Eastern Iowa Farmer Fall 2021

The Eastern Iowa Fall 2021 

Farmer 

® 

A Publication of Sycamore Media 

a Big year! 

Finally, after being plagued by market challenges, a pandemic 

and a natural disaster, Eastern Iowa farmers are hitting pay dirt 

Giant gains: With commodity prices rising 

and investment capital pouring into agriculture, 

land prices are setting new records. 

Blown away: Perhaps never before were 

so many grain bins lost than during the mighty 

windstorm that decimated farmscapes last year. 

Growing local: Area operators launch meat 

processing operations to level the playing field and 

provide a new way to reach consumers. 

Timber! Over the past 35 years, an area exporter 

has built a family business by buying, selling and 

shipping high-quality logs around the globe. 

EasternIowaFarmer_Fall2021.indd 1 

9/15/21 10:21 am

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C 

a 

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9/15/21 10:21 am

D 

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Bayer Group. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ©2021 Bayer Group. All rights reserved.46399 ED 08/10/21 

nt 

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9/15/21 10:21 am

Planes...tracto r 

it doesn’t mat t 

Whatever it is you do, Tri-State Building 

can put a roof over it with a custom-designed 

building perfectly suited to your needs 

“Working with Frank and the 

crew at Tri-State to develop and 

build our multi-purpose building 

got us exactly what we needed.” 

— Luke Niemann and Matthew Niemann 

Tri-STaTe 

Building Corp. 

› 

› 

› 

› 

› 

› 

Pi 

Lu 

Ni 

Fa 

Tri 

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9/15/21 10:21 am

s... 

ter! 

› CommerCial Warehousing 

› retail sales/ shoW rooms 

› mini-Warehouses 

› muniCipal garages/shops 

› offiCes 

› airplane hangars 

› fairground Buildings 

› apt./garages 

› dairy Barns 

› Calf housing 

› Cattle sheds 

› ChurChes 

› manufaCturing faCilities 

› maChine storage 

› insulated shops 

› horse Barns/riding arenas 

› utility Buildings 

› garages 

Pictured, building owners 

Luke Niemann (left) and Matthew 

Niemann (right) of Niemann 

Family Farms in DeWitt, IA with 

Tri-State Building Corp. owner 

Frank Reisen (center). 

1954 

Frank Reisen, owner 

25584 Bellevue-Cascade Rd, 

Bellevue, IA 52031 

563-542-1681 

Tri.statebldgs@gmail.com 

wickbuildings.com 


9/15/21 10:21 am

Our Regional Approach 

At the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque, 

our eight affiliate foundations embody our 

commitment to tackling issues as one region of 

interconnected communities. 

Communities rely on one another for resources 

like jobs, food, child care, education and health services, 

meaning their successes and challenges ripple throughout 

the seven-county area. Our affiliates, like the Community 

Foundation of Jackson County and the LincolnWay Community 

Foundation, tackle unique, local issues – yet they are also 

collaborating to build a strong region. 

In addition to connecting local leaders, we assist 

our affiliates in accepting gifts of grain, stock, or 

farmland. Community members can leverage 

the Endow Iowa 25% State Tax Credit when 

giving to more than 365 nonprofit funds that 

support rural quality of life. 

You can make an impact on our 

entire region by working with the 

Community Foundation. Contact us 

to learn more. 

office@dbqfoundation.org 

563.588.2700 

dbqfoundation.org 

We envision a vibrant 

and inclusive Greater 

Dubuque region 

with resources and 

opportunities for all. 

Tg 

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th 

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in 

The Community Foundation of Greater 

and inspires giving along with affiliate 

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9/15/21 10:21 am

The Gift 

of Grain 

Supporting 

Future Farmers 

The LincolnWay Community Foundation hosts 

endowment funds for over 30 organizations that 

improve quality of life in rural Clinton County. 

A gift of grain can make a big impact on your 

favorite nonprofit – and your bottom line. 

By donating grain, you avoid including the sale of the 

grain in your farm income. Deducting the cost of growing 

the crops can result in self-employment and income tax 

savings, and you benefit even if you take the standard 

deduction. Gifts of grain also are eligible for the Endow 

Iowa 25% State Tax Credit. 

“If you want to donate to a charitable organization, this 

is the way to do it. It’s an opportunity for a farmer to leave 

a legacy,” says Rick Mangan, who supports community 

causes with gifts of grain. “The Community Foundation is 

the only avenue I know of to make this type of gift, and I 

can increase my donations because of the tax benefits.” 

