Eastern Iowa Farmer Fall 2018

WHY FARMERS MATTER
soap, meat, bread, wood carvings
and more — is produced within
100 miles of Maquoketa.
“I don’t think of myself as an
(agriculture) advocate,” Moore
said as she recently worked in the
shop stocking more cheese into the
refrigerated case. “I’m just telling
my story of our farm.”
Heather and Brandon live on
their rural Maquoketa farm with
their three sons, Tucker, 8, Cassidy,
5, and Cooper, 2. Aside from
the 50 dairy cows Heather manages,
they also have 800 head of beef
cattle that Brandon oversees.
Moore grew up on a small dairy
farm in Wisconsin and exhibited
dairy cattle at the county fair.
When she turned 10, the family
moved off the farm, but she
EASTERN IOWA FARMER PHOTO / BROOKE TAYLOR
Lilly Kroger, 8, of Dubuque, visits with a calf at
Moore Family Farms. Children who attended
story hour also took a tour of the barn.
continued to show cattle. Brandon
grew up on a Jackson County farm
with sheep, pigs and beef cows.
They understand the importance
of small farmers and why they
matter.
“The most rudimentary reason is
obviously food,” Moore said. But
she also knows their farm contributes
to the local economy. She
cited dairy industry information
that estimates that for every 10
STRONG ROOTS
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62 EASTERN IOWA FARMER | FALL 2018 eifarmer.com