory of the expected 

forage quality, quantity and species in each 

management unit. 

n Take a forage-animal balance (carrying 

capacity) for the grazing plan that identifies 

forage surpluses and deficiencies for the kind 

and class of grazing livestock, and browsing 

wildlife of concern. 

n Develop a contingency plan that adjusts the 

grazing prescription in case of flood, drought, 

insects, etc. 

n Monitor data and grazing records regularly to 

ensure objectives are met or to make necessary 

changes. 

Source: Natural Resources Conservation Service 

The CPA. Never Underestimate the Value. 

Front row, left to right: Deb Behn, Senior accountant, Savanna; Mary Stephany, office administrator, Maquoketa; Gloria Miner, CPa, Savanna; Cassie 

Corrigeux, Staff accountant, Savanna; Michele Meade, CPa, Clinton; and Cheri Piper, Senior accountant, Savanna. Back row, left to right: Mark Garman, 

CPa, Maquoketa; arlene lyon, CPa, Maquoketa; Susan Green, Clerical, Maquoketa; John Gilroy, CPa, Maquoketa; Jenessa Bormann, Senior auditor, 

Clinton; and David Meade, CPa, Clinton 

Maquoketa 563-652-5143 

Savanna 815-273-2315 

Clinton 563-243-0280 

Galena 815-777-2675 

www.mgmaccountants.com 

Maquoketa • Savanna • Clinton • Galena 



A watershed experience 

Results from Tetes des Morts project show 

decreased erosion for farmers in ‘driftless’ region 

When the Tritz 

family immigrated 

to St. Donatus 

from Luxembourg in 1846, 

they set up their farmstead 

on top of a bluff with a 

breathtaking view of sloping 

hills as far as the eye can see. 

In the 1860s they built a stone house on 

one of the highest points on the property, 

which is just east of town. Although no 

one lives there any longer, the structure 

still stands, a tribute to the hearty settlers 

who were apparently undaunted by the 

prospect of raising livestock and growing 

crops on such hilly ground. Northeast 

Iowa is part of the Midwest area known 

as the “driftless” region because glaciers 

did not flatten it in the last glacial period. 

“There’s a lot of history here,” said 

Lyle Tritz, the farm’s current operator and 

a member of the fifth-generation to live 

there. “Why they didn’t go further west 

where the ground is level, I don’t know.” 

The decision made by his ancestors 170 

years ago shaped the farming practices 

Tritz uses today – cover crops, maintenance 

of grassy waterways and pasture, 

contour farming and strip farming – all 

aimed at preserving the soil and building 

its health. 

“Lyle was one of the first to jump on 

board with the different practices,” said 

Lori Schnoor, conservationist for the 

Jackson County Soil and Water Conservation 

District. 

“One of the biggest reasons I do these 

things is so all of our land does not go 


Committed 

to our 

Customer’s 

Future 

Joel Ahrendsen • Jim Thines • Tony Portz 

Contact our team of experts today! 

114 W. Main St. 

Wyoming, IA 

(563) 488-2211 

321 Jackson St. 

Olin, IA 

(319) 484-2247 

101 W. Broadway 

Oxford Junction, IA 

(563) 826-2231 

Citizens 

State Bank 

Wyoming, Olin, and Oxford Junction 

Member FDIC 



Fifth-generation farmer Lyle Tritz 

explains the benefits of land and 

soil conservation through various 

farming practices. 

into the crick,” Tritz said. “If we don’t 

take care of the soil, once it goes down 

the crick, it’s cost prohibitive to bring it 

back.” 

His farm is one of more than 130 located 

in the Tete des Morts Creek Watershed. 

Tete des Morts is a meandering stream 

that flows for 16 miles through Dubuque 

and Jackson counties, draining directly 

into the Mississippi River. The watershed 

is 30,433 acres of rock outcrop and gently 

sloping to very steep slopes, with about 

88 percent of it composed of what are 

considered highly erodible soils. 

The nature of the sloping landscape, 

along with years of livestock grazing 

nearby and using it as a water source, 

among other things, landed the creek on 

Iowa’s list of impaired water bodies. The 

goal of a 2009 development grant project, 

which ends later this year, is to reduce the 

nutrient and sediment runoff and improve 

aquatic habitat in the creek. Tritz, who 

has been heavily involved in that effort, 

serves on the watershed advisory board. 

“I’ve always been conservation-minded” 

Schoenthaler, 

Bartelt, 

Kahler 

& Reicks 

Attorneys Experienced 

in Agricultural Law 

563.652.4963 

123 N. Main | Maquoketa 

srbk.com 



he said. “Even when I farmed with my 

father, we were very aware of preserving 

the soil.” 

Tritz returned from the service in 1965 

and farmed with his father, John, until he 

died in 1984. 

“He and I went to chisel plowing when 

it was started and tried other things as 

they came along,” Tritz said. Chisel 

plowing is less disruptive to the soil than 

mulboard plowing as it does not turn over 

as much soil and leaves more crop residue 

to help retain soil moisture and reduce 

erosion. 

A stint as president of the Dubuque 

County Farm Bureau from 2013 to 2015 

deepened his commitment to conservation. 

“With the Tete des Morts watershed 

project, we put together quite a plan and 

got a lot of people on board,” he explained. 

“It was a good ride, and we got a 

good deal accomplished.” 

“More than 100 separate conservation 

projects have been implemented or 

constructed by 70 landowners,” said Michelle 

Turner, Tete des Morts Watershed 

project coordinator, Jackson County Soil 

and Water Conservation District. 

Landowners have contributed more 

than $700,000 towards these conservation 

projects, while state and federal 

funds have contributed $1.6 million 

“The goal of the project 

was to reduce sediment 

delivery to the stream 

by 40 percent, and 

computer models show 

it has been reduced by 

45 percent.” 

— michelle turner 

towards these projects, she said. 

“The goal of the project was to reduce 

sediment delivery to the stream by 40 

percent, and computer models show it has 

been reduced by 45 percent,” she added. 

LocaL seed, service and expertise 

We’re committed to helping you earn the 

most profit – because that’s what good neighbors do. 

We offer the highest quality seed for your farm, 

and these are the folks who make it happen. 

Corn, soybeans and alfalfa. Choose Cornelius Seed for 

reliable results, profits and a partnership you deserve. 

Learn more at corneliusseed.com 



Michelle Turner collects 

a water sample from the 

Tete des Morts Creek 

in St. Donatus. 


photo / brooke taylor 

The project will end in 

June 2017. 

Because the landowners 

and residents in the watershed 

had a lot of input into 

the best management practices, 

Tritz said his approach 

to soil conservation evolves 

as he sees what methods 

work. Of his 360 acres, 120 

acres are timber and 150 

acres are cultivated. 

He raises sheep, beef cows 

and cow/calves, and plants 

several crops. In addition to 

a corn/soybean rotation, he 

also grows alfalfa, rye and 

winter wheat, which help stabilize 

the soil, provide feed 

for his animals, and produce 

income. He finds markets for 

such things as winter wheat 

before he plants it. 

Because of the sloping 

nature of his ground, he pays 

a lot of attention to his grass 

waterways in areas where 

the runoff is concentrated 

and builds them up to prevent 

gulley erosion. 

“When I see it rain hard – 

and I know we can’t control 

it all – and I see a ditch form, 

I think, ‘What am I doing 

wrong?’” he said. “I am constantly 

looking at improving 

waterways and reseeding 

them. It’s constant.” 

He and his son, Kevin, 

plan for this maintenance 

as they harvest the crops, 

which is when they can see 

the ditches. Then, as time 

permits, they work on them. 

Tritz has seen the results 

of the efforts in better water 

quality in the creek and a 

marked reduction in soil erosion, 

which is a major goal 

of the watershed project. 

“I’ve also seen the overall 

health of my soil improve,” 

he said. “And that’s improved 

production.” n 



How a 

Watershed 

Works 

A watershed is an area of land that 

drains into a lake or stream. Water 

traveling over the surface or through 

groundwater may pick up contaminants 

like sediment, chemicals and 

waste and deposit them into a body of 

water. 

We all live in a watershed. Watersheds 

can be small – like the area 

that drains into the creek behind your 

house. Or, watersheds can be large – 

think of all the land, streams and rivers 

that drain into the Mississippi River. 

Water runs downhill, so making 

changes on the land keeps pollutants 

from rural and urban areas from 

washing into our water. 

Iowa has more than 1,600 small 

watersheds, a part of 56 larger watersheds 

in the state. 

To surf your watershed, go to 

http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/locate/index. 

cfm 

Source: Iowa Department of Natural Resources 

Park Farms Computer Systems 

is the leader in providing precision ag 

products and support services. 

Let us help you maximize your return 

on investments for all of your 

hardware and software needs. 

Planting 

aPPliCation 

HarveSt 

Data ManageMent 

grain Bin Monitoring 

Water ManageMent 

Park Farms 

computer systems 

2498 340th Ave. • DeWitt, IA 52742 

300 S. Oak St. • Richland, IA 52585 

563-659-3040 • 800-872-3040 

since 1982 

www.parkfarmscomputer.com 



Sloped 

ground 

poses 

special 

challenges 

Terri “Red” McCulley 

knows every inch of 

the farm that’s been in 

her family since her ancestors 

came to Iowa from Germany 

in 1867. 

“On April 25, 1887, my great-great-uncle 

was born, and they were planting corn 

Terri “Red” McCulley’s ground 

is steeply sloped due to being 

atop bluffs in the Sabula area. 

She practices many strategies 

to keep her topsoil in place. 

• Custom Buildings 

• Design Services 

• Equipment Rental 

building your future? 

Build with us 

• Commodity Sheds 

• Farm Shops 

• Livestock Buildings 

Cascade 

Lumber Co. 

build your future with us 

563-852-3232 

800-943-4685 

Hwy. 151 E. 

Cascade, Ia 

barney dirks 

Counter Sales 

brad gehl 

Sales/ 

estimating 

Melvin 

Staner 

Ag Sales/ 

estimating 

caslbr@netins.net 

www.caslbr.com 




“If you look at Iowa, it’s 

a collection of different 

geologies. There’s 

driftless country, 

there’s really rolling 

hills, there’s some 

really steep slopes, 

and there’s some 

really flat ground.” 

here,” she said. 

From her house, which sits just west of 

the Mississippi River, she can look out 

over the vista and recount memory after 

memory. Swimming in the sand pit after 

baling hay. Spearing carp, shooting BB 

guns, racing cars and forking silage out of 

the silos. 

She knew she wanted to farm since she 

was 5 years old. Today she raises cattle 

and a cow/calf herd and grows corn, 

beans, oats and hay. She also does a good 

sweet corn business by word of mouth. 

She farmed alongside her parents, Larry 

and Shirley Peterson. And now her son 

Aaron, a senior at Northeast High School, 

farms with her. 

Much of her ground is steeply sloped 

and on high bluffs. Because of that she is 

constantly vigilant about the effect rain, 

wind and snow are having on the landscape, 

and she works hard to keep the 

precious topsoil intact. 

Her proximity to the river means she 

contends with wetlands. She also farms 

some sandy soil on which “you can see 

every wet spot,” she said. 

Between the high bluffs and low val- 

— ken wacha 

leys in her agricultural landscape, McCulley 

employs many different strategies for 

maintenance and productivity. Making the 

rounds of some of her fields, which are 

all in the Sabula area, she explained her 

philosophy: “Take care of the land, and 

the land will take care of you.” 

Farms like McCulley’s illustrate the 

Peterson Farm Bros. 

clinton-Jackson county dairy banquet | april 1, 2017 | pearson hall, maquoketa 

sErving: 6-8 pm prograM: 7:30 pm EntErtainMEnt: 8:00 pm 

tickEts: adults $20 in advance, $25 at the door • kids 5-12 $10 in advance, $15 at the door 

drawing for door prizEs aftEr EntErtainMEnt — EacH faMily attEnding rEcEivEs a frEE dairy product 

Clinton-Jackson Dairy Association 

tickets available from any dairy association member 

randy & ElainE franck / 659-9466 • JEff & lisa Holtz / 652-4480 • dwain & BarB kilBurg / 872-3788 


SMARTER INSURANCE 

FOR AGRICULTURE. 

No one knows farming and ranching like Farm Bureau. For more than 75 years, we’ve been a truste 

leader providing comprehensive coverage for your farm/ranch, your machinery, your livestock – and 

more. We’re proud of our agricultural roots and that we’re the No. 1 farm insurer in our territory. 

Front row, left to right: Doug Collins, Lori Ganzer, Lyndsey Eberhart, Kathy Holtapp, Nicole Jackson, Barbara Collins and Missy Ernst. 

Back row, left to right: Deanna Cook, Jeanie Manning and Leora Claeys. 

No one knows farming and ranching like Farm Bureau. For more 

than 75 years, we’ve been a trusted insurance leader providing 

comprehensive coverage for your farm/ranch, your machinery, 

your livestock – and so much more. We’re proud of our agricultural 

roots and that we’re the No. 1 farm insurer in our territory. 

Contact your local 

Farm Bureau team today. 

Contact your local Farm Bureau team 

Barbara Collins 

514 8th Street 

De Witt 

(563) 659-5135 

300 N Riverview St 

Bellevue 

(563) 872-4884 

Douglas Collins 

102 S Olive 

Maquoketa 

(563) 652-2457 

Farm | Ranch | Commercial Ag Insurance 

Farm Bureau Property & Casualty Insurance Company* and Western Agricultural Insurance Company* /West Des Moines, IA. *Company providers of Farm Bureau Financial Services PC088 (8-15) 

Bellevue, Ia (563) 872-4884 

DeWitt, Ia (563) 659-5135 Maquoketa, Ia (563) 652-2457


Birds of all varieties can be found 

on the family farm. Terri McCulley 

farms the land that has been in her 

family since 1867. 

eastern iowa farmer photos / 

brooke taylor 

diverse Iowa landscape. 

“If you look at Iowa, it’s a collection 

of different geologies,” said Ken Wacha, 

a post-doctoral researcher at the National 

Laboratory for Agriculture and the 

Environment at Iowa State University in 

Ames. “There’s driftless country, there’s 

really rolling hills, there’s some really 

steep slopes, and there’s some really flat 

ground.” 

Looking over different landscapes, he 

said, you can see the how nature impacts 

soils – past, present and future. 

“You can see gulleys, waterways and 

streams that form because of the water patterns,” 

he said, adding that the high bluffs 

WHY WOULD YOU BUY ANY OTHER BUNK? 

Iowa Concrete’s patented 

plastic-lined bunk system 

is easier to clean, holds 

less bacteria and helps 

your cattle gain weight 

and stay healthy. 

And they are made 

right here in Eastern Iowa. 

Co-Owners 

Reece Lindsrom 

and Mike Eckhart 

WWW.IOWACONCRETEPRODUCTS.COM 

17672 HigHway 64 

Maquoketa, ia 52060 

800-892-4450 

a Proven Leader in Precast 

concrete Products since 1919 



and hilly ground of northeast Iowa 

“add a whole different challenge.” 

And they are challenges McCulley 

is quite familiar with. She hopped out 

of her white pickup truck after arriving 

at one of her fields high above the 

river bottoms and took a moment to 

appreciate the view from the vantage 

point. As the fall sun started its late afternoon 

dip, McCulley and her guests 

looked over acres of harvested ground, 

timber and the Mississippi River clear 

into Illinois. She never gets tired of 

the view, she said, before turning her 

attention to explaining some of her 

farming techniques. 

“I do a lot of terracing,” she said. 

“It’s expensive, but because of the 

bluffs, it’s necessary. I also do a lot of 

no till.” 