Your crops are your livelihood. You prepare, plant, 

nurture and watch them grow. That’s what we do with 

the charitable gifts entrusted to the Foundation – and we 

invite you to join us. Learn more at dbqfoundation.org/lwcf. 

“The best classroom and the richest classroom 

is roofed only by the sky.” 

— Margaret Millan 

As a rural community steeped in farm life, this 

idea rings true. The Community Foundation of 

Jackson County continues supporting tomorrow’s 

farmers in their outdoor learning by awarding 

grant funding to local educational programs. 

Foundation funding has revived outdoor classrooms in 

Easton Valley and Maquoketa Community school districts, 

impacting nearly 600 elementary students who garden, 

learn about prairie plants and simply enjoy being outdoors. 

The Foundation also has supported a Future Farmers of 

America greenhouse at Maquoketa Community High School, 

a key piece of the school’s new Agricultural Learning Center 

that will enable students to study plant growth and food 

production year-round. 

To plant your seed for a future generation of farmers, 

contact Lori Loch, executive director, at 563-588-2700 or visit 

dbqfoundation.org/cfjc. 

An Affiliate of the 

Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque 

Dubuque strengthens communities 

partners in surrounding counties. 

dbqfoundation.org 


9/15/21 10:21 am

The Eastern Iowa 

Farmer® 

Directory of advertisers 

Abstract & Title Guaranty Company....18 

AgWest Commodities..........................75 

American Family Insurance.................27 

American Mutual..................................62 

Anamosa Silo Repair, LLC..................51 

Appliance Solutions.............................79 

Arensdorf Rock Quarry 

& Ag Lime Application.....................60 

Beck’s..................................................68 

Bellevue Lumber................................114 

Bellevue Sand and Gravel...................51 

Bellevue Veterinary Clinic....................14 

Ben Schueller Auction Co....................54 

Brandenburg Drainage........................45 

Breeden’s Vermeer..............................70 

Burger Chiropractic..............................76 

Burger Shoe Repair.............................76 

Bullocks, Inc........................................91 

Cascade Lumber Co..........................116 

Channel.................................................2 

Citizens First Bank...............................59 

Citizens State Bank...........................125 

Clinton County Farm Bureau...............64 

Clinton National Bank..........................81 

Clover Ridge Place..............................73 

Community Foundation of Dubuque......6 

Community Foundation of 

Jackson County................................6 

Countryside Feed & Supply...............117 

Custom Dozing and 

Crane Service, Inc..........................94 

Davisson Tiling, LLC............................96 

Deep Creek Applicators.......................77 

Delaney Ag Service.............................84 

Delaney’s Auto & Ag............................69 

Delmar Grain Service..........................71 

DeWitt Bank & Trust..........................132 

East Iowa Real Estate.........................36 

Eastern Iowa Propane 

& Petro, LTD...................................61 

Farm Bureau Financial 

Services - Megan Fuglsang............21 

Farm Bureau Financial Services 

- Barbara and Douglas Collins......121 

Farm Credit Services...........................63 

Farrell’s, Inc.........................................99 

Fieldstone of DeWitt............................65 

First Central State Bank......................55 

Franzen Family Tractors 

and Parts, LLC................................82 

Genesis Medical Center....................107 

Granular.............................................124 

Green Tech Spray Foam Insulation...120 

Heritage Mutual Insurance................115 

Highway 64 Auction.............................82 

Hostetler Precision Ag Solutions LLC...101 

Iowa Concrete Products 

and Monuments..............................80 

J.J. Scheckel Performance 

Angus Genetics..............................53 

Jackson County Farm Bureau.............64 

Jackson County Regional 

Health Center..................................72 

Jeremiah Wiese Farms......................119 

Keeney Welding................................117 

Ken Kruger........................................119 

Kunau Implement................................42 

Legacy Insurance Group...................109 

Liberty Ag & Excavating.......................16 

LincolnWay Community Foundation......6 

Maquoketa Financial Group..............122 

Maquoketa Livestock Exchange..........22 

Maquoketa Lumber............................114 

Maquoketa State Bank........................17 

Martens Angus Farms.........................46 

Matthiesen’s Catering..........................46 

Meant To Be With Flowers...................20 

Mill Valley Care Center........................14 

Melissa Burken-Mommsen..................14 

Moore Local.........................................48 

Ohnward Farm Management...............33 

