Eastern Iowa Farmer Spring 2017

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