Terraces reduce the lengths of the 

slopes across the landscape to control 

the flow of water on the slopes to 

reduce erosion. There are two basic 

types of terraces – storage terraces and 

gradient terraces. Storage terraces collect 

water and store it until it can infiltrate 

into the ground or release through 

a stable outlet. Gradient terraces are 

designed as a channel to slow runoff 

water and carry it to a stable outlet. 

McCulley also practices contour 

farming, farming with row patterns 

around a hill versus up and down a 

hill. It can reduce soil erosion by as 

much as 50 percent, according to the 

USDA, because the rows form hundreds 

of small dams that slow water 

flow and increase filtration. 

At another field, she turned a 

practice eye on her grass waterways, 

which are constructed channels seeded 

to grass or other vegetation. They are 

used as maintenance with contour 

farming where runoff is concentrated 

to prevent gulley erosion. 

“If you get a real gulley washer, 

there’s not much you can do,” she said. 

A self-described conservationist at 

heart, McCulley became a commissioner 

of the Jackson County Soil and 

Water Conservation District almost 20 

years ago. 

It was through educating herself that 

she became interested in serving that 

role. Conservation district commissioners 

help to inform residents in 

their area about policy and program 

updates that impact conservation and 

agriculture. n 



Joe Dierickx knew since 

he was 4 years old 

that he wanted to farm. 

His dad, John, had a philosophy about 

that: If you want to farm with me, you 

have to get a college degree first. 

So in 1978, Joe headed to Iowa State 

University to study agriculture business, 

eastern iowa farmer photo / trevis mayfield 

Father and son John (right) and Joe Dierickx farm together on family land. Among the advice John, 87, 

shares after a lifetime of farming: “It is nice to receive recognition, but experience is the best teacher; 

being lucky helps; and one learns by mistakes.” 

Soil health seeds 

planted in college 

course years ago 

where one course in particular piqued his 

interest, Agronomy 335. 

“It was a soils class about organic matter 

and humus and what we as farmers 

could do to improve the soil system,” he 

recalled. “The teacher essentially was 

telling us how to grow better crops.” 

More than 35 years later, he still 

pulls out the notes from that class as he 



pursues his passions – grain farming, high 

yields, and healthy dirt – on his 2,000- 

acre DeWitt farm. 

He approaches soil with a reverence 

for what he can see above the ground 

because he knows that healthy, stable 

topsoil means healthy, stable soil and a 

thriving ecosystem underneath. 

“I treat topsoil like it’s the goose that 

laid the golden egg,” he said. “I know that 

the better I treat the ground and the better 

steward I am to this living organism – the 

top soil – the more I receive.” 

Farmers in Iowa and the Midwest have 

a long history of battling the elements to 

keep the dirt in their fields. When Dierickx 

started farming, he mulboard plowed 

his fields, and the results were a few 

“gully washers” that carried soil away 

from his land into roadside ditches. Snow 

and wind would do the same thing. 

“I remember looking at those black 

ditches and thinking, ‘There’s got to be a 

better way,’” he said. 

Instead of thinking about dirt as 

something in unlimited supplies out in 

the field, he reflected on that college class 

and began to look at soil as something he 

could nurture and make healthier and better. 

One major component of that was to 

move to a no-till system that would keep 

carbon and other organic material in the 

ground rather than being turned up to the 

surface to be oxidized away. No-till also 

preserved natural soil structure. 

“I’ve learned that 

you can’t stop 

Mother Nature’s 

force, but you can 

really slow the 

process down.” 

— joe dierickx 

“I’ve learned that you can’t stop Mother 

Nature’s force, but you can really slow 

the process down,” he said, adding that 

he wanted the dirt in each of his fields to 

stay in those fields. 

His first no-till experience came years 

ago when he was working with his dad. 

Every fall they mulboard or chisel plowed 

the entire crop acres. In the spring they 

leveled, sprayed herbicide and leveled 

again before they planted. It was a mad 

dash to make a timely finish, Dierickx 

said. One spring his dad skipped all the 

spring tillage of leveling because it was 

wet and planting was getting late. His dad 

just started planting. 

“Everybody laughed at us,” Joe said. 

“In the end, we got the same or better 

yields as the neighbor,” and an idea started 

forming in his brain. 

“That experience told me that maybe 

we don’t need to do all that tillage. Other 

people are doing less and less tillage, why 

can’t we?” he said. 

He sold the idea to his brother, Paul, 

who embraced it as a way to cut back on 

labor requirements, but remembers his 

dad was still a little skeptical. 

“Dad looked at it like, ‘no till equals no 

yield,’” Dierickx said, which was the conventional 

wisdom for years in farming. 

“We decided it was a risk worth taking as 

we were running short on labor.” 

2017 BIG ACTS 

PARTY PIT TICKETS 

ON SALE NOw 

SATURDAY 

JULY 29 

9:30 PM 

7:30 PM 

Visit our website for 

full fair week schedule 

jacksoncountyiowafair.com 

f 

LOCASh 

JACKSON COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS 

1212 East Quarry Street 

PO Box 859 

Maquoketa, IA 52060 

Tel: 563-652-4282 



The crops came up, and they looked 

good but not great, he said. 

About that time he also noticed a 

neighbor doing something different and 

his corn looked better than everyone 

else’s. 

Dierickx asked him what he was 

doing and began to further his education 

about soil health. That led to the second 

component of building soil health. He 

essentially learned to apply only the 

nutrients the crop and soil needs, where 

it needs it, and when it needs it. 

“The beauty of farming in the Midwest 

is everyone can farm in a different 

way and at the end of the day, try to 

make a living,” he said. “I found I can 

make a better living by not tilling.” 

When he goes in to certify his yields 

with his crop insurance agent, he’ll ask 

“How are my yields compared to my 

peers?” 

The answer he receives now is: “Your 

yields are in the top 10 percent. Whatever 

you are doing, keep doing it.” n 



heritagemutual.net 

When tragedy strikes, rely on a local Iowa insurance company. 

Proudly protecting Iowa farms since 1874. 

Visit www.heritagemutual.net to find an agent near you. 




Paul Gerlach uses cover 

crops to build soil health. 

He plants turnips, radishes, 

oats and winter rye. The 

crops also serve as forage 

for Gerlach’s cattle. 

Livestock grazing 

on cover crops 

mutually beneficial 

to animals, land 

Paul Gerlach looks out over the rolling fields 

of his farm just off Caves Road outside 

Maquoketa, where some of his cows are 

milling around on a crisp fall day. 

“I like looking out there and seeing them grazing,” said Gerlach, who has 

about 250 stock cows and farms 500 acres of row crops. 

This particular morning, the cows are eating turnips, radishes and oats. 

Those plants, along with winter rye, are among the crops Gerlach grows to 

provide nutrients to his livestock and to build soil health. 

“I basically started growing cover crops for an extra feed source,” 

Profitability is a key component in maximizing stability in all forms of agri-business. 

Our services provide formulations, cow/calf and feedlot monitoring services. 

All feed plans formulated by 

Steve Tebbe, 

Beef Production & 

Cow/Calf Specialist 

563-357-3784 

Custom Feed Business 

Alex Beck 

563-212-6940 

LoCaL Feed suppLier For 

• Hubbard Feeds • DeKalb Feeds Inc 

• Westway Feeds/Liquids 

eastcentralconsulting.com • eastcentralconsulting@gmail.com 

Delmar, Iowa 52037 • alexbeck2407@gmail.com 


94 

We knoW 

the dirt 

At Delaney Ag Service we can help you understand 

what exactly is in your dirt and what it needs. 

Full Service 

Option 1: $6 an Acre – Soil Sample Analysis 

& Labor on 2.5 acres grids 

***Full Analysis including Micros Available Upon Request for $1 More*** 

Option 2: Any Grid Option / Random Spots in Field 

Do it YourSelF 

Option 3: $3 an Acre for 2.5 acre grids 

***We will provide the soil bags, Labels, GPS Coordinates 

to Smart Phone or Tablet, Shipping Boxes, & Soil Probe*** 

2 Day turn Around in Soil Analysis 

P&K Prescriptions (Rx) – $1 a Year 

***You Own the Data and the Rx*** 

***Portable So You Can Move From 

Co-Op to Co-Op and Price Shop*** 

***Online access to soil data and Rx Creation*** 

Delaney 

Ag Service 

Michael Delaney 

DuPont Pioneer 

23477 Bellevue-Cascade Rd 

LaMotte, IA 52054 

Mobile: 

(563)543-1376 

michael.delaney@plantpioneer.com 


Client : 

Pioneer Encirca (Delaney Precision Services) 

Michael Delaney 

**Precision Ag** 

23477 Bellevue-Cascade Rd 

LaMotte IA 52054 Farm ID: Michael's Farm 

Lab Number : 03718 Field Id :Tillable Sample Id : 1 

SOIL TEST RATINGS 

Test Soil pH 

Buffer pH 

Method 1:1 

Results 

Phosphorus (P) Olsen ppm 

Potassium (K) 

M3 

ppm 

Calcium (Ca) 

M3 

Magnesium (Mg) M3 

Sulfur (S) 

Boron (B) 

M3 

Copper (Cu) 

M3 

Iron (Fe) 

M3 

ppm 

M3 

Manganese (Mn) M3 

Zinc (Zn) 

Sodium (Na) 

Soluble Salts 

M3 

M3 

ppm 

Organic Matter LOI 

Nitrate Nitrogen 

P1 

M3 

ppm 

ppm 

(lbs) (tons) 

LIME 

8 

150 

1855 ppm 

614 ppm 

30 ppm 

0.5 ppm 

1.2 

111 ppm 

79 ppm 

1.6 ppm 

23 

6.5 

3.7 % ENR 118 

Example Analysis Lab Sheet 

709 

803 

756 

1040 

851 

803 

1701 

1181 

"Every acre...Every year." 

Grower : 

Delaney; Mike 

Very Low Low Medium Optimum 

Crop : Rec Units: 

SOIL FERTILITY GUIDELINES 

Crop : Rec Units: 

Comments : 

P1-Wk.Bray 13 

Phosphorus (P) 

25 

803 

567 

898 

851 

473 

N P ² 

O 5 K ² 

O Mg S B Cu Mn 

® 

D 

P 

Pa 

Ver


Gerlach said. “I was hoping to let the 

cows graze longer in the fall without 

having to feed them hay.” 

And so far, his plan is on track. One 

reason producers turn to cover crops is 

to keep cattle grazing as long as possible 

to avoid having to dig into harvested 

forages. 

“If I can go 30 days without feeding 

my cattle, I think it’s paid for itself right 

there,” said Gerlach, who has been farming 

since 1985. 

Benefits of cover crop grazing go 

deeper than the producer’s pocketbook, 

said Rick Bednarek, Iowa NRCS state 

soil scientist. 

It can improve soil health more rapidly 

than cover crops alone as part of a cropping 

system. The urine and manure from 

the cows also help to move the biomass 

into the soil. 

“It’s reminiscent of the way buffalo 

grazed and benefited our native prairies,” 

Bednarek said. “We want to see cattle eat 

half of the plant growth and then trample 

the rest, which will improve soil health.” 

When Gerlach began the practice 

eastern iowa farmer photos / brooke taylor 

Cattle on the Gerlach farm graze on the cover crops planted as an extra food source for the animals. 

From the 

to the 

shop 

field 

Kent Hostetler - (815) 499-7014 

kent@hostetlerprecisionag.com 

R 

Your local planter technology specialist. 

Call Kent Today (815) 499-7014 

Planter Set-up, Inspection and Maintenance 




Developing 

Deep Roots 

with cover crops 

Cover crops have the potential to increase 

soil organic matter and the biodiversity 

of organisms in the soil. This increase 

is greater where less tillage is used to 

establish the cover crop and more growth 

is allowed prior to spring termination. 

The healthy biodiversity can include larger 

populations of such beneficial organisms 

as earthworms and mycorhizae, 

which greatly improve nutrient cycling, 

aeration and soil structure. 

Source : USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service 

about five years ago, he considered which 

types of cover crops would work best for 

his needs. He plants them in late August or 

early September, either by aerial seeding or 

by drilling. 

For Gerlach and other farmers doing 

cover crop grazing, it’s optimal to get the 

cover crop planted early enough for livestock 

to get some grazing days in October 

and November. Livestock can also graze 

cover crops in April and early May. A few 

years ago, the USDA added flexibility to 

its cover crop termination guidelines, no 

longer requiring termination by a stringent 

deadline. Now, cover crop termination must 

be completed at or before planting the crop. 

Gerlach said his operation is always a 

work in progress, and he carefully monitors 

what techniques and combinations yield 

the results he needs. He’s willing to make 

changes. 

For example, last fall he closely watched 

a field he aerial seeded to see whether he 

got better growth. If he needs a stand of 

cover crops started more quickly, he will 

chop the corn and drill the seed. 

“It all depends on what you need for 

your operation,” he said. “I like experimenting 

with things.” 

Several years ago, before he began the 

widespread use of cover crops, he was 

inadvertently able to compare the results 

of using them vs. not using them in one 

of his fields. On part of the ground, he 

had chopped the corn and drilled no-till 

radishes, turnips and rye in the fall. He left 

another section of the field bare. 

“That’s where we figured out that it did 

something to the ground,” he said. “The 

next spring, we planted no-till corn over 

the whole area. We couldn’t figure out why 

it came up uneven. Then we figured out it 

was the cover crop.” 

It was easy to see. The corn planted 

where there were no cover crops came up 

uneven. That stand of corn planted where 

cover crops were used had better growth 

and stayed greener longer. Gerlach thinks 

that is because of the cover crops leading to 

a better root system. He also noted a telltale 

sign that many farmers overlook: dew 

worm holes in the soil. 

“I have a lot more dew worm holes 

now,” he said. n 



Committed 

to serving our 

clients and 

our community 

Wealth & Retirement 

® 

Our priority is listening to you 

and using quality research 

to help you make suitable 

decisions for your future. 

You deserve to have 

confidence in your insurance 

and savings decisions. 

Call or email your questions 

or call for an appointment. 

Phone: 563-652-2491 

kschepers@ibasecurities.com 

sthorson@ibasecurities.com 

Securities offered through IBA Securities, a division of Broker Dealer Financial Services Corp. (BDFS), Member SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Investment Advisors 

Corp., an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Ohnward Wealth & Retirement is not affiliated with BDFS. NOT FDIC INSURED — NO BANK GUARANTEE — MAY LOSE VALUE 


TO OUR CUSTOMERS WHO BOUGHT SEED FOR THE 2017 SEASON 

WE WISH YOU LUCK WITH THE 

SPRING PLANTING SEASON, THE WEATHER 

AND A BIG YIELD 

Chris Matthiesen 563-357-8303 

Mark Miller 563-590-6845 

Marc Loes 563-590-7880 

Jim Holtz 563-593-1150 

Loren Truelsen 563-221-3421


Corn on corn 

Keeping residue on the 

field reaps residual benefits 

On a crisp fall day, brothers Brian and Jeff Turnis 

headed out with a few visitors to a field on their 

Bernard-area farm where they had planted no-till 

corn-on-corn for several years. 

With them was Lori Schnoor, who carried a bucket, a shovel and an instrument 

that is used to measure how compacted the soil is in any given patch of ground. 

For Schnoor, who is a soil conservationist in Jackson County with the Natural 

Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), these are the tools of the trade. 

First came a simple test – use the shovel to turn over a chunk of ground. 

Schnoor did this and then picked up a fresh clump of soil in her hands. 

“Look at this,” she said, sifting it with her fingers as Brian and Jeff came over 

to take a look. The sample of soil she held was full of worm casings and a few 

worms. Everyone was happy with what they saw. 