Ohnward Insurance Group..................51 

Ohnward Tax, Accounting, 

& Business Services.......................78 

Ohnward Wealth & Retirement..........106 

Osterhaus Pharmacy...........................28 

P&K Midwest.......................................29 

Park Farms Computer Systems..........86 

Peoples Company.............................130 

Pioneer................................................88 

PMC Agri-Service..............................123 

Preston Locker....................................50 

Preston Veterinary Clinic.....................14 

ReMax - Abby Schueller......................95 

Retirement Residence 

of Clinton - Regency.......................37 

River Valley Cooperative.....................52 

Rockdale Locker..................................39 

Roeder Brothers..................................93 

Rolling Hills Veterinary Service............26 

RPJ Repair and Warehouse................24 

Scherrman’s Implement.....................113 

Schlecht Farm & Hatchery...................87 

Schueller & Sons Reconstruction........66 

Schuster & Co.....................................58 

Scott & Oberbroeckling Insurance.......67 

Schoenthaler, Bartelt, 

Kahler & Reicks..............................89 

Sheets General Construction..............15 

Spain Ag Service.................................47 

State Farm...........................................19 

Stickley Electric...................................44 

TADA Meats.........................................25 

The Friedman Group...........................56 

Theisen’s.............................................55 

Together We Build.............................118 

Tri-State Building Corp..........................4 

Veach Diesel & Automotive Repair......34 

Welter Seed & Honey Co....................35 

Wheatland Manor................................32 

Wheatland Mutual Insurance...............43 

White Front..........................................57 

Whispering Meadows Resort 

and River Ridge ATV Trails.............92 

Wyffels Hybrids....................................38 

Zirkelbach Home Appliances...............11 

view the entire magazine online eifarmer.com 

8 Eastern Iowa Farmer | Fall 2021 eifarmer.com 


9/15/21 10:21 am

Editorial Index 

12 

30 

40 

85 

Living at the 

county fair 

For a week each year, a handful of families make the 

fairgrounds in Eastern Iowa their home away from home 

Experts 

on exports 

Bellevue-based family business ships logs across the world 

for use in high-end furniture and other applications 

A Big Year 

After being plagued by market challenges, a pandemic 


Growing local 

The Naeve Family builds a beef processing plant in Camanche to 

put a piece of the cattle market back under local control, and Moore 

Local and Rockdale Locker fill ag niche in Jackson County 

23 Creative learning STEMs from hands-on projects 

Ag in the Classroom, teacher training grants are among the ways modern 

farming technology is being shared with students in Eastern Iowa 

97 Ag in the Classroom 

Earning your cape through mentorship 

98 FSA offers loans to help producers with storage needs 

100 Hands-on internship creates lasting lessons, relationships 

102 Sweet or savory: gardens can grow food for everyone 

108 Where’s the Beef? Post-Covid challenges face industry 

110 Dear Diary 

A year after first chronicling the challenges faced by her young farm family for 

the Eastern Iowa Farmer, Ashley Johnson reflects over the past 12 months. 

118 2021 means many tax changes for farmers 

122 Ag Bytes 


9/15/21 10:21 am


The Eastern Iowa Fall 2021 

a Big year! 

A Publication of Sycamore Media 

Finally, after being plagued by market challenges, a pandemic 


Giant gains: With commodity prices rising 

and investment capital pouring into agriculture, 

land prices are setting new records. 

Blown away: Perhaps never before were 

so many grain bins los than during the mighty 

windstorm that decimated farmscapes last year. 

Looking back: After a year that saw packing 

houses shut down because of Covid-19, livestock 

producers look back with a deep sigh of relief. 

Timber! Over the past 35 years, an area exporter 

has built a family business by buying, selling and 

shipping high-quality logs around the globe. 

The Eastern Iowa 


® 

Sycamore Media President: 

Trevis Mayfield 

Advertising: Faith Jones, 

Nancy Mayfield, Trevis Mayfield, 

Wendy McCartt, Brooke Taylor, 

and Dean Upmann 

Creative Director: Brooke Taylor 

Editorial Content: Kelly Gerlach, 

Ashley Johnson, Kris Koth, Beth Lamp, 

Nancy Mayfield, Trevis Mayfield, 

Sara Millhouse, Rachel Moore, Carter 

Mommsen, Jane Schmidt, Jenna Stevens 

Photography Content: 

Kate Howes, Kelly Gerlach, 

Ashley Johnson, Nick Joos, 

Trevis Mayfield, Brooke Taylor 

Editors: Kelly Gerlach, Nancy Mayfield, 


Published by: Sycamore Media 

108 W. Quarry St., Maquoketa, IA 

563-652-2441 

Cover: Joanne Doherty, Trevis Mayfield, 

Brooke Taylor 

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. 

view the entire 

magazine online 

eifarmer.com 

® 

Message from the Publisher 

Sometimes, I just love a rainy day 

Any farmer will tell you that a timely 

rain is a wonderful thing. 