“That’s nice and crumbly,” Brian said, nodding his approval at the evidence 

of a healthy ecosystem beneath the surface. “This is why we’re big believers in 

Brian and Jeff Turnis plant a 

corn-on-corn rotation on their 

farm. It’s one of the steps 

they’ve taken to build the 

organic matter in their soil. 

attEntIon REadERs... 

Receive a free review of your past tax return 

when you mention our ad in the Eastern Iowa Farmer 

If an error is discovered, the Schuster & Co Tax Professionals can help you re-file so you can get back the money you deserve. 

Kay Determan • Susan Hunter, CPA • Carol Schuster, CPA, President • Connie Beer • Peggy Smith, LPA 

Farm and Business Consulting 

Tax Planning and Return Preparation Services 

Accounting and Payroll Services 

New Business Start Up Services 

QuickBooks Consulting 

1015 6th Ave. • DeWitt, IA 52742 

schustercpas.com 

563.659.9127 




no-till.” 

“Yep,” Jeff said, pointing to a wriggling 

worm. “We let those little suckers do the 

work.” 

Healthy soil ecosystems depend on 

worms, plant residue, dead and living 

plant roots, ants and other insects, snails, 

fungi and other microorganisms that build 

structure through their chemical and biological 

interactions. The more protected 

the ground is by crop residue left when a 

farmer doesn’t till a field after harvest, the 

better the water infiltration and the protection 

and growth of organic matter, as well 

as less erosion. 

That evidence sums up the Turnis brothers’ 

reasons for modifying their planting 

practices to include no-till corn-on-corn. 

According to the NRCS, the negative 

impact of harvesting crop residue is greater 

if the crop rotation includes low-residue 

crops such as soybeans. Switching from 

a corn-soybean rotation to a continuous 

corn, corn-corn-soybean or corn-soybeanwheat 

rotation would somewhat offset the 

impact of removing crop residues. 

SOIL PRODUCTIVITY = YIELD 

Maximize crop production efficiency 

with a System that is backed by more 

than 30 years of research and addresses 

every aspect of your crop’s growing 

environment. From the soil profile to 

planting specifications and crop 

nutrition, the Maximum Farming 

System has what it takes to elevate 

your operation to the next level. 

Apply the 5R’s: Right Product, Right 

Form, Right Amount, Right Time, and 

Right Place to improve productivity, 

prevent soil toxicity, diminish off-site 

environmental problems and ultimately 

enhance your bottom line. 

Discover What it Takes! 

Vicker’s Ag Service - Matt Vickers 

(563) 659-1465 • vickersag@iowatelecom.net 



“A lot of people can’t believe we don’t 

have erosion problems,” Brian said. “We 

don’t remove the cornstalks, and that 

makes a difference.” 

“When we first started, 

we sacrificed yield. The 

longer you do this, the 

better the results. You 

can’t panic after the 

first year when you lose 

yield because building 

soil health is a long-term 

commitment.” 

— Brian Turnis 

The brothers watched as Schnoor 

performed the second test. She held on to 

the handles of a metal lance that’s about 

three-feet long. As she thrust the instrument 

into the soil, an attached color-coded 

meter showed how much force it was 

taking to push the lance into the ground. 

If the needle on the meter is in the green 

area, it’s a good sign. The soil is less 

compacted, allowing nutrients and water 

to flow downward into the below-ground 

ecosystem instead of off the fields, taking 

nutrients and topsoil with it. A reading in 

the yellow is less ideal, and a reading in 

the red is a problem. 

When soil is heavily compacted, it can 

lead to the destruction of surface soil 

and cause it to crust under heavy rain, 

Schnoor explained. When the soil is 

crusted, water can’t infiltrate downward. 

Rather, it pools, causes unwanted gullies 

to form, and creates runoff. 

Schnoor pushed the lance into the ground 

with ease, and the needle on the meter was 

solidly in the green area. The brothers – 

who raise dairy cows, feeder cattle, corn, 

beans and hay – are careful to keep truck 

and machinery traffic on the ground to a 

minimum so soil will stay in this condition. 

Two Major 

Benefits of 

Crop Residues 

to Soil Quality 

1 

2 

Contributes to soil organic 

matter, which improves 

chemical, physical and 

biological properties, which 

increases yield and yield 

sustainability 

Provides physical buffer, 

which reduces raindrop 

impact and wind shear, 

which reduces soil erosion 

Scott Banker home 

Bellevue 

Lumber 

563-872-3750 

Maquoketa 

Lumber 

563-652-5155 

lumber@qwestoffice.net 

Serving Clinton, Dubuque, Jackson and 

Jones counties in Iowa since 1947 

Helping you build 

a better community 

We offer Estimating, Drafting, Screen and Window Repair, Custom Cutting, Same Day Delivery and much more 

See us for all your Agricultural, Business, Commercial 

and Residential Building and Remodeling Needs 


MICHAEL DELANEY 

563-543-1376 

CREATE A PLAN FOR GREATER PROFITABILITY 

In today’s markets, success depends on getting the most from every input dollar. Seed and 

nitrogen are primary crop inputs that must be managed correctly to maximize yields. 

Your local Encirca certified services agent will work with you to create a plan customized 

to the exact needs of your operation. Working together, we can help make your next crop, 

your best crop yet. 

Encirca.pioneer.com 1-844-744-7333 Follow us @EncircaServices 

EXPLORE. EVOLVE. EXCEL. 

Encirca SM services are provided subject to the terms and conditions of purchase which are part of the purchase documents. 

® 

, TM , SM Trademarks and service marks of DuPont, Pioneer or their respective owners. © 2017 PHII. 17D-1013 



“It’s like driving over a sponge,” Jeff said 

of that particular field, which has never ever 

been tilled. “That ground is so mellow.” 

Managing the 2,300 acres of soil they 

farm and building its health is their goal. In 

addition to no-till, they also plant a variety of 

cover crops, such as rye, radishes and clover. 

“When we first started, we sacrificed 

yield,” Brian said. “The longer you do this, 

the better the results. You can’t panic after the 

first year when you lose yield because building 

soil health is a long-term commitment.” 

The longer they have used no-till, the less 

they have noticed wet spots and mud being a 

problem in their fields. 

“Mother Nature takes care of it; before it 

was water and sediment central,” said Jeff, 

adding that they dealt with sheet erosion and 

had gullies forming where grass waterways 

were supposed to go. 

“We’ve taken back the structure. We don’t 

tear anything up,” Brian said, adding that 

they no longer have erosion problems. 

After a heavy rain, they can go down to the 

hollows on the edges of their fields, and the 

water runs clear. 

“That tells us a lot,” Jeff said. n 



eastern iowa farmer photo / Contributed 

At Peters Beef Genetics, we focus on three areas in producing bred heifers to become long-term cows in the herd: 

CONVENIENCE: 

• Quiet & easy to be around 

• Quality teats & udder 

• Sensible size 

PERFORMANCE: 

• Calve, nurse & mother with no drama 

• Grow & gain fast & efficiently 

• Timely rebreeding 

LONGEVITY: 

• Grass & forage based 

• Sound feet & legs 

• “Built-in” body condition and maternal desire 

Spring calving 

heifers and 

pairs available 

at the farm! 

ULTRASOUND CALVING DATES • FETAL SEXED • COMPLETE VACCINATIONS 

PETERS BEEF 

GENETICS 

Like us on Facebook at Peters Beef Genetics and check out our recent videos! 


For more info, call 

Charlie & Jenni Peters 

Mathias, Michael, Sam & Miranda 

Bellevue, Iowa 

563-672-9642 H • 319-480-9642 C 

319-480-1834 J 

Email: cwpeters@netins.net


Matt Vickers (right) 

teaches farmers 

about the science 

behind soil health. 

Data drive scientific 

approach for strategic 

soil management 

Matt Vickers believes in 

the power of science. 

And for more than 30 years, he’s 

been sharing with farmers how they can apply 

the science behind soil health to their operations, 

leading to greater profitability and better stewardship 

of the land. 

“My job is to teach soil management, plant 

physiology, and soil science,” said Vickers, who 

grew up on a farm. He owns Vickers Ag Services 

in DeWitt and is a sales manager for Ag Spectrum, 

which was founded in 1984. 

Ag Spectrum, also based in DeWitt, does 

business in 22 states. It specializes in a system 

that focuses on using data specific to a farmer’s 

land to provide nutrient recommendations and 

analyze production decisions year to year. 

The focus, Vickers said, is putting on the right 

product, in the right form, in the right amount, at 

the right time and in the right place. 

“If you do that, less will be more,” he said. 

He converted to a no-till philosophy on his 

own ground years ago, but he said he was skeptical 

at first as most farmers from his generation 

and generations before were getting decent 

results with tillage. 

But the science spoke to him. 

He learned from studying the research and 

Call us to learn how to 

make the Sun your 

energy source! 

563-557-5888 

367 Cedar Cross Rd info@solarplanet-us.com 

Dubuque, IA 52003 www.solarplanet-us.com 


We RESPECT 

your tireless days... 

We ADMIRE your craft and commitment to produce more. 

We APPRECIATE your contribution to our lives and communities. 

From farm to field, planting to harvest... 

WE ARE HERE EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. 

Your Trusted Source 

AGRONOMY | ENERGY | FEED | GRAIN 

www.rivervalleycoop.com


talking to other farmers, as well as scientists 

who work with Ag Spectrum, that 

building the soil’s health is the driver to 

long-term success. 

“Soil is extremely dynamic,” he said. 

Weather patterns, disease and weed 

resistance are just a few of the obstacles 

farmers face. Differences in soil are found 

not only from one field to another but 

within a field. 

“There are just a thousand variables 

affecting yield,” he said. Being able to 

track changes and compare yield results 

to management techniques allows farmers 

to take a fluid approach, tweaking their 

operation as needed. 

“If soils stay aggregated and healthy so 

air and water can get in, you’ll see results; 

it’s all about organic matter,” Vickers said. 

“Air and water – if those aren’t right, everything 

you do afterward will be limited 

in response.” 

For every 1 percent of organic matter in 

soil, between 20 and 40 pounds of nitrogen 

are released for plants to use. In addition 

to building nitrogen, soil management 

can increase the amount of such nutrients 


David Oberbrocklin (left) and his father, Darren Oberbrocklin, talk to area farmers about their decision to 

convert to a no-till operation. They were on a panel that was part of a NRCS soil health seminar in DeWitt. 

You get one chance each season 

Let us take some of the variabLes out 

Pictured: Mitch Schneden, 

Alex Beck and Jason Spain 

Welton, IoWa | 563.212.3345 

SeRVICeS oFFeReD: 

Planter Meter Calibration, Installation and Service 

of Yield-Enhancing Planter & Nutrient Applicator 

Products, Soybean Seed Treatment Application, 

jason.spain@plantpioneer.com 

Dealer Company Name 

First Last Name 

Address, City, State, ZIP 

Phone 

Email 

In-Season Soil Testing and so much more! 

We provide nutrient application technologies that 



“This system 

is all about 

the bigger 

the roots, 

the bigger 

the plant.” 

— Kent hostetler 

as calcium, phosphorous, potassium, 

sulfur and magnesium, he 

noted. 

The research about how plants 

will behave in different environments 

is ongoing, and Vickers 

feels strongly about building 

upon the science. 

“When we see a response in 

the field, the question needs to 

be asked, ‘Why is that happening?’” 

he said. “And science can 

answer that question. It can tell 

you why something happened in 

a particular field. And then you 

learn from it and apply the science 

to your farming operation. 

There’s nothing more rewarding 

than walking through a field 

with farmers and hearing them 

say, ‘Look at this corn!’” 

Yielding more bushels with 

fewer nutrients also translates 

into less nutrients running 

off into streams, said Kent 

Hostetler, owner of Maquoketa-based 

Hostetler Precision Ag 

Solutions LLC. 

“With all the issues we are 

having with nutrients in the 

water, this is something to 

consider. The approach makes 

more sense from a stewardship 

standpoint,” he said. 

He also did a lot of tillage but 

realized that shifting to a different 

paradigm when he was farming 

in western Illinois helped 

to build his soil structure. He 

worked with Ag Spectrum and 

decided to become a consultant. 

“This system is all about the 

bigger the roots, the bigger the 

plant,” he said. 

His main focus with clients is 

nutrient management efficiency; 

the process starts out with soil 

testing and producing data on a 

field’s soil type and management 

zone. A yield map is laid over 

that information, and the resulting 

information drives decision-making. 

He also helps his customers 

to insure proper planter setup. 

Converting to such a system 

isn’t for everyone; it takes 

someone who is striving to 

get better and is not afraid of 

change, he said. 

“This is a system that maximizes 

profitability. It’s not a 

silver bullet,” he said. 

Both he and Vickers stress that 

changing a farming approach 

needs to be a long-term strategy. 

Father-and-son team David 

and Darren Oberbrocklin, who 

farm just south of Davenport, 

can attest to that. Starting about 

10 years ago, they gradually converted 

to a no-till operation that 

uses cover crops to help build 

their soil health. They typically 

plant a cereal rye and winter 

wheat mix for their cover crops. 

“We started on sensitive 

ground and kept going. We saw 

what it did,” David said, adding 

that they had battled a soil erosion 

problem. 

“Now when the water goes 

into the field, the field is like a 

big sponge; there’s no runoff,” 

he said. “We’ve made this a 

priority.” n 



Thiel MoTor SaleS inc. 

The area’s Leader in Truck saLes and service 

563-659-9309 • 800-605-2252 

911 Westwood Dr. • DeWitt, IA 52742 

Jim Thiel 

f 

John Thiel Jr. 

www.thielmotors.com 

Josh Harrington 

nobody beaTs a 

ThieL deaL! 




Ken Wacha stores soil 

samples wherever he 

can at the National 

Laboratory for Agriculture 

and the Environment. 

He and other scientists 

at the Iowa State 

University lab will use 

them in future research. 

The Science of Soil 

Researchers at National Laboratory in Ames work toward 

optimizing soil genetics, environment and management 

Dirt is everywhere you 

look at the National 

Laboratory for Agriculture 

and the Environment. 

But it’s not the kind that needs to be swept away 

with a broom and dustpan. At the lab, which is 

housed at Iowa State University in Ames, more 

than 1,000 soil samples in aluminum tins are tucked 

away on windowsills and hallway ledges throughout 

the building. They are the raw material scientists use 

to study the impact that climate, drought stress and 

other environmental factors have on soil structure. 

“We look at what happens to soil when you 

change conditions,” said Jerry Hatfield, lab director 

and plant physiologist. Those conditions include 

rain, humidity and temperature. 

Much of his work focuses on quantifying the 

changes in soil under different management 

practices and its resistance to erosion. His studies 

have shown that enhancing the soil begins with 

enhancing the soil biology – that underground life 

of root systems and organisms, such as earthworms. 



A stable microclimate for the biology is 

what builds a better soil. 

A print hanging on the wall in Hatfield’s 

office illustrates the point in a 

more whimsical way. A herd of African 

elephants is grazing on what looks like 

Midwest farm ground. Underneath the 

picture is the tagline: Shouldn’t you feed 

your elephants? 

“Healthy biological soil is equal to 

two African elephants per acre – 10,000 

pounds of biological material,” Hatfield 

said. “Think about that.” 

In the simplest sense, soil health boils 

down to the soil’s ability to hold moisture 

between rainfalls, he said. And that 

depends on the amount of biological life 

going on below the surface. 

Many farming practices – no till, cover 

crops, rotational grazing, crop rotation, 

etc. – contribute to soil health, which is 

important in Iowa, where weather and soil 

create what he calls “the perfect storm.” 

“The Midwest is schizophrenic,” he 

said. “It’s too wet in the spring and too 

dry in the summer.” 

If the soil is in poor condition in the 

spring, the water will run off rather than 

infiltrate downward where it can help 

to build the root system and organic life 

below the surface. And from there the 

challenges build. 

Containers of soil in the 

lab are measured for 

size, oxygen content 

and strength to study 

how aggregate forms. 

“A lot of production limitations aren’t 

due to water; they’re due to gases,” 

Hatfield said. When soil is in a fragile 

condition, the gas exchange that is needed 

Welcome Home 

Where beautiful lives blossom 

563-652-2125 

205 Ehlers Lane, Maquoketa, Iowa 



for healthy crops doesn’t occur. The 

plants don’t get enough oxygen or carbon 

escapes. 

“It’s like putting a plastic bag over your 

head,” he said. “You won’t build stable 

aggregate.” 

Aggregate is the 

collection of sand, 

silt and clay held 

together by the 

glue that’s biological 

material, he 

explained. 

“The stronger 

the glue, the more 

stable the soil,” 

said Hatfield, who 

grew up on a grain 

Jerry Hatfield 

farm in Southeast 

Iowa and has spent 

his career focused 

on plants, soil and weather in the United 

States and the world. 

At the Ames laboratory, he and his 

colleagues research the optimal stable 

environment for soil health, conducting 

experiments that control weather and 

other conditions and carefully recording 

and sharing the results. 

Much of the work takes place below 

ground in the basement laboratories. 

The first stop on a tour of some of the 

ongoing experiments was a room lined 

with bright green lockers that look like 

walk-in freezers. It is the Soil Growth 

Chamber, and it allows the scientists 

to conduct experiments in a controlled 

environment. 

Ken Wacha, postdoctoral researcher, 

pointed out small white bowls of soil that 

sat on a table in the room. 

“We want to see how aggregates begin 

to form,” Wacha explained of the experiment. 

Each bowl contained soil that ranged 

from “an incubator of baby aggregates 

all the way through dead leaves,” he said. 

The initial sample was passed through a 

stack of sieves, each one finer than the 

next, to end up with a half-dozen bowls. 

Each sample is measured for size, 

oxygen content and strength, among other 

factors, said Wacha, whose key focus 

is the aggregation process. Because the 

health of the aggregate interplays with 

“We want to see 

which amendment will 

enhance the biological 

activity and see what 

soil microclimate is 

favorable. We are 

taking two really 

contrasting soils and 

seeing if they will show 

the same response. 

We are looking at how 

things change and what 

makes them change.” 

— ken wacha 

Left to right: Alex Waller, Warehouse; Karl Dallefeld, President; 

Kyle Brouwer, Business Manager; and Jessica Stecklein, 

Administrative Assistant 

Make Your Farm 

Yours Again © 

At Prairie Creek Seed we start 

with one agenda — you. 

We pride ourselves on providing excellent 

advice on management practices and 

specie selection. Through carefully 

selecting the best seed genetics, we 

deliver high quality Alfalfas, Grasses, 

Cover Crops, and Corn Hybrids. However 

you farm, your success is our priority. 

877-754-4019 info@prairiecreekseed.com 

f 



Soil samples from Iowa (in the 

white containers, known as 

soil cores) and Washington 

(in the green containers) are 

planted with wheat. Scientists 

can manipulate the conditions 

in the soil growth chamber to 

study how the soils respond to 

varying types of amendments, 

such as manure or nitrogen, 

being applied. 

eastern iowa farmer photo / 

brooke taylor 

erosion, he and his colleagues focus on 

changes that occur within the soil under 

different management practices. 

Inside one of the lockers in the room 

are a series of white containers, called 

soil cores, filled with wheat planted in 

Iowa soil. The locker next to it has green 

soil cores filled with wheat planted in soil 

from the state of Washington. 

The soil in the different containers 

in each locker is enriched with such 

different things as manure, compost and 

nitrogen. The environment in the lockers 

can be adjusted for different levels of 

sunlight, humidity and climate. 

“We want to see which amendment 

will enhance the biological activity,” Wacha 

said, “and see what soil microclimate 

is favorable. We are taking two really 

contrasting soils and seeing if they will 

show the same response. We are looking 

at how things change and what makes 

them change.” 

Behind the doors of two other rooms 

are soil plots that measure a meter by 

a meter by a meter. Each plot contains 

6,000 pounds of soil. 

These particular experiments are 

designed to look at the impacts of future 

climates in Oklahoma and Kansas, Hatfield 

said. 

Corn will be planted in the plots, and 

the conditions inside the chambers will be 

controlled to simulate weather in Salina, 

Kansas, during different parts of the year. 

For example, scientists will freeze the 

ground and then bring it back to a springtime 

temperature so they can study the 

effect of freeze thaw on the soil structure. 

The lab is set up so they can analyze different 

depths below the soil. 

Researchers at the lab are able to create 

ExpEriEncE intEgrity 

and 

Are what you can count on from Paul Miller at Maquoketa Financial Group 

Paul C. 

Miller CLU, ChFC, IAR 

Maquoketa 

Financial Group 563.652.3513 

714 W. Platt St. • Suite 5 


www.maqfinancialgroup.com 

• 401K Rollovers • College & Retirement Strategies 

• Life-Health-LTC • Employee & Employer Benefits 

• Estate & Wealth Transfer Planning 

Paul Miller and Steven Powell are Investment Advisor Representatives and Jarod Powell is a Registered Representative with and offering Securities and Investment Advisory Services Through Signator Investors, Inc. 

member FINRA/SIPC and a Registered Investment Advisor. Non Securities Products and Services are not Offered Through Signator. Maquoketa Financial Group is not affiliated with Signator LD056167-02/16 



the “average” conditions by 

using data gathered, literally, in 

the field. 

“We have a ton of sensors that 

are deployed all over the country,” 

Wacha said. They capture 

air temperature and precipitation. 

The goal of the lab, which 

conducts many experiments 

both inside and out in the field, 

is to get soil to the optimal state 

so management will allow the 

genetics to perform at their best, 

said Hatfield, who expressed the 

process as an equation. 

“It’s genetics times the environment 

times management,” he said. 

The strategy is to take genetics 

and optimize them; take the environment 

and overcome obstacles; 

and take soil management and 

oversee the process. 

“We want to get soil to its optimal 

state,” he said, “so management 

of it will allow genetics to 

do their thing.” n 



‘Livestock’ underground 

Earthworms, nematodes and other organisms 

build organic material that make soil stronger 

The more organic life 

a farmer can cultivate 

in his fields using such 

practices as no till and cover 

crops, the healthier the soil 

will be. 

That was the message Jason Steele 

presented at a soil health program at 

the Clinton County Fairgrounds in 

late January for local farmers. Steele 

is the area resource soil scientist for 

the Natural Resources Conservation 

Service office in Fairfield, Iowa. His 

area includes Clinton County. 

“It’s all about living roots. We want 

those living roots growing all times of the 


The presence of earthworms is a sign of healthy 

organic life in soil. Earthworm populations consume 

two tons of dry matter per acre per year, partly 

digesting and mixing it with soil. 

GET CRACKING 

Kunau Implement 

is a proud supplier of 

Henke Buffalo Roller Mills. 

They’re easy to adjust, operate 

and maintain. And Kunau has all 

the add-on components you need 

to be ready for the corn harvest – 

months ahead of time! 

WITH HENKE BUFF ALO 

ROLLER MILLS 

• Capacity up to 13,500 bushels per hour 

• Great for harvesting high-moisture corn 

• Available with belt differential roll-drive 

SINCE 1936 

PRESTON 563.689.3311 l 

DEWITT 563.659.2866 



year,” he said, homing in on the point that 

“biology” is king when it comes to soil. 

In Iowa, corn generally is planted in April 

and harvested in September, so the roots are 

growing in that short time frame, he said. 

“If we get a cover crop out there, we can 

extend root growth into the winter season,” 

Steele said. 

Cereal rye is one cover crop that can grow 

during wintertime, he said, and if there’s 

snow cover, some of those roots will even 

grow during the winter. 

“That is feeding what I like to call ‘soil 

livestock’ underground. We all know what 

pigs, cows, horses and sheep look like above 

ground, but nobody realizes how much of the 

livestock – earthworms, nematodes, protozoa 

– is below ground,” he explained. Those 

species are affected by what a farmer does 

with cover crops and tillage. 

Federal and state programs offer some 

assistance and cost sharing for cover crops, 

said Chandra Shaw, NRCS soil conservationist 

in DeWitt. 

“We would love to talk with you about the 

options,” she told the audience. 

Steele also talked about the importance of 

residue management to protect the soil from 

Soil scientist Jason Steele conducts 

a demonstration to compare the 

runoff from a sample of no-till soil 

planted with a rye cover crop to 

a sample of conventionally tilled, 

unplanted soil. There was no runoff 

in the no-till, cover-crop planted soil, 

while the tilled soil showed runoff. 

Steele is the area resource soil 

scientist for the Natural Resources 

Conservation Service office in 

Fairfield, Iowa. 

Eberhart Farm Center 

is committed to providing our customers with quality 

products, competitive prices and prompt service. 

Pictured: 

Kyle Hoffman, 

Cody Kilburg, 

Justin Sparks 

Family owned for more than 30 years Preston 563-689-3622 Maquoketa 563-652-5332 



erosion. 

“If anyone has the next generation who wants to 

come in and farm, we want to hold that soil on our 

farm,” he said. “We don’t want that soil going to the 

neighbor.” 

He showed the audience a video that illustrated how 

an earthworm will literally pull residue from a field into 

the soil. Earthworm populations consume two tons of dry 

matter per acre in a year, partly digesting it and mixing it 

with soil. That helps to build organic material, he noted, 

and 1 percent of organic material holds 10,000 pounds of 

carbon, 1,000 pounds of nitrogen, 100 pounds of potassium, 

100 pounds of sulfur, and 0.3 to 1 inch of water. 

He urged farmers to try adjusting their tillage practices 

and using cover crops on a smaller plot, and to do it 

several years in a row. 

“Try it out,” he urged. “You can’t change things 

overnight. Take 20 or 40 acres and experiment with it at 

least three years in a row. We can’t change Mother Nature; 

she wins regardless. But in three years you should 

have good weather.” 

He illustrated his point about the value of increasing 

soil health by closing his presentation with three 

demonstrations that showed how no-till soil performed 

compared to conventionally tilled soil. 

The first test showed infiltration rates. Steele poured 

water into two containers – one with the no-till soil, 

and one with the conventionally tilled soil – that were 

set over clear plastic bowls. The water poured into the 

no-till container infiltrated through and collected in 

the bottom of the bowl. Just a few drops of water got 

through conventionally tilled sample. 

The second test demonstrated 

the strength of two different aggregates. 

About a cupful of each 

of the soils was set on a piece of 

screen that was submerged into a 

jar of water. Again, the no-till soil 

showed more stability than its 

counterpart, with less of the soil 

slagging off into the water. 

The third test compared the 

runoff from a sample of no-till 

soil planted with a rye cover crop 

Chandra Shaw 

to a sample of conventionally 

tilled, unplanted soil. Each sample 

was in a metal pan with a canal notched out of one 

end to allow water to flow from the soil into a container 

below. 

There was no runoff in the no-till, cover crop planted 

soil, while the tilled soil showed runoff. 

“In a small way, these demonstrations illustrate what 

I’ve been talking about,” Steele said. n 



your local 

choice in 

trash 

removal 

Let R&R Sanitation be 

your local choice for 

waste removal. We 

specialize in rural pick 

ups, dumpster rentals 

and roll off containers. 

Justin 319-480-3915 • Cody 608-574-1246 

stan 319-480-5265 


Your Partners 

In Financial 

Success 

Norlan Hinke 

Ritch Skrivseth 

Joel Kaczinski 

Mark Milder 

Clinton National Bank www.clintonnational.com 563 243-1243 

Andover Camanche Clinton Delmar Miles Preston Sabula 

Member FDIC

checkoff 

Continued from page 39 

toward, association President Mike Cline 

urges people “to be patient.” 

The money is intended to “promote 

Iowa-type production practices, fund production 

research, 

educate consumers 

and potentially 

expand international 

markets,” Cline 

said. 

The money might 

be invested in international 

trade or 

extensive beef-related 

research. 

However, until 

Mike Cline 

funds are collected 

and the committee 

members meet, there are no concrete plans 

for the funds. 

Iowa had a 50-cent-per-head checkoff 

from 1970 until 1985, when a $1-per-head 

national checkoff program was put in 

place. The national Beef Checkoff collects 


A 50-cent-per-head 

checkoff will generate 

between $1 million and 

$1.5 million to support 

Iowa’s beef industry. 

Our COnstruCtiOn team is 

ready tO wOrk with yOu! 

Sheets General 

Construction 

has the history, 

reputation, and 

resources to make 

your construction 

project a great 

experience. 

We offer expert 

craftsmanship and 

superior knowledge 

of quality name brand 

materials. 

Serving all of 

Eastern Iowa 

652-8399 

18284 Highway 64 W., 

Maquoketa 

Call us today for your next new home, 

home/office remodel, new garage, 

farm building, or commercial office space. 


Iowa 

Beef Industry 

Council 

About the state checkoff 

The Iowa Beef Industry Council, through 

a 10-member committee, will administer 

the funds. Law prohibits the council from 

lobbying or influencing public policy that 

deals with national or state checkoffs, so it 

did not take part in the vote. 

This committee will consist of five executive 

elected producers, two appointed 

Iowa Cattlemen Association members, one 

livestock market representative, the Iowa 

Secretary of Agriculture or designee, and 

the Iowa State University Dean of Agriculture 

and Life Sciences or designee. 

For more information, contact Iowa 

Industry Beef Council Executive Director 

Chris Freland at chris@iabeef.org, Iowa 

Cattlemen’s Association Director of 

Communications Katie Olthoff at (515) 

296-2266, ext. 219, or Katie@iabeef.org. 

$1 on each head of cattle every time it’s 

sold. Fifty cents of that dollar goes to 

the national Cattlemen’s Beef Board for 

national programs, and each state’s beef 

industry council receives 50 cents. 

Beef producers and importers in the 

United States raised $41.8 million to fund 

beef promotion and research through the 

national checkoff in 2015, according to 

the national board’s annual report. Those 

funds come directly from the $1 per head 

collected at the time of a bovine’s sale. 

Certain studies reported by the industry 

have suggested that for every $1 invested, 

cattlemen get an $11.20 return. 

Last year, the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association 

brought up the idea to bring back 

the state program, and the Iowa Department 

of Agriculture and Land Stewardship 

oversaw the vote. 

Although 44 percent of those voting 

were not in favor of the state checkoff, 

Chris Freland, executive director of the 

Iowa Industry Beef Council, said she 

thought the increase is necessary. The $1 

national checkoff has been in place for 

more than 30 years, she noted. 

“When you consider what three decades’ 

worth of inflation have done to the 

dollar, it becomes even more important 

to look at the future and what we might 

need to enhance the industry moving 

forward,” she said. 

Ryan Krukow, a cattleman from the 

Low Moor/McCausland area, voted for 

the checkoff. 

“I’ve always been taught to be an 

advocate for the groups supporting your 

field,” said Krukow, who started in the 

business more than 25 years ago when he 

was in 4-H. Today he has an angus and a 

commercial cow herd, a feedlot operation, 

and he raises row crops. 

While he thinks the national beef 

checkoff efforts are important, he likes 

that the state money will go toward 

programs that will promote Iowa beef. A 

member of the Clinton County Cattlemen 

board, Krukow said that the discussion 

among his peers is that this source of 

funding will really help in marketing and 

research. 