Well, this magazine publisher 

will tell you the same thing. Not 

only does it help his farmer customers 

prosper and pay their bills, but as it turns 

out, a little H20 from a dark sky can also lead 

to a good pork chop sandwich, catching up with 

old friends, and making some new ones. 

It was late August and the sales and 

production effort for this issue of the 

Eastern Iowa Farmer was going full 

tilt. It was all hands on deck here, and 

it didn’t feel as if there was a moment 

to spare. Then the rain came. 

I was on my way to visit with Bob 

and Calvin Breeden at Breeden Sales 

when in rolled a big thunderhead 

from the southwest. That’s when I 

noticed a small helicopter making 

haste to the east. A little while 

later, after leaving Breeden’s place, 

I stopped at Delaney Ag to visit 

with Michael Delaney just as the 

thunderstorm let loose, and I had 

happened onto the right place. 

As I walked in the barn that houses their office, 

I could smell the 

grub on the grill, pork 

it was, and I noticed 

a table with all the 

necessary fixin’s for 

a feast. It seemed the 

entire Delaney gang 

was there waiting 

out the storm. Since 

a sandwich quickly 

found its way into my 


President, 

Sycamore Media Corp. 

hand, I sat for a while 

with the crew talking 

farming, weather and 

sharing a joke or two. 

Then, in walked a 

wiry guy with a wild beard who quickly became 

the object of good-natured ridicule. I didn’t 

recognize him, so I introduced myself. 

The guy’s name is Dave Seaton, and there’s 

a good chance he has, at one time or another, 

laid eyes on your farm. He hails from Killeen, 

Texas, and his job is to fly his small helicopter 

– about the size of a Volkswagen Beetle with 

chopper blades and a tail – all over the country 

spraying crops. It was him I had seen in the 

sky a few minutes earler. In his past life, he 

had worked in the financial industry, but he had 

always had a thing for helicopters. 

After learning to fly simply because he 

wanted to, it became a career in which he travels 

around with a driver and truck in tow that 

serves, literally, as an aircraft carrier for him to 

land on for fuel and filling his spray tanks. 

When I asked him about flying away from 

the storm, he gave me this pearl of wisdom, which 

he attributed to a former flight instructor: “It’s 

better to be on the ground wishing you were in 

the air than being in the air wishing you were 

on the ground.” 

When I heard that quote, I knew it would 

make my column. 

About a week later, rain, again turned out to 

be just what I needed. 

A photo assignment at Regency Retirement 

Residence in Clinton was rained out, and the 

weather for the next few days looked bleak. It 

was time for Plan B. 

The director of the facility, April McFall, 

suggested that instead of the outdoor photo, we 

build the ad around images from a potluck dinner 

that was planned for a few days later. Then, 

one of the residents who was within earshot 

suggested I bring a bottle of wine, specifically 

something white and cheap. 

I took her suggestion, and what fun it was. I 

learned about the lives of the residents, talked 

about canning vegetables (one of my family’s 

hobbies) and especially enjoyed Beverly Soenksen’s 

baked beans. 

So, yes, sometimes the best things happen 

when it rains. 

I hope all of you enjoy the magazine as 

much as I enjoyed those rainy days. 

Sincerely, 

Pilot Dave 

Seaton (above) 

sits behind the 

controls of his 

chopper. Beverly 

Soenksen 

(left) works 

in the kitchen 

at Regency 

Retirement 

Residence. 

Trevis Mayfield, 

Sycamore Media president 

(563 



9/15/21 10:21 am

75 Years 

AND STILL GOING STRONG! 

Pictured, seated: Tim Clark, Store Owner, and Lisa Omoyefa, Sales. Jeremy Lutton, Installation and Service; Andy Schumacher, Delivery and Installation; 

Courtney Anderson, Sales; Tristian Spooner, Delivery and Installation; Kim Soll, Service Department and Sales; Brandon Hicks, Service Department Manager; 

Lee Lutton, Delivery and Installation; Brian Drury, In Store Assistant; Dean Clementz, Service Technician 

Zirkelbach Home Appliances is celebrating 75 years of supplying the 

Clinton County area with quality home appliance sales and service. 

We have been here doing this since April 1, 1946, when John and Betty 

Zirkelbach started as a small business specializing in refrigeration repair. 

Since 1946, we have expanded to both sales and service and offer 

options for the entire range of kitchen and laundry products. We even offer 

LG HDTV options with professional installation available. 

(563) 242-6121 | www.zirkelbachs.com | 225 5th Ave S, Clinton 

As the years come and go, things change. We do our best to change 

along with the demands. We have adapted just like the rest of the world 

has even during this pandemic. We offer curbside pick-up and our service 

and delivery professionals have adapted to wearing masks and sanitizing 

regularly to keep everyone as safe as possible. 

This entire year we will be 

offering deep discounts so 

everyone can help us celebrate! 

Our sales staff are factory trained (updated by webinar nowadays) and our 

service department has the best resources around to help keep our products 

going all year round. Stop in to see us and experience the difference at 

Zirkelbach Home Appliances. We do our best to make your life eaZier!! 


9/15/21 10:21 am

Brad Sieverding cooks up hamburgers 

and brats for family and friends 

outside his camper at the Jackson 

County Fairgrounds. Staying on site 

during fair week is a tradition families 

in Clinton and Jackson counties look 

forward to each year. Waiting to eat, 

from left, are Irelynd Sieverding, 

Averie Sieverding, Amie Sieverding, 

Wyatt Fier, and Lisa Thole. 

Eastern Iowa Farmer photo / 



9/15/21 10:21 am

Living 

at the 

county fair 

For a week each year, a handful of families make the 

fairgrounds in Eastern Iowa their home away from home, 

allowing them to be close to their animals, take breaks 

from the action, and fully enjoy entertainment, 

camaraderie and immersion in the annual ritual. 

BY Beth lamp 

eastern iowa farmer 

Shortly after Liam Gruhn was born, his parents put 

their Goose Lake family’s name on the waiting 

list for a camp site at the Clinton County Fair. 

“We knew we would have kids in 4-H, and that 

the waiting list was long,” said Chelsea Gruhn, 

his mother. 

Indeed, it took five years before she and her husband, 

Travis, got the call that they could have one of the 20 

coveted spots in the L-shaped campground just across the 

street from the livestock barns and close to the fair-week 

action. Last summer was their third at the camp site. 

Now parents to Liam, 8, and daughter Logan, 5, the 

Gruhns said the waiting paid off. 

“We love all of this,” Chelsea said as she and Logan 

made the short walk from their camper to the swine barn to 

join Liam and Travis on the evening that kids from around 

the county were checking in their livestock for competition. 

Both Liam and Logan were set to show hogs. (Liam, 

who is a Cloverkid, won the Pee Wees show.) 

The mild summer day gave way to a pleasant evening 

punctuated by the sounds of animals being unloaded from 

trailers and shown to their pens, their home away from 

home for the next week. At the campground, children from 

neighboring sites played together in the open grassy area. 

For families in Clinton and Jackson counties, camping at 

Leaving their muddy boots outside the camper door, kids participating in 4-H at the 

fair enjoy living for a week near the barns, making it easier to care for their animals. 

Eastern Iowa Farmer photo / Brooke Taylor 


9/15/21 10:21 am

living at the fair 

Eastern Iowa Farmer photo / BROOKE TAYLOR 

Ange Clark of Grand Mound works the beef check-in at the Clinton County Fair last summer. She, 

her husband, Bill, and their three daughters make their camper a home away from home during 

fair week. The Clarks are the original members of the campsite waiting list started years ago. 

the fairgrounds is not only convenient, 

but also an enjoyable 

tradition. The proximity to the 

livestock barns makes it easy for 

the kids to care for their animals, 

for parents to volunteer, and for 

families to enjoy all the fair offerings, 

including entertainment. 

“They don’t have to go home 

each night and then come back 

early and stay late,” said Mary 

Stevenson, manager of the Clinton 

County Fair, which took place July 

21 to July 25 in DeWitt. 