He’d like to see perhaps a “branded 

product” program where Iowa beef would 

carry a certified label so consumers would 

know the source of the meat. 

“I think that could add some value for 

us in this part of the state and other parts 

as well,” he said. He also favors more 

research. 

“More research is never a bad thing, 

especially if you could have data that is 

Feed your Fields 

and they’ll 

Feed you 

• Custom Dry Fertilizer Application 

• Dry Fertilizer Spreader Rental 

• Fertilizer (Dry & Liquid) 

• Chemicals 

• Seed 

Feeding 

fields for over 

40 years! 

• Chemicals 

• Dry & Liquid Fertilizer 

• Seed 

• Custom Dry Fertilizer Application 

• Dry Fertilizer Spreader Rental 

Call or stop by to 

see how we can 

help with all your 

crop input needs 

901 Johnson St. SW • Cascade, IA 

(563) 852-7559 

wfront@netins.net 

4290 Dodge St. • Dubuque, Ia 

(563) 556-7575 

whitefrontdbq@yahoo.com 


particular to Iowa,” he said, adding that a 

lot of cattle research at the national level is 

done in southern areas of the United States. 

“It’s not bad information but it’s not 

as specific for us. We have more weather 

fluctuations throughout the year than the 

southern states. 

Research conducted 

in Iowa would give 

us some different 

information that’s a 

little more real-life,” 

he said. 

The Iowa Beef 

Industry Council 

will administer 

the funds through 

Chris Freland 

a 10-member 

executive committee. 

Federal law 

prohibits the council from lobbying or 

influencing public policy that deals with 

national or state checkoffs. It did not take 

part in the vote. 

All of the committee-based decisions 

will be made in Iowa, Freland said, but 

if there are outside opportunities to drive 

beef demand, the money can be spent out 

of state. 

The money is absolutely intended to help 

Iowa producers, she said, so if that means 

“When you consider what three decades’ worth of 

inflation have done to the dollar, it becomes even 

more important to look at the future and what we 

might need to enhance the industry moving forward.” 

— chris freland 

taking a chance to potentially invest in an 

international opportunity, that is a valid use 

of the funds. 

At the time of sale, sellers will be 

responsible for a total of $1.50 per head 

for both the state and national checkoffs. 

The national checkoff will continue to be 

non-refundable. 

Those who sell cattle privately are still 

required to remit the checkoff, Freland 

said. For information about forms for 

selling cattle privately or requesting a 

state checkoff refund, go to the Iowa Beef 

Industry Council’s website: iabeef.org 

and click on “producer resources.” For a 

refund, sellers must fill out the form and 

show proof of sale and a receipt for the 

checkoff collected. 

The process shouldn’t add hassle for 

those selling cattle privately because 

they’ve been required to do this at the 

national level all along, Peters said. 

The checkoff has the potential to do 

great things, he said, but it also serves 

those who might not want to contribute. 

“If people feel strongly against it, they 

can get a return, no questions asked,” 

Peters said. “Or, if people think it’s a good 

idea, the opportunity is there for people to 

provide funds toward it.” 

A state checkoff is already mandatory in 

many states across the country, including 

Illinois, Texas, North Dakota, North Carolina, 

Alabama and Tennessee. 

“In June, we plan to have a statewide 

strategic planning session for key stakeholders 

who have an interest in the Iowa 

beef industry in order to garner great 

ideas for future use of the funds moving 

forward,” Freland said. n 

— deven king, 


a rooM WIth a vIeW! 

Wheatland Manor Care Facility is continuing 

its tradition of top-quality nursing care in its 

newly expanded, state-of-the-art facility with 

an unforgettable rural Iowa view. 

New Private Suites are now available. 

Resident 

Marvella Fehling 

Call today for a tour 563-374-1295 

wheatmanor.com 

Wheatland 

Manor care 

facility 

2015 

BRONZE 

h h h h h 

5-star facility 

As determined by Center for 

Medicare and Medicaid Services 

Pictured: (Top) Resident Arthur “Pepsi” Pingel (Bottom Left) 

Wheatland Manor Activity Director Angela Bousselot and 

resident Everett Esbaum. (Bottom Right) Resident Irene Schmidt 


Ohnward Farm Management: 

Supporting family farms from generation to generation. 

ohnward Farm 

Management team 

Greg Bopes and 

Dean engel 

Constant communication 

Executed with detailed reports, 

personal phone calls, and regular visits 

with clients and on the farm. 

professional accounting 

Including monthly and annual financial 

statements, along with income 

and expense summaries. 

Hourly Consulting 

Secure the idea of a professional for short-term 

decision making or special management problems. 

Collaboration 

Operator collaboration between farm 

manager, farm owner, and farm is key 

in successful management of your farm. 

Customer satisfaction 

Significant customer satisfaction is our 

priority. We want every client to be proud 

of the fact that their investment is being 

taken care of and improved constantly. 

Farm Visits 

Farm visits are a priority 

for our farm managers. 

personalized Farm Management program 

When we assume management of your farm, a complete inventory is made 

to identify the specific objectives you have for the farm. This provides the 

background information for future management recommendations and decisions. 

Farm Management 

GreG 

Bopes 

CCA-IA, 4RNMS 

563-652-2491, ext. 4149 

866-320-6327 (toll-free) 

gbopes@ohnward.com 

Dean 

enGel 

563-652-2491 

866-320-6327 (toll-free) 

dengel@ohnward.com

It doesn’t matter 

how it happened... 

At the Adamson-Lindsey Agency, we 

are always there when you need us. 

Adamson-Lindsey 

Agency, Inc. 

Full-Service Independent Insurance Agency 

516 Smith St. • Grand Mound, IA • 563.874.2000 

Bernie Lindsey, Carolyn Dosland-Hasenmiller, Mark Schmidt 

Insurance Association 

Auto - Home - Business - Farm - Crop - Life - Renters - Boat - Motorcycle - RV’s

an app for that 

An 

App 

for 

Agriculturalists have 

Delmar farmer 

Curtis Rickertsen 

uses apps on 

his phone to 

compare data. 

For Garrett Delaney 

of DeWitt, using 

a security system 

app during this 

calving season has been 

more important than ever. 

After having the misfortune of shattering 

his kneecap, he and his family 

bought the camera system that allows 

them to monitor the cows from mobile 

devices or iPads. 

“It’s really nice to check cows from 

the house at two or three in the morning 

instead of using my crutches to 

hobble out to the barn,” Delaney said. 

Cameras are installed above each 

calving pen. Using wireless internet, 

they send images to Delaney’s mobile 

devices. With a click of the app icon, 

he can check his cows in live time. So 

can his father, who works out of town. 

They are among the growing number 

of Iowa farmers who are turning to 

apps. Android users are able to choose 

among 2.2 million apps, while Apple 

users have access to the second largest 

app store with 2 million available.

that 

found many solutions in the palm of their hand 


Ag 

Web 

AgWeb All things agribusiness 

news and advice; get the 

current ag management news, 

farm business blogs, and articles 

from a reliable source. 

ID 

Weeds 

ID Weeds this app will help 

you to identify and map weeds 

and weed trends on your farm 

year over year, based off key 

characteristic selections you 

have identified in your field. 

Cattle 

Fax 

Cattle Fax A great app for 

everyday beef industry data and 

analysis. Get timely information 

while you browse cattle prices, 

view industry data, and examine 

industry news. Optimized for daily 

use by beef producers, traders, 

and cattle enthusiast, this app can 

allow users to quickly access daily 

closing bell, market minute videos, 

and market information. It also 

provides feed cattle and futures; 

weekly U.S. cow slaughter data, 

carcass weights, producer/trader 

calculators, and other useful tools. 

CattleFax is sponsored by Zoetis 

and RJ O’Brien. 

Not all apps are free, but 

efficiencies gained through 

access to data and other 

services they provide allow 

many apps to pay for themselves. 

Apps allow farmers to not 

only keep more information 

in the palm of their hands, 

but also to compare yearto-year 

data in an easier and 

timelier fashion. Users say 

these technologies help crop 

farmers to increase efficiency, 

which maximizes yields 

while minimizing costs. 

That is the experience 

of Curtis Rickertsen, a 

Delmar farmer who bought 

the app Climate FieldView. 

That app combines various 

ag tools to help producers 

maximize their resources 

and yields. Not only does 

this app use real time, but 

it uses historical data about 

the weather and crops to 

help operators make the 

best economic-based decisions. 

“The app saved me 

FarmLogs 

FarmLogs gives you the power 

to see in-season crop health 

maps, weather reports, soil 

information, crop history, and 

yield maps. It does all that while 

keeping track of your farming 

operations in the field. 



Cash 

Grain 

Bids 

Cash Grain Bids Allows you 

to find out what your local grain 

elevators are paying. Enter your 

ZIP code to find out cash bids and 

base levels in your region. View 

results from five elevators near 

you. This tool is independently 

contracted by Farm Journal Media 

and brought to you by Bayer. 

vMEye 

Cloud 

vMEyeCloud Combined with 

vMEye Cloud Technology, 

this app allows users to use 

mobile surveillance on a phone 

or iPad. This is an innovative way 

to check cows without actually 

having to step out of the house. 

The 

Weather 

Channel 

The Weather Channel Make 

confident day-to-day decisions 

based on the world’s most 

downloaded weather app about 

what you’ll do to maximize your 

operation workload goals. 

Tractor 

House 

TractorHouse is a leading app 

updated daily for buyers and 

sellers of farm equipment. It 

features thousands of listings 

from hundreds of dealers in 

North America. It provides users 

with descriptions, photos and 

locations for all listed machinery. 

Its technology finds your location 

to list the available equipment 

closest to you. You can also tap 

to call or email the seller through 

the app, and make your purchase. 

TractorHouse is a product of 

Sandhills Publishing. 

enough just in nitrogen my first year that it 

paid for itself,” Rickertsen said. 

Using satellite images, the app takes pictures 

of the soil and tells farmers where to 

apply nitrogen and how much is needed. It 

can also report if your crops have had damage 

from weather or if disease is developing 

anywhere in the field. The app can even take 

information from certain combines in live 

time and give back instant results. 

“This app makes scouting a lot easier,” 

explained Mike Dicken, district manager 

with Kruger Seeds. “If there is a problem 

appearing on a satellite image in the field, I 

can drop a [digital] pin on the problem area, 

and it will give me directions to the place of 

the problem.” 

Not only does Dicken use it for his operation, 

he has helped several others to get 

started with the technology. The app is user 

friendly enough that even those in the technological 

generation gap can use it, he said. 

This type of app is not only an operational 

investment, Rickertsen said. Its weather 

capabilities and disease detection are like an 

insurance policy, so to speak. 

Climate FieldView owners, like a lot of 

other app owners, have invested time and 

money into the app to ensure it offers the 

best results possible. They are now working 

to make the app more versatile in the types 

of combines it works in with real time and a 

profitability calculator, Dicken said. 

Crop farmers aren’t the only ones who 

benefit from app usage. The app stores offer 

a wide spectrum of weed identification 

tools, weather apps, and chemical mixing 

calculators. They also offer a lot for livestock 

producers – anything from cattle breed 

association apps, herd management apps, 

and sow gestation management tools to market 

apps and daily agriculture news. 

Some apps have a significant agriculture 

use and might not even be intended for agriculture 

– the camera systems like Delaney 

uses in his cattle barn, for example. 

Camera systems vary in price, but with 

many systems the app itself comes at no 

additional cost. Some systems allow users 

to zoom in and out, and notify them of any 

movement. 

“Cattle move all the time, so I don’t use 

that feature,” Delaney explained. 

The data include what time and date the 

images were taken, so farmers can take 

screenshots and refer back to the images. 

Delaney’s system allows up to 16 cameras 

to be installed and viewed. They are also 

connected to computers that show live footage, 

so he doesn’t have to check his phone 

Garrett Delaney displays how he uses an app on his phone 

constantly. 

This type of system is also useful to check 

when an animal is in heat and determine 

when would be a good time to artificially 

inseminate. 

Some ag industry professionals find that 

apps are an efficient way to get up-to-the 

moment market information. 

Many of the leading agriculture businesses 

in our country have developed their own 

app. John Deere, Monsanto, and AgWeb 



Equine 

Journal 

Equine Journal A well-known 

resource for all-breed, 

all-discipline news and 

feature articles, including 

horse health, training, etc. 

Cattle 

Bidder 

Cattle Bidder An app that can 

be used by cattle buyers to figure 

what their maximum bid should 

be when buying cattle based off 

the purchase and sale weights, 

estimated cost of feed, and 

desired margin. 

GoHarvest 

GoHarvest Application gives 

S, W and T series combine 

users the ability to boost their 

2012 or newer machine as they 

enter harvest. Drivers choose 

the model of combine they have 

and the type of crop they intend 

to harvest. GoHarvest suggests 

settings for that crop type. 

The app also is a great guide 

in the field to set changes as 

conditions differ. 


and iPad to check cows that are going to calve without having to leave the house after shattering his knee cap. 

are just a few that offer a variety of apps to 

appeal to each operation’s daily needs and 

concerns. 

“Not only was this app worth the money, 

but its user friendly capabilities have pushed 

me to try other apps that may help our 

program,” Delaney said, “or allow everyone 

in my family to keep track of things together 

through the same app.” 

Apps also offer value to those who work 

in agriculture by offering a convenient dayto-day 

update on markets and ag-related 

news. 

Shawna Lorenzen, livestock production 

specialist with River Valley Coop, explained 

that she uses certain apps like CattleFax for 

market reports, livestock updates, report recaps, 

and breaking events so she can discuss 

them with clients. n 

— deven king, 


Agriculture 

Manager 

Cash Flow 

Agriculture Manager Cash Flow 

is a farm manager app for 

cash-flow online analysis and 

control. It allows farm operators to 

manage their agriculture business 

and do proper sales management 

all in one app. The app allows you 

to store various farms, save your 

daily farm notes, and manage 

your cash flow all with the touch 

of a finger on your mobile device. 


2 WORKHORSES 

ARE BETTER THAN 1. 

WHEN IT COMES TO GETTING YOUR WORK DONE, GO WITH 

THE TOUGHEST WORKHORSES – AND WE HAVE TWO. 

NO WONDER WE’RE 

THE WORLD’S NUMBER 1 

SELLING TRACTOR 

Mahindra mPACT XTV 

Best-in-Class Cargo Box Capacity (1,200 lb) 

Best-in-Class Towing Capacity (2,100 lb) 

Best-in-Class Ground Clearance (12”) 

Mahindra eMAX 

Best-in-Class Lift Capacity 

Best-in-Class Turning Radius 

Best-in-Class Warranty 

Franzen Family Tractors & Parts, LLC 

1218 49th St. Monmouth, IA 52309 

franzenfamilyparts.com • 563-673-6631

PEOPLE ARE STILL 

IMPORTANT… 

The seed industry 

has lost its focus on 

people…we haven’t. 

Rob-See-Co is building a business based on long-term relationships 

and we’re going to great lengths to take care of our customers’ 

needs. If you want more from your seed company, let’s talk. 

Chance Deppe 

Maquoketa 

563-451-5037 

Steve Eickert 

Andover 

563-357-2118 

Farmers Shipping 

Dyersville 

563-599-2941 

Jim Holtz 

Lost Nation 

563-593-1150 

Bob Kohnert 

Grand Mound 

563-357-3854

Ag Bytes 

Federal Reserve economist 

to speak in DeWitt in March 

Ohnward Financial Services and its 

community banking partners will host 

the 2017 Economic Summit on Monday, 

March 27, at Tycoga 

Winery, Highway 61 at 

195th Street in DeWitt. 