Family, friends and fun 

Over in Jackson County, whose fair 

was July 27 to Aug. 1, the aroma of meat 

sizzling on a grill filled the air around 

the camper of Brad and Amie Sieverding 

on a Friday night. The Bellevue family 

relaxed with some friends on their makeshift 

patio outside their camper door after 

a day of fair activities and were gearing 

up for some more later in the evening. 

“I wish we’d had this when our kids 

were little,” Amie said. 

Before the Sieverdings first had a 

Bellevue/Preston 

Veterinary Clinic 

We’ll be there! 

563.872.4710 

563.689.3121 

Dr. Chris Paulsen 

Dr. Susan Pond 

Dr. Paul Bulman 

It’s never too early to plan 

for your family’s future. 

Melissa Burken-Mommsen, attorney 

and farm owner, knows what it means 

to keep your farm in the family. 

Let her help your family prepare for the future. 

• Estate Planning 

• Sales Transactions 

• General Agriculture Law 

Melissa Burken-Mommsen 

Attorney At Law •Preston, IA • 563-689-3456 



9/15/21 10:21 am


Logan Gruhn enjoys playing with 

children in the neighboring campers 

in between spending time at the Clinton 

County Fair. Next year, she’ll be a Cloverkid, 

just like her older brother, Liam. 


campsite at the fair eight years ago 

(the last five at the 4-H site), the 

family would pack a cooler and 

spend the long days at the fair with 

daughters Averie, 19, and Irelynd, 

17, before going home and getting 

up to do it all over again, Amie 

said. 

“It made for very long days,” 

she said. 

Irelynd, a senior at Marquette 

High School, received first in 

class for her light class crossbred steer 

at the fair. Averie, who attends Iowa 

State University, also showed livestock 

in past fairs. 

The Sieverdings were camping at 

one of 19 sites along Platt Street that 

are reserved for 4-H families. The fairgrounds 

also hosts 34 sites in the Rivers 

Addition east of the racetrack and about 

eight sites near the new horse barn, said 

fair manager Lanny Simpson. 

Maddie Klemme, a 4-H member for 

nine years, camps with her family at the 

Jackson County fairgrounds and has been 

doing so since she started showing. Last 

“Staying in the camper 

allows for many memories 

to be made. I would not 

have wanted to experience 

the fair any other way.” 

— MADDIE KLEMME 

summer, she was the second runner-up in 

the fair queen competition. She was able 

to fully enjoy the fair around the clock, 

hanging out after chores and having a 

place to go in the middle of the day to 

take a break from everything else going 

on. 

“Staying in the camper allows for many 

memories to be made,” Klemme said. “I 

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Liam Gruhn of Goose 

Lake takes his hog 

for a stroll the opening 

night of the Clinton 

County Fair, where he 

won the Pee Wee Show. 

Eastern Iowa Farmer 

photo / Brooke Taylor 

would not have wanted to experience 

the fair any other way.” 

Mick Schwager of Bellevue has a 

similar story. He, his wife, Tricia, and 

their five children – Jeb, Wade, Quinton, 

Kambree and Rozzlyn – use the 

campgrounds as home base during 

the busy week. 

It’s a ritual that they value as family 

time. 

“This is our vacation,” Tricia said. 

“We don’t go to the Wisconsin Dells 

or anything like that. We camp here, 

and we also camp at the Iowa State 

Fair.” 

Mick said many people in Jackson 

County use the campgrounds as 

a meeting place before the nightly 

entertainment. 

“We often meet our kids back 

at the campers before going to the 

shows,” Schwager said. “I know 

other families do the same thing. 

The kids know that when they finish 

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9/15/21 10:21 am

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9/15/21 10:21 am


Eastern Iowa Farmer photoS / brooke taylor and Trevis Mayfield 

(Above left) Memphis Mahmens might be too young to show animals at the fair, but she enjoys watching her family participate in Clinton County. 

(Above right) Siblings Jeb and Rozzlyn Schwager spend some quality time at their family’s camper at the Jackson County Fairgrounds. They are 

the oldest and youngest of the five children of Mick and Tricia Schwager of Bellevue. They value their week at the fair as family time. 

chores, they all have to come back and 

check in.” 

Being close to the entertainment is 

another perk of camping at the fair. Liam 

Gruhn loves going to the tractor pull in 

DeWitt, while the Schwagers always try 

to take in the Night of Destruction as a 

family. 