William Strauss, a 

senior economist and 

economic adviser at the 

Federal Reserve Bank 

in Chicago, will be the 

William Strauss 

featured speaker. Strauss, who joined the 

Federal Reserve in 1982, analyzes the 

performance of both the Midwest economy 

and the manufacturing sector. He has 

been interviewed on many television and 

radio shows and quoted in major business 

magazines and newspapers. He also 

provides testimony concerning manufacturing 

issues to the U.S. Senate. 

Kohl to address farmers 

in March at TYCOGA 

Maquoketa State Bank will host 

agriculture economist Dr. David Kohl 

at 10 a.m Tuesday, March 28, at Tycoga 

Winery. The topic of his presentation will 

be “Agriculture at the 

Crossroads.” 

“Dr. Kohl will be 

looking at financial 

aspects from a producer 

standpoint,” said Joel 

Lasack, vice president 

Dr. David Kohl of agriculture loans for 

MSB. 

Kohl has had years of experience in 

academic research and in working with 

commercial banks, ag lenders and producers 

throughout the world. His personal 

involvement with agriculture and interaction 

with key industry players give 

him a unique perspective into the future 

trends of the agriculture industry and the 

economy. 

He was professor of agricultural finance 

and small business management and 

entrepreneurship in the Department of 

Agricultural and Applied Economics at 

Virginia Tech. He is currently president 

of AgriVisions LLC, a knowledge-based 

consulting business that serves agricultural 

organizations worldwide. He also is a 

business coach and part owner of Homestead 

Creamery, a value-added dairy 

business in the Blue Ridge Mountains. 

Century and Heritage farm 

owners encouraged to apply 

Eligible farm owners can apply for 

the 2017 Century and Heritage Farm 

program. The program is sponsored by 

the Iowa Department of Agriculture and 

Land Stewardship (IDALS) and the Iowa 

Farm Bureau Federation and recognizes 

We’re pretty handy with a wrench, but let’s 

leave this one to the experts 

See Jeff Baker or louie Bartels 

for all your mechanical needs 

• oil Change, lube & Filter 

• tire Sales, Repair 

• Wheel alignment 

• Engines, transmission Repair 

• tune up for Cars and trucks 

• auto Sales 

J&S Auto 

Specialists 

Jeff & Sherry Baker, OwnerS 

563-652-6100 

401 E. Platt • MaquokEta, Ia 

J&S Auto owners’ grandkids, 

William kirk, addilynn kirk 

and Jackson Baker 


Ag Bytes 

families who have owned their farm for 

100 years in the case of Century farms 

and 150 years for Heritage farms. 

Applications are available on the department’s 

website at www.IowaAgriculture.gov 

by clicking on the Century Farm 

or Heritage Farm link under “Hot Topics.” 

Applications also may be requested 

from Becky Lorenz, coordinator of the 

Century and Heritage Farm Program, via 

phone at 515-281-3645, email at Becky. 

Lorenz@IowaAgriculture.gov or by writing 

to Century or Heritage Farms Program, 

Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land 

Stewardship, Henry A. Wallace Building, 

502 E. Ninth St., Des Moines, IA 50319. 

Farm families seeking to qualify for the 

Century or Heritage Farms Program must 

submit an application to the department 

no later than June 1. 

The Century Farm program was started 

in 1976 as part of the Nation’s Bicentennial 

Celebration. More than 19,000 farms 

across the state have received this recognition. 

The Heritage Farm program was 

started in 2006, on the 30th anniversary 

of the Century Farm program, and more 

than 900 farms have been recognized. 

Last year 320 Century Farms and 103 

Heritage Farms were recognized. 

Ag partnerships continue 

to demonstrate water 

quality momentum 

The Iowa Pork Producers Association 

(IPPA) is partnering with the Iowa 

Department of Agriculture and Land 

Stewardship (IDALS) to offer additional 

cost share dollars to pig farmers installing 

new nutrient loss reduction technologies. 

Through this program, IPPA will provide 

up to $25,000 throughout the next 

year to offset up to 50 percent of costs for 

pig farmers to install saturated buffers or 

bioreactors on their farmland. Sites will 

be selected based on greatest opportunity 

for nitrate reduction and be geographically 

dispersed throughout the state to aid in 

education and demonstration opportunities. 

“Bioreactors and saturated buffers are 

new practices that have been developed 

to address water quality, so this $25,000 

investment will help us install them at 

sites across the state so we can continue 

to demonstrate to farmers how they may 

be able fit on their farm,” Iowa Secretary 

of Agriculture Bill Northey said. 

Participating producers will be asked to 

share information and experiences with 

other farmers through IPPA and IDALS 

programs. 

Pig farmers interested in the program can 

submit basic farm information for project 

consideration at www.surveygizmo.com/ 

s3/3108271/IDALS-EOF-Funding-Application. 

Tom and Kevin 

Holdgrafer are 

your specialists for: 

• Brock Grain Bins 

• Brock Dryers 

• Westfield Augers 

• Shivvers Dryers 

• Meyer Tower Dryers 

“We guarantee 

the products and systems we 

sell and ensure satisfaction 

with every customer.” 

100 N Division St. Spragueville, Iowa 52074 • 563-689-4890 (Fax) 


Ag Bytes 

For more information, contact Tyler Bettin 

at IPPA at 800-372-7675 or tbettin @iowapork.org 

or Matt Lechtenberg at IDALS 

at 515-281-3857 or matthew.lechtenberg@ 

iowaagriculture.gov. 

This new offering from IPPA builds 

on its additional efforts supportive of the 

Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy, including 

cover crop research, field day support 

and educational outreach. 

Photography exhibit featuring 

rural life now showing at MAE 

A photography exhibit that captures 

farming as a way of life is on display at 

the Maquoketa Art Experience March 3 

through May 17. 

Farm Life in Iowa is an exhibition of 

30 photographs taken by A. M. “Pete” 

Wettach (1901–1976) from 1925 to 1960 

– 35 of the most revolutionary years for 

farming as a way of life in Iowa. 

MAE, located at 124 S. Main St., is 

open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday 

through Friday, noon to 4 p.m. Saturday 

and Sunday and by appointment. 

A reception for the exhibit is set for 1 

p.m. to 3 p.m. March 19 at the MAE. It is 

free and open to the public. 

Kathleen Edwards, senior curator at the 

University of Iowa Museum of Art, will 

present a program on the Wettach exhibit 

from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. April 9 at the MAE. 

It also is free and open to the public. 

Working as a freelance photographer 

based in Mount Pleasant, Wettach 

recorded changes in farming practices at 

the same time as he honored traditional 

values of family and self-sufficiency. 

Wettach’s unique interpretation of the 

family farm comes from his documentary 

style and keen compassion for his 

subjects. 

The photographs in the exhibition were 

printed by Steven Tatum from negatives 

in the A. M. Wettach Collection, State 

Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa City. 

Grants available to help promote 

specialty crops 

The Iowa Department of Agriculture 

and Land Stewardship is accepting applications 

for grant funding through the 

Specialty Crop Block Grant program. The 

grants are available to support projects 

that enhance the competitiveness of specialty 

crops grown in Iowa. Last year’s 

funding was $244,352. 

Grant awards will be considered up to 

a maximum of $24,000 and projects can 

have a duration of up to 30 months. 

Proposals must be received by IDALS on 

or before 4 p.m. April 3. For more information 

visit the IDALS Specialty Crop Block 

Grant program at the Department’s web site 

at www.IowaAgriculture.gov/Horticulture_ 

and_FarmersMarkets/specialtyCropGrant. 

asp. 

COOKIE CUTTERS ARE 

FINE FOR COOKIES 

WE’D RATHER MAKE 

CUSTOM BUILT HOMES 

Only Wausau Homes 

builds fully custom 

one of a kind, superior 

quality homes – from 

– 

and move in date, 

guaranteed. 

Get started on 

yours today. 

YOUR WAY 

FIRM PRICE 

ON TIME 

WAUSAU HOMES ELDRIDGE 

563.249.3850 

WausauHomes.com 


Ag Bytes 

NRCS offers 

programs to assist 

with sustainability 

The National Resources 

Conservation Service (NRCS) 

offers voluntary programs to 

eligible landowners and agricultural 

producers to provide 

financial and technical assistance 

to help manage natural 

resources in a sustainable 

manner. The agency approves 

contracts to provide financial 

assistance to help plan 

and implement conservation 

practices that address natural 

resource concerns or opportunities 

to help save energy and 

improve soil, water, plant, air, 

animal and related resources 

on agricultural lands and 

non-industrial private forest 

land. 

It has local offices in 

Anamosa, DeWitt, Epworth, 

Maquoketa and Tipton. To 

locate and contact an office 

visit: nrcs.usda.gov 

Financial assistance programs 

include the following: 

Conservation Innovation 

Grants (CIG) is a voluntary 

program intended to stimulate 

the development and adoption 

of innovative conservation 

approaches and technologies 

while leveraging federal 

investment in environmental 

enhancement and protection, 

in conjunction with agricultural 

production. 

Through the Conservation 

Stewardship Program 

(CSP), NRCS provides financial 

and technical assistance to 

eligible producers to conserve 

and enhance soil, water, air, 

and related natural resources 

on their land. Eligible lands 

include cropland, grassland, 

prairie land, improved pastureland, 

rangeland, nonindustrial 

private forestlands, 

agricultural land under the 

jurisdiction of an Indian tribe, 

and other private agricultural 

land on which resource 

concerns related to agricultural 

production could be 

addressed. 

The Environmental 

Quality Incentives Program 

(EQIP) is a voluntary program 

that provides financial 

and technical assistance to 

agricultural producers through 

contracts up to a maximum 

term of 10 years in length. 

The Regional Conservation 

Partnership Program 

(RCPP) promotes coordination 

between NRCS and its 

partners to deliver conservation 

assistance to producers 

and landowners. 

Working Together to Build Strong 

Agricultural Communities Since 1919 

Join or renew your membership to 

Farm Bureau to claim your benefits 

Clinton County: 563.659.5134 Jackson County: 563.652.2456 

Farm Bureau is an independent, non-governmental, voluntary organization governed by and 

representing farm and ranch families united for the purpose of analyzing their problems and 

formulating action to achieve educational improvement, economic opportunity and social 

advancement and, thereby, to promote the national well-being. Farm Bureau is local, county, 

state, national and international in its scope and influence and is non-partisan, non-sectarian 

and non-secret in character. Farm Bureau is the voice of agricultural producers at all levels. 

fb.org 

f 


homestyle desserts 

Desserts 

homestyle 

Kaitlin Luett whips up one of her treasured desserts. 



Recipe for 

making 

memories: 

Baking 

I 

really 

like to eat cakes and 

cookies. Anything sweet, 

really. I have a very hard 

time turning down a sugary 

treat. But I am really, 

really bad at making and 

baking them. This has 

become a bit of a burden 

on me because I enjoy baking. 

And, of course, I come from 

a long line of great bakers 

and cooks. 

My grandmas were both excellent bakers, and 

they made the most delicious food, always making 

it seem effortless. I have very vivid memories 

of visiting the house of my Grandma Taylor 

and her cooking waffles and pepper bacon in the 

morning for my cousins and me. Grandma Luett, 

who lived on the Luett family farm, always had 

homemade cookies or brownies or something 

sweet on hand. I cherish those times. 

I connect baking with many memories of 

my grandparents. Since they are not around 

anymore, I want to be able to re-create some of 

those memories now and, one day, pass my tips 

and tricks and recipes on to my children and 

grandchildren. 

My quest of becoming a more successful baker 

will not include my grandmas’ advice, which is 

terribly sad. I cannot ask them about their love 

of preparing food for their families and loved 

ones. I very much wish that I could. I can ask for 

advice from those who are around me every day, 

eastern iowa farmer photos / brooke taylor 


HOMESTYLE DESSERTS 

Kaitlin Luett (third from left) has 

fond memories of baking with her 

grandma Esther Taylor (second from 

left). Also shown are grandpa Gerald 

Taylor and sister Jenna Luett. 

EASTERN IOWA FARMER PHOTO / 

CONTRIBUTED 

including 

three very excellent bakers I 

happen to know. I’m also gathering my 

own favorite recipes from other bakers, 

cookbooks, magazines and the internet 

for my very own recipe collection to keep 

and add to and pass on when the time 

comes. 

Cooking and baking seem to be as 

much about love and caring as the actual 

science of combining ingredients. People 

have very vivid memories from their 

past that coincide with food, or making 

food with a loved one, or using a loved 

one’s recipe. I think this is what I have 

been missing when attempting to bake for 

myself. 

Kim Carr, a friend and co-worker of 

mine from Maquoketa, connects happy 

memories with food. 

“When I think of those good times, I 

also remember what food was brought 

and how it was prepared. When I prepare 

something, I do it to give the people I 

share it with good feelings as well,” she 

said. 

Kim challenged me to read through 

editions of “Cook’s Country,” a cooking 

and baking magazine devoted to breaking 

down complex recipes step-by-step and 

giving important tips for a more successful 

finished product. 

I generally just throw the ingredients 

into the bowl and mix when I bake. I 

do not take the time to think about how 

the ingredients mix together and exactly 

what the end result will be. And the end 

result of baking for me, until recently, 

was to eat the food I had prepared, not 

necessarily to enjoy what I had made or to 

106 EASTERN IOWA FARMER | SPRING 2017


enjoy the process of making it. A recipe 

should be made with care and grace, not 

haphazardly thrown together on a whim. 

Otherwise, what is the point? 

A trick that Kim uses has helped her 

and others to alleviate any pressure or 

confusion when measuring and combining 

the ingredients. This is the part that 

always trips me up. 

“As much as it is a science, there’s also 

room for experimentation. Don’t mess 

with the basic science, but do try altering 

other ingredients for taste,” she said. 

I have a hard time with fractions, and 

the measuring spoons have always tripped 

me up. But adding ingredients based on 

how they taste and not sticking exactly to 

the recipe is a very freeing idea, and one 

that makes baking much more interesting 

to me. I never realized that there could be 

a sense of improvisation to baking and 

cooking, which also makes it seem a bit 

less daunting. 

Simple mistakes continue to plague all 

bakers. Luckily, those around me have 

been through it all and know to warn me 

now. My mom, Diane Luett, grew up on 

a farm that sits on Highway 64. She lives 

on the Luett family farm now, which 

is west of Maquoketa, just outside of 

Nashville. She let me in on a simple, yet 

important rule: “Make sure you have all 

“As much as it is a 

science, there’s also 

room for experimentation. 

Don’t mess with the 

basic science, but do 

try altering other 

ingredients for taste.” 

— Kim Carr 

the ingredients you need before you start 

baking. Never assume you have something 

in your cupboard; ALWAYS check 

first. There is nothing worse than having 

to scrap a half-done recipe because you 

didn’t check to see if you had everything 

you needed. It ends up being such a 

waste!” 

It seems too simple, but how many 

times have I gotten to a point in my 

recipe, and then realized I didn’t have any 

vanilla, or I am out of cocoa powder, or 

the eggs have gone bad? Multiple times, 

and the realization always ruins the good 

mood and flow of what I am doing. My 

recipe then never turns out right or never 

happens, and frustration eventually sets 

in. Baking is done out of a place of love 

and passion and can be totally ruined by 

one missing ingredient. 

Conny Falkner, a friend of mine who 

grew up in a small town in Germany and 

now lives in Maquoketa, adds another 

simple tip she wished she had known 

when she first started baking: “When 

the recipe calls for room temperature 

ingredients – make sure they are room 

temperature.” 

It’s simple thing, but it can be a big 

mistake if not followed. 

With all this good advice at my disposal, 

I have begun my journey toward being 

a better baker. I have gathered six recipes 

“You’re not just another customer to these guys. 

Business is personal to them. They care about my 

business and make sure I have the protection I need.” 

— John Schneider, Goose Lake 

I 

G 

The 

Insurance 

Group 

Mark 

Mangler 

Mike 

DeterMan 

www.theinsgroup.org 

Phone: (563)242-4000 • 1050 North 18th Street • Clinton, Iowa 



eastern iowa farmer photo / Contributed 

from various locations 

so far. In my research, I 

looked through several old 

cookbooks at The Jackson 

County Historical Museum, 

and the magazine “Cook’s 

Country” has been very 

helpful. I tried to pick 

recipes that were somewhat 

difficult and not something I 

would ordinarily make. But 

there may be one or two of 

my favorites in there, too. 

Every recipe I chose has 

been written down exactly, 

and the original baker noted 

on the back of the card. 

I want to remember and 

give credit to those who 

have brought these recipes 

to life before me. Writing 

the recipes down – in my 

own handwriting – helped 

me to better remember the 

ingredient list, and to break 

it down, accurately stepby-step, 

so I am able to 

understand it later. 

So far, my recipe 

book is all desserts. My 

persistent sweet tooth 

has finally found a useful 

purpose. I have started my 

own recipe collection and 

am going to continue to 

learn more about baking. 

By taking the advice 

of the excellent bakers 

around me and keeping the 

wonderful memories of my 

childhood in the front of 

my mind, I think that I can 

finally begin to understand 

what it means to be a baker 

and really enjoy what I 

bake. And if I am enjoying 

what I am doing, the final 

result should be successful. 

Baking is a skill that can 

bring enjoyment and love 

for an entire lifetime. And 

who couldn’t use a little 

more enjoyment, love – and 

baking – in their lives? n 

— Kaitlin luett, 


Kaitlin and grandma Janis Luett shared special times baking together. 

Since 1972, the Breedens have been selling Pella Iowa’s top-quality equipment 

Let Bob, Calvin 

and Josh help 

you with all your 

baling needs. 

563-686-4242 

breedensales.com • email: c4balers@netins.net 

17047 167th Ave. 

Maquoketa, Iowa 52060 


you Farm. we paint. 

Steel Roofs • Houses • Barns • Steel Buildings • Grain Bins • Custom Projects 

BEFORE 

AFTER 

BEFORE 

AFTER 

BEFORE 

AFTER 

 

BEFORE 

AFTER 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spain Painting 

 

Dewitt, IA 

Commercial Industrial Residential 

Proudly serving our community for over 40 years 

Free eStimateS | ScheduLe earLy 

Levi Spain | 563-357-3621


Hefezopf 

(Sweet Bread) 

Conny Faulkner 

Prep Time: 3-4 hours rest 

time, 10 minutes to assemble 

Bake Time: 35 minutes 

Makes 1 large loaf of 

sweet bread 

4 C. flour with 1 pinch of salt 

1 C. sugar 

6 Tbs. room-temperature 

butter or margarine 

1 C. warm milk 

1 egg 

1 pkg. Active Yeast (3/4 oz.) 

Pour flour into large bowl. 

Create a hole in the center of 

the flour, add sugar, butter, 

milk, egg and yeast. Let sit 

10 minutes. Mix dough until 

no longer sticky. Add flour, if 

necessary. Once dough is no 

longer sticky, knead by hand 

for four (4) minutes. Cover 

dough and let rest in warm 

area for 3-4 hours. Preheat 

oven to 350 degrees. 

Do NOT knead dough again 

after resting time. Separate 

dough into 3 long pieces and 

make a braid. Make an egg 

wash out of 3 egg yolks and 

brush onto braid. Sprinkle 

with almond slivers and coarse 

sugar. Bake on parchment 

paper for 35 minutes. 

Peach 

Melba Crisp 

Rebecca Marsters, 

Cook’s Country 

Prep Time: 25-30 minutes 


Serves 8-10 people 

Enjoy Independent Living 55+ 

Filling: 

2 Tbs. instant tapioca 

2 ½ lbs. fresh peaches, 

peeled, halved, pitted 

¼ C. sugar 

1/8 tsp. salt 

1 Tbs. lemon juice 

1 tsp. vanilla extract 

2 C. raspberries 

Topping: 

½ C. flour 

¼ C. packed brown sugar 

¼ C. sugar 

¼ tsp. cinnamon 

¼ tsp. ginger, ground 

¼ tsp. salt 

6 Tbs. butter, cut into ½-inch 

pieces 

½ C. oats 

For the Filling: 

Grind tapioca in spice grinder 

for 30 seconds. Gently toss 

peaches with sugar and salt 

in bowl and let sit, stirring 

occasionally. Drain peaches, 

reserve peach juice. Return 

peaches to bowl and toss with 

2 tbs. peach juice, ground tapioca 

lemon juice and vanilla. 

April McFall, 

Executive Director 

Call April for a tour today! 

Regency 

Retirement 

Residence of Clinton 

563-242-1010 

839 13th Avenue North 

Clinton, Iowa 52732 

www.regencyofclinton.com 

• Pool Room 

• Exercise Room 

• Library 

• Garage Space 

• Van Transport 

• And More! 



Transfer to 8-inch baking 

dish and press into even layer. 

Top peaches with raspberries. 

For the topping: Combine 

flour, brown sugar, sugar, 

cinnamon, ginger and salt until 

combined. Add butter, mix 

well. Add oats until mixture 

forms marble-sized clumps. 

Chill mixture for 15 minutes. 

Heat oven to 400 degrees. 

Distribute topping evenly over 

fruit. Bake until topping is 

well browned and fruit is 

bubbling, about 30 minutes. 

Cool at least 30 minutes 

before serving. 

Publication 

bruary 2017 

Texas-Style 

Blueberry 

Cobbler 

Rebecca Marsters, Cook’s 

Country 

Prep Time: 20 minutes 

Bake Time: 45-50 minutes 


4 Tbs. butter or margarine, 

cut into 4 pieces 

8 Tbs. butter or margarine, 

melted and cooled 

1 ½ C. sugar 

1 ½ tsp. grated lemon zest 

3 C. blueberries 

1 ½ C. all-purpose flour 

2 ½ tsp. baking powder 

¾ tsp. salt 

1 ½ C. milk 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Place 4 cut-up pieces of 

butter in 13” by 9” pan. Heat 

until butter is melted for 8-10 

minutes. Pulse ¼ C. sugar and 

lemon zest until combined. 

Mash blueberries with 1 tbsp. 

lemon-sugar until blueberries 

are coarsely mashed. Combine 

flour, remaining sugar, baking 

powder and salt in large bowl. 

Whisk in milk and 8 tbsp. 

cooled butter until smooth. 

Pour batter into buttered pan. 

Dollop mashed blueberry 

mixture evenly over batter. 

Sprinkle with remaining lemonsugar 

to taste. Bake until 

golden brown with crisp edges, 

45-50 minutes. Let cool for 

30 minutes and serve warm. 

Scoop of ice cream: optional. 

Shop Theisen’s for all your 

Farm & Animal Needs 

Roof, no roof, 

ground, no ground. 

No problem. 

Dedicated Community 

Solar Energy, LLC 

We design, develop, manufacture 

and maintain community solar farms. 

Cost effective savings are obtained 

though combined power in numbers, 

saving the planet one clean electron 

at a time. 

Dedicated Community Solar offers a 

variety of services to help you get 

started becoming solar autonomous. 

23 Stores across 

Iowa and Wisconsin! 

THEISENS.COM 

® 

©2017 DCSE,LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 

Dedicated Community 

Solar Energy, LLC. 

www.dcsolaren.com 



Cream Cheese 

Chocolate 

Chip Cookies 

Viola Kilburg 



Makes four (4) dozen cookies 

1 C. margarine, softened 

1 C. sugar 

1 (3-oz.) pkg. cream cheese, 

room-temperature 

2 eggs 

1 tsp. vanilla 

½ tsp. lemon extract 

2 ½ C. all-purpose flour 

1 tsp. baking powder 

½ tsp. baking soda 

1 C. chocolate chips 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Cream margarine well. Add 

sugar, beat until smooth and 

fluffy. Blend in cream cheese, 

eggs, vanilla and lemon 

extract. In a separate bowl, 

mix flour, baking powder and 

baking soda. Stir in creamed 

mixture. Fold in chocolate 

chips and mix well. Drop by 

tsp. onto lightly greased cookie 

sheet or waxed paper. 

Bake for 10 minutes. 

Enjoy either warm or cooled. 

SAVE 40% 

OR MORE 

ON YOUR ENERGY BILLS 

GreenTech is a locally owned energy solution company 

that provides safe and efficient insulation services to 

farmers, businesses and homeowners who are seeking 

a competitively-priced and environmentally safe product. 

CALL GREENTECH AND 

LEARN ABOUT THE MANY 

BENEFITS OF SPRAY 

FOAM INSULATION 

and schedule your FREE estimate 

GreenTech 

Spray Foam Insulation 

Smart Choice, Safe Result 

330 S. Sixth Ave., DeWitt, IA • 563-659-6323 

www.irwingreentech.com 


Customized plans 

for farmers needs 

Crop — Property — Liability — Health 

If you need to customize your plan, let 

the professionals at Petersen Insurance 

or Sheridan & Associates Insurance 

help you get started today. 

Mary Kay 

Leisha 

Brenda 

Kelly 

Cindy 

Sheridan & Associates Insurance 

563-659-5014 

1021 9th Ave., DeWitt, Ia Email: sheridan@iowatelecom.net Fax: 563-659-5016 

Petersen Insurance Company, Inc. 

563-374-1244 

118 Main St. So, Wheatland, Ia Email: peterins@fbcom.net Fax: 563-374-1087


Diane’s Cherry 

Cheesecake 

Dessert 

Diane Luett 


Bake Time: 4 hours of set 

time 


10 graham crackers, crushed 

1 tsp. sugar 

½ C. butter 

Mix all together for graham 

cracker crust. Push onto 

bottom and sides of 

regular-sized pie pan. 

2- 8 oz. pckgs. cream cheese 

1 can sweetened condensed 

milk 

¼ C. lemon juice 

Mix well and pour mixture 

into graham cracker crust. 

Let set in refrigerator for 

4 hours. Top with 1 can of 

Wilderness Cherries. Enjoy! 

“It’s like a Second Home!” 

Left, Arlene Hansen and Mary Ellen 

Greve moved from family farms to 

Prairie Hills a few years ago. 

Gerald Determan, below, worked 

for Shocky Farms early in his 

career. Now he enjoys the 

comfort of Prairie Hills and the 

company of his K9 friend, Shasta. 

PRAIRIE HILLS 

A SYMPHONY SENIOR LIVING COMMUNITY 

CLINTON 

563 

243-6870 

1701 13th Avenue N 

Clinton, Ia 



Strawberry 

Shortcake 

Karen Tack, Cook’s Country 

Prep Time: 30-35 minutes 

Bake Time: 12-14 minutes 

Serves 6 people 

Fruit: 8 C. strawberries, hulled 

6 tbs. sugar 

Shortcakes: 

2 C. flour 

5 Tbs. sugar 

1 Tbs. baking powder 

½ tsp. salt 

1 stick (8 tbs.) butter, ½-inch cubes 

1 large egg, lightly beaten 

½ C + 1 tbs. whole milk 

1 large egg white, lightly beaten 

Whipped Cream: 

1 C. heavy cream, cold 

1 Tbs. sugar 

1 tsp. vanilla extract 

For the Fruit: Hull 3 C. strawberries, 

crush with a potato masher. Slice remaining 

5 C. and mix with crushed fruit, let sit 

1 hour. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 

For the Shortcakes: Stir flour, 3 Tbs. 

sugar, baking powder and salt. Scatter 

butter pieces, mix until a coarse meal. 

Mix beaten egg with whole milk in measuring 

cup. Pour egg mixture into bowl 

with flour mixture. Combine with rubber 

spatula. Put mixture onto floured surface, 

knead until it comes together. Pat dough 

into 9” x 6” circle. Cut into 6 round dough 

shapes. Brush tops with beaten egg 

whites. Sprinkle remaining sugar on top. 

Bake 12-14 minutes. 

For the Whipped Cream: 

Add heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla in 

chilled bowl. Mix until smooth, thick and 

double volume. 

To Assemble: Split shortcakes in half. 

Spoon fruit and whipped cream onto 

bottom halves of shortcakes. Cap with 

cake tops and serve. 

Rolling Meadow Devons 

Pre-Potent Bulls & Semen 

“Discover the Difference” 

Our Vision: To bring you the highest value Red Devon 

genetics prioritizing on wide & deep bodies, high butterfat, 

great udders, longevity, and genetically dense! 

High Quality Females & Embryos 

Jamie Hostetler & family 

Bellevue, IA 

(815-718-1100) 

Email: jamie@emypeople.net 


We Won’t feed your cattle 

What We Won’t 

feed our oWn 

Starting now any 4-H or FFa student feeding Purina Honor Chow products or other 

qualified Purina products will receive 10% back on total product billed at the end of their county fair. 

PMC 

Agri 

Service 

Owners, Warren & Michelle Moeller 

ContACt PMC for All your 

Protein And MinerAl needS 

563.682.7776 

109 Ferry Rd. Miles, Ia

It is Your Livelihood. 

Make Sure You’re Protected. 

Whether you are a local grower or a large cultivator, we understand the value of insuring 

your greatest asset. At The Engel Agency, Inc., we are dedicated to providing the agricultural 

coverage and services you need to keep your farm or ranch protected – so you can focus on 

maintaining a smooth operation. 

INSURANCE 

• Farm Owners Insurance 

• Livestock Insurance 

• Equine Insurance 

• Farm Blanket Insurance 

• Dwelling Insurance 

• Structure Insurance 

• Auto Insurance 

• Umbrella Insurance 

• Liability Insurance 

• Crop Insurance 

REAL ESTATE 

Our team of real estate agents 

works closely with you and for 

you to make sure you find the 

property that is just right. You’ll 

experience the quality service 

and attention to detail that you 

can only find with a locally owned 

and operated real estate agency. 

Our Team, left to right: Chris Schaefer, Fred Droste, Jennifer Machande, Shawn Blake, 

Abby Schueller, and Lisa Bormann 

Maquoketa 

INSURANCE & REAL ESTATE 

210 W. Platt • Maquoketa 

AgENCy 

• Jennifer Machande 

815-541-3037 

• Chris Schaefer 

563-320-6205 

www.engelinsurance.com 

• Fred Droste 

563-543-4461 

• Abby Schueller 

563-599-3688 

Office 563-652-5684 • 800-684-0693

FSA loans 

can help with 

financing needs 

Several options available 

depending on situations 

If you have 

any questions, 

please contact 

your local 

FSA Office. 

Cedar County 

205 W. South St., 

Ste 3, Tipton, IA 

52772 

(563) 886-6061 

Clinton County 

1212 17th Ave., 

DeWitt, IA 52742. 

(563) 659-3456 

By TOM LANE 

Farm Service Agency 

District Director for SE Iowa 

tom.lane@ia.usda.gov 

eastern Iowa farmer 

The new year is here, and planning for the 

coming crop year is underway. Financing is one 

of the things that require in-depth planning, and 

FSA might be able to help. 

FSA’s Farm Loan Programs include a variety 

of financing options to help producers to meet 

their financing needs. While many of FSA’s 

programs are targeted toward beginning farmers, 

most programs are also available to more 

established farmers to help with a farm expansion, 

establishing a new enterprise, or refinancing 

debt. 