One thing all of the families agree on 

is that camping is convenient. It allows 

the families to keep their animals on a 

schedule; feeding them as early as they 

want to and allows them to check on them 

whenever they need to during the night. 

Worth (the long) wait 

Bill and Ange Clark of Grand Mound 

are the original members of the campsite 

waiting list for the Clinton County Fair. 

When they first looked into camping at 

the fair, there were no spots available. 

Ange Clark asked if there was a waiting 

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Here for 

your way 

of life. 

Gatlin Mahmens enjoys 

some playtime at the 

campground at the 

Clinton County Fair. 

His family has one of the 

20 spots available there. 


photo / brooke taylor 

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list; and, when she was told 

there was not, she asked if 

they could start one. The fair 

board agreed, and others soon 

followed suit. 

The Clarks have a farm in 

Clinton County where they are 

raising their three daughters 

– Kailey, Megan and Rachel 

– who either show or have 

shown cattle at the fair. 

“When friends found out 

what I did, they began going 

into the fair office to ask to be 

put on the list as well,” Ange 

said. “Now when a family has 

kids who are done showing 

and they no longer want to renew 

their spot, the next family 

on the list gets notified to see 

if they want the space.” 

The waiting list for the 20 

spots in Clinton County has 17 

names on it, Stevenson said, 

adding that it’s not uncommon 

for the wait to extend five 

years or longer. 

“Unfortunately, we are 

limited on space,” she said. 

“Every few years we get asked 

about putting in new sites.” 

Jackson County has a waiting 

list as well, especially for 

the 4-H sites, Simpson said. 

As one 4-H family graduates 

out, the space goes to the 

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“We often meet our 

kids back at the 

campers before going 

to the shows. I know 

other families do the 

same thing. The kids 

know that when they 

finish chores, they all 

have to come back 

and check in.” 

— Tricia Schwager 

Eastern Iowa Farmer photo / Kelly Gerlach 

Maddie Klemme, flanked by her parents Matt and Erin Klemme, has been 

camping at the fairgrounds with her family since she started showing 

livestock as a child. This year the Preston resident was the second runnerup 

in the Jackson County fair queen contest. 

next person on the list, 

she said. 

This past year 

Simpson ran into two 

families who gave up 

their camping spots this 

year because their kids 

were out of school and 

their involvement was 

dwindling a little. They 

asked to be added back 

onto the camping list, 

looking into the future 

with new grandchildren 

and their upcoming 4-H 

participation. 

Clark understands 

the attraction of the 

tradition. 

“We are able to spend 

time with people we 

only get to see a handful 

of times throughout the 

year,” Clark said. “It 

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9/15/21 10:22 am

creative learning 

Creative learning STEMs 

from hands-on projects 

Ag in the Classroom, teacher training grants are among the ways modern farming 

technology is being shared with students in Eastern Iowa 

(Left) Andrew students measure 

out the components of feed 

rations for their hypothetical 

goat. The students first balanced 

feed rations and then created 

them using fun ingredients like 

goldfish and M&Ms. Pictured here 

are Blake Gross, Cole Barton, 

Max Notz, paraeducator Jackie 

Delaney, and Jack Strodtman. 

(Below) Aleena Nicolay places 

a cow in the barnyard created 

by 4th graders at St. Joseph 

School in DeWitt last spring as 

Cole Niemann, left, helps arrange 

other pieces during an Ag in the 

Classroom interactive activity. 

Eastern Iowa Farmer photo / 

Trevis Mayfield and kATE howes 

BY jane schmidt 

eastern IOWA FARMER 

Goats really 

re-chew their 

food?” 

“I’m not eating 

“Eww! 

that!” 

These were among the sentiments 

shared by 7th graders at Andrew 

Community School last spring as they 

created their own cud and mixed up 

feed rations while studying the ruminate 

system of goats. 

Meanwhile, over at St. Joseph 

School in DeWitt, fourth graders 

wielded glue guns to build fencing 

out of popsicle sticks and twine. It 

was part of an exercise on creating 

protective structures – such as fences 

or sound frequency barriers – for the 

miniature farm set up in their classroom. 

These types of interactive activities 

allow students in Eastern Iowa and 

throughout the state to learn agriculture 

concepts under the umbrella of 

STEM – science, technology, engineering 

and math. 

“Hands-on helps students understand 

concepts – they must do something 

to know what it is,” said Jenna 



9/15/21 10:22 am


Stevens, the Ag in the Classroom 

consultant for Farm 

Bureau in Clinton and Jackson 

counties. 