To raise awareness about some of our loan 

programs, I will touch briefly on requirements 

of the programs. If one catches your interest, 

contact your local FSA office for more details. 

Microloans are a popular loan option for new 

farmers and for producers who grow non-traditional 

crops. Microloans have a streamlined 

application process, requiring less paperwork. 

Loans, which are capped at $50,000, can be 

used to fund operating needs, such as buying 

livestock or crop inputs, as well as buying capital 

items, including machinery. Funds can also 

be used to make limited real estate improvements, 

or even to buy land in some situations. 

Direct Operating Loans can be used for 

many purposes, including funding crop input, 

and buying farm machinery or livestock. Eligible 

producers can borrow up to $300,000 in this 

program, and no down payment is required. Repayment 

terms vary from 12 months to 7 years, 

depending on use of the loan. 

Direct Farm Ownership Loans are used to 

buy a farm (just as the name says) or to make 

improvements to an existing farm, including 

building construction. The three types of Farm 

Ownership loans are regular, joint financing and 

down payment. The down-payment program is 

targeted to underrepresented groups in production 

agriculture, including farm operators who 

are beginning, female, and racial minorities. The 

rates, terms and down payment requirements 

vary by program, but $300,000 is the maximum 

loan available from FSA under any of these 

programs. FSA often partners with other lenders 

and can take a second lien on property being 

purchased to encourage other lenders to participate 

in the financing. 

Guaranteed Loans are another financing 

option designed to help family farmers to gain 

access to credit at competitive rates and terms. 

With this program, producers apply to borrow 

money from a commercial lender. The lender 

then asks for a guarantee from FSA. The guarantee 

allows the lender to offer rates and terms 

that would not otherwise be available to the producer. 

Types of loans available include farm operating 

and farm ownership loans. The primary 

benefits of the guaranteed loan program include 

added flexibility for the lender, the opportunity 

to sell the loan on the secondary market, and a 

larger loan limit ($1.399 million) than offered 

through FSA’s direct loan programs. 

Youth Operating Loans are also available 

for young people interested in production 

agriculture. People between the ages of 10 and 

21 can receive up to $5,000 in loans to gain 

farm and business experience. Most projects 

are tied closely to an FFA or 4-H project. These 

loans offer an excellent learning opportunity for 

young producers. 

FSA has seen tremendous growth in its loan 

programs. Interested parties are encouraged to 

contact their local FSA office to get more details 

and to see whether there is a program that fits 

their financing needs. 

Dubuque County 

210 Bierman Road, 

Epworth, IA 52045. 

(563) 876-3328 

Jackson County 

601 E Platt Street, 

Maquoketa, IA 

52060. 

(563) 652-3237 

Jones County 

300 Chamber Dr., 

Anamosa, IA 

52205. 

(563) 462-3517 


Farmers 

— protecting — 

Farmers 

It doesn’t get more American than that. 

American 

Mutual 

Insurance Association 

As a mutual policyholder you are an owner 

of American Mutual Insurance Association. 

As an owner you can have the confidence 

that our decisions are always based on what’s 

best for you, your farm, and your family. 

Come see why, since 1878, your neighbors 

have trusted American Mutual Insurance 

for their farm insurance needs. 

American Mutual Insurance Association is reinsured by Grinnell Mutual 

Reinsurance Company, an A.M. Best “A” rated company for 25 years, 

which lets you know we’ll be there when you need us most. 

Grand Mound, IA 

563-847-2000 

Find a local independent agent 

www.amutualinsurance.com

Farm Kitchens can have that 

WOW factor too! 

Formed from stainless steel coated with a darker hue and topped with a protective coating, the LG Black Stainless Steel Series 

makes every appliance fingerprint and smudge resistant even on the farm. A dry cloth is all it takes to bring back its original luster. 

Black Stainless pairs beautifully with any style or color of surrounding cabinetry. 

A great way to add the WOW to the farm kitchen. 

Pictured: 

Cal Quimby, Salesman, 

Paul Hardison, Store Manager, 

Tim Clark, President, and 

Brandon Hicks, Salesman 

Friendly, knowledgeable appliance 

sales and service since 1946 

Address: 225 5th Ave S, Clinton, IA 52732 Phone: 563-242-6121 Website: www.zirkelbachs.com

Lori Schnoor, 


Conservationist, 

explains the 

rainfall simulator 

to her audience 

at the Hurstville 

Interpretive Center 

in October. 

eastern iowa 



Underground has life of its own 

Seeing is believing. 

That was the phrase conservationist 

Lori Schnoor used last fall to introduce 

a rainfall simulator demonstration 

that would show how soil management 

impacts soil health. 

It was Oct. 18, and some 35 women 

were gathered in the picnic area behind 

the Hurstville Interpretive Center in 

Maquoketa to learn more about how their 

farming practices could help or hinder 

productivity and conservation. 

The demonstration was my introduction 

to the fascinating world of life underground 

– the earthworms, nematodes, root 

systems, ants, fungi and more – that I’ve 

been tromping over with little awareness 

my whole life. 

It was at that meeting, which was 

sponsored by the local Women, Land and 

Legacy Chapter, that my husband and I 

began to talk about making soil health 

the cover story for the spring issue of the 

Eastern Iowa Farmer. 

Nancy Mayfield 

Eastern Iowa Farmer 

As I’ve written 

before, I’m a city 

girl by birth, so 

my two and a half 

years of living in 

eastern Iowa and 

working on this 

magazine have 

been a wonderful, 

fascinating 

education. The 

more I learn, the 

more I see there 

is to learn, and the more excited I become 

about sharing what’s happening in agriculture 

right here. 

And the rainfall simulator caught my 

attention. 

The interactive mobile education display 

shows, on a small scale, the impacts 

of rainfall and runoff on conservation and 

land management practices. 

The machine simultaneously 

If you’d like to 

find out more 

information on 

soil health practices 

or cost-share 

opportunities, here 

are the local NRCS 

conservationists: 

n Theresa Weiss, 

District Conservationist, 

Dubuque County 

n Joe Wagner, 


Jones County 

n Lori Schnoor, 



n Chandra Shaw, Acting 


Clinton & Scott Counties 

n Jonathon Matz, District 

Conservationist, Cedar 

& Muscatine Counties 


You, too, can be part of the 

Eastern Iowa Farmer! 

The Eastern Iowa Spring 2016 


Out front: Jackson 

County grower on the 

hyper edge of new 

technologies 

Eat up: Favorite 

places where growers 

talk shop over eggs 

and bacon in your 

neck of the woods 

Ag youth: Clinton 

County FFA leader 

has created a culture 

of greatness 

Who we are: All new, 

completely local agriculture 

magazine launches to help 

connect eastern Iowa’s 

farming communities 

PLUS: 

How do 

you 

maximize 

your yield? 

Local farmers share 

their approach 


agriculture friends and neighbors! 

A Publication of Sycamore Media 

The Eastern Iowa Fall 2016 


Fair Families: 

Tradition, togetherness 

and fun build strong 

bonds for 4-H’ers. 

Bright idea: Area 

farmers are making the 

most of natural energy, 

including solar power. 

New Guy: Young grower 

takes the reins to the family 

land as eighth generation. 

Where it goes: After 

the harvest, eastern Iowa 

grain travels in many ways 

to many places. 

Penciling 

PROFIT 

in a lean year 

Local farmers explain how they are 

protecting their cash flow 

couNtry 

cookiN’: 

Farm cooks show 

you how it’s done! 

PLuS: agriculture friends and neighbors! 


A Publication of Sycamore Media 

The Eastern iowa Spring 2017 


Managing 

Your 

SoiL 






iowa’s farming veterans. 

An app for that: area farmers have 




Checking off: Local cattlemen expect 

state fund to promote marketing and research 

PLUS: agriculture friends and neighbors! 


Call 563-652-2441 today to reserve 

your space in our fall issue. 

Sycamore Media 

Mail: 108 W. Quarry St., Maquoketa, Iowa, 52060-2244 Phone: (563)652-2441 

EIFarmer@sycamoremedia.net


Theresa Weiss, NRCS 

conservationist in 

Dubuque County, 

shows the runoff from 

one sample during 

a rainfall simulator 

demonstration. 

good state 

better state 

distributed an inch of 

rainfall on five different 

surfaces. The runoff from 

each was collected in glass 

jars that clearly showed the 

results. The rainfall simulator 

highlighted how keeping 

various amounts of residue, 

such as corn stubble, on the 

land surface can reduce sediment 

loss. It also showed 

how cover crops can be 

effective, or how much runoff 

occurs on a solid surface 

such as an urban parking lot 

or a heavily filled field. 

The big reveal was 

showing how the long-term, 

no-till soil showed almost 

complete water infiltration 

and no runoff. That demonstration 

and the rest of the 

evening’s program made that 

lightbulb go off in my head. 

The more water can infiltrate 

the ground, the deeper it will 

go to support root systems 

and other biological life 

underground. And the more 

residue and protective cover 

on the ground to provide 

organic matter to feed that 

life, the healthier the soil. 

And the healthier the soil, 

the less erosion. 

I will never look at a field 

that has not been tilled the 

same way. Before I worked 

on these soil health stories, 

to my untrained eye, 

the more pristine the field, 

the healthier it must be. I 

associated residue or corn 

popping up through cover 

crops with work left undone, 

when, in fact, those things 

were doing a lot of work 

below the surface. 

For many years soil 

health programs focused 

on erosion control, said 

Schnoor, who works for the 

Natural Resource Conservation 

Service in Jackson 

County. 

“Now, soil biology is 

huge,” she said. “It’s the 

next frontier.” 

She and her colleagues 

(see sidebar) spend a lot 

of time on field visits to 

area farms. They talk with 

farmers about their practices 

and run such tests that show 

how compacted the soil is 

in a given spot or how many 

earthworms (a sure sign of 

healthy soil) come up in a 

shovelful of dirt. 

“Not scientific but a good 

guide,” Schnoor said. 

She and her colleagues 

present options to farmers 

and connect them with 

programs and information to 

help them. 

Schnoor graciously took 

this magazine’s creative 

director Brooke Taylor and 

myself to many farms across 

the area where she and the 

producers shared what they 

were doing and why, talked 

about their motives for 

making changes and let us 

see up close how different 

land management practices 

worked. 

We learned that lots of 

farmers are doing lots of 

different things for many 

reasons. We also learned 

that interest in soil health 

is growing. Mine sure did. 

I hope you have as much 

fun reading the stories as 

Brooke and I had putting 

them together. n 

Grow with the best. State Farm ® offers farm coverage 

broad enough to meet your farm and auto insurance needs. 

Contact an agent and let your opportunities overflow. 

Get to a better State ® . Get State Farm. 

Dave Butcher, Agent 

2352 Valley West Ct Suite C 

Clinton, IA 52732 

Bus: 563-243-0940 

www.davebutcherinsurance.com 

Ron Neblung, Agent 

1300 S 14th Street 


Bus: 563-242-3400 

www.neblung.com 

Jeff Reed, Agent 

826 S. 4th Street 


Bus: 563-243-1060 

www.jeffreedinsurance.com 

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, State Farm Indemnity Company, Bloomington, IL 

State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, State Farm General Insurance Company, Bloomington, IL 

State Farm Florida Insurance Company, Winter Haven, FL 

1201780 

State Farm Lloyds, Dallas, TX 


(Below) A big crowd packs the bleachers during a 

January auction at Maquoketa Livestock Sales. 

(Right) The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the Iowa Department 

of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) and the Jackson Soil & Water 

Conservation District (JSWCD) gather for a photo: (standing left to right) Hannah 

Davison, soil technician IDALS; Lori Schnoor, district conservationist, NRCS; Amy 

Eads, JSWCD technician; Barb Schuster, clerical assistant, NRCS; Russ Wolf, 

soil technician, NRCS; Jane Butt, conservation assistant, IDALS; (seated left to 

right) Jennifer Turner, soil conservationist, NRCS; Michelle Turner, watershed 

coordinator, JSWCD; and Jana Eberhart, soil technician, JSWCD.

Dozens of 

gulls follow 

Mark Petersen 

while he rakes 

his field in the 

Lost Nation, 

Toronto area. 

(Top) Left to right, Jerard Gnade, Cory Bickford, Alan 

Nienkark, Ben Kilburg, T.J. Polk and Shawn Johnson have 

a laugh before they began herding cattle during a recent 

auction at Maquoketa Livestock Sales. 

(Above) Local men gather at the gas station in Otter 

Creek on a Friday morning before starting their day. 

Seated at the table from left- Charles Veach, Bob Heer, 

Robert Hickson and Dale Eggers. Standing, from left, 

Butch Kemmer and Doug Veach. 

eastern iowa farmer photos / Trevis Mayfield and Brooke Taylor

Delaney 

AG Service 

Michael Delaney • PHONE: (563) 543-1376 

DuPont Pioneer • 23477 Bellevue-Cascade Rd • LaMotte, IA 52054 

michael.delaney@plantpioneer.com 

Corn: 

Soybeans: 

Nitrogen: 

Aerial Fungicide Application 

Aerial Fungicide 

& Insecticide Application 

Aerial Split Application or Rescue 

For both Corn and Soybeans 

Sulfur Coated Extended Life Urea 

20+ Bu Soybean Fungicide & Insecticide Application at R2 

Helicopter: Need to Book in Advance 

**** Same Day GPS As-Applied Maps **** 

**** Check Block Creation & Analysis **** 

Call by March 1 to Lock in your Pre-Season Price

We got it all 

We do it all 

Tires! 

leD 

lighTs! 

belTs! 

Oils! 

hOses! 

hyDraulics! 

nuTs & 

bOlTs! 

ag & semi 

repair 

engine 

rebuilDs! 

baTTeries! 

service 

calls! 

put our mechanical expertise to work for you! 

cascade: 563-852-3085 Farley: 563-744-3613 

120 Thomas St. 

Cascade, IA 52033 

107 1st Ave NE 

Farley, IA 52046 

We’ll Keep yOu mOving!

A double rainbow shines bright 

over the Wilson farm in Miles. 

Kaylin Novak leaps 

from bale to bale 

on her family farm 

in Lost Nation. 

Sam Morehead, 10, peeks 

through the wooden 

fence while feeding his 

chickens. Sam is the son 

of Jake and Courtney 

Morehead of Maquoketa. 

Send us your photos! 

The Eastern Iowa Farmer would like to run photos 

of you, your friends and family out on the farm. 

To submit a photo for the next publication email 

your photo to EIFarmer@sycamoremedia.net

Mike and Kale 

Schmidt move 

pallets in the 

warehouse. 

(Right) Steve Foust 

exuberantly shares the 

news of his daughter’s 

recent engagement.

PEOPLES COMPANY 

One of the nation’s fastest growing land services 

organizations offering land brokerage, 

land management, land investing, and appraisal services. 

PeoplesCompany.com 

855.800.LAND 

Total Realty Co. transitioning to Peoples Company

Peoples Company is an award-winning brokerage and 

is a licensed real estate broker in 14 states. Please visit 

our website to view all our highly productive land listings. 

2013 

2014 

2015 

700 6th Avenue | DeWitt, Iowa 52742 

Brokerages 

Brokerages 

Brokerages

Since 1934, we’ve been proud to be a part of our agriculture community... 

YesterdaY, todaY and 

From Left to Right: Marty Murrell, Roger Hill, Kathy Rollings, Greg Gannon, Bill Vetter, Joel Dieckmann and Mike Dunn. 

Advice • Answers • Action... Always 

Member 

563.659.3211 FDIC 

dewittbank.com

Eastern Iowa Farmer Spring 2017

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?