Stevens visits classes across 

the area to teach students 

about what agriculture brings 

to our world – such daily 

products as food, fuel and 

fiber. Her goal is to grow an 

appreciation for agriculture 

by bringing the science and 

social studies standards to a 

deeper level of understanding 

for students through hands-on 

learning activities. 

For the Andrew students, 

that entailed studying how rations 

are balanced for animals 

who have a different digestive 

system than humans. To represent 

this digestive balance, 

students created edible cud 

using barley, oats and molasses. 

(One brave student tried 

it, and promptly spit it into 

the trash, Stevens recalled, 

causing the rest of the students 

to want to try it too.) 

In Stevens’ classes, students 

can learn about soil layers 

using chunks of Oreos as 

the bedrock, baking chips as 

the parent material, chocolate 

pudding as the subsoil, 

crushed Oreos as the topsoil, 

and the important presence of 

worms (gummies) along with 

sprinkles on top representing 

organic matter such as flowers, 

grass and crop residue. 

They can study predator 

and prey concepts – examining 

pelts and tracks, and how 

farm designs help to protect 

livestock from predators. 

Other topics might include 

what causes and prevents erosion. 

At the elementary level, 

students learn from where 

daily products come, including 

dispelling the myth that “chocolate 

milk comes from brown 

cows,” Stevens explained. 

Eastern Iowa Farmer photo / Kate howes 

(Above left) St. Joseph student James Garrison creates a model of a 

llama to use as a protective animal on his farm. (Above right) Carson 

Gannon uses a glue gun to build fencing out of popsicle sticks and 

twine as part of an exercise on creating protective structures – such as 

fences or sound frequency barriers – for the miniature farm set up in 

his 4th-grade classroom last spring at St. Joseph in DeWitt. 

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9/15/21 10:22 am


Stevens emphasized that farmers are good 

stewards of the land and practice conservation 

practices with crops and livestock. Her passion 

for this message about agriculture continued 

even when COVID-19 caused schools to change 

the delivery of instruction. She continued to 

provide Zoom lessons related to agriculture for 

students in school districts of both Clinton and 

Jackson counties. When schools reopened, she 

was scheduled monthly in classrooms, building 

on the science and social studies standards being 

taught by using an ag perspective to make learning 

come alive for students. 

In her fourth year, she has seen her program 

grow as teachers look towards Ag in the Classroom 

to support science concepts. Stevens has 

a budget and time for planning activities thanks 

to the Clinton County Farm Bureau and Jackson 

County Farm Bureau, to whom she provides a 

monthly report on her activities in local schools. 

Ag in the Classroom is just one part of the 

STEM initiative in the state of Iowa. In March, 

more than $550,000 was granted to teachers in 

southeast Iowa, of which Clinton and Jackson 

counties are included, to encourage and support 

CASE UNIT TRAINING: 

Cassie Miller, 

Maquoketa High School 

ag instructor, is one 

of the beneficiaries of 

STEM grants for her 

classroom. “I never 

expected to have a 

cow’s uterus on my 

kitchen table, but 

that is what hands-on 

learning involves – 

real-life experiences 

to develop a deeper 

understanding,” 

explained Miller. 

This doesn’t include the students 

impacted from various other events, 

the STEM Seal of Approval, STEM 

Innovation Fund, STEM Teachable 

Moment, STEM Essential Podcast, social 

media, STEM Gem posters and more. 

Source: Lindy Ibeling, communications manager 

of the Iowa Governors STEM Advisory Council. 

The STEM Council program 

impact numbers on students 

over the past decade include: 

980,000 

STEM Scale-Up Program 

15,000 

STEM BEST Program 

20,000 

STEM Teacher 

Externships Program 

1,000 

Iowa STEM Teacher Awards 

100,000 

Regional STEM Festivals 

9,000 

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9/15/21 10:33 am


“Feeding the world’s burgeoning 

population is an incredible 

challenge for our future. Factor 

in the growing importance of 

food safety, health and nutrition, 

environmental protection, and 

climate change, and you’ve 

got a career option that carries 

significance worldwide. 

— Lindy Ibeling 

students to study STEM activities. 

These grants have provided schools 

an opportunity to enhance instruction 

with the following purchases: 

n Curriculum for Agricultural 

Science Education (CASE) training 

and materials adding to ag curriculum 

at high schools 

n Reading series for literacy kits 

with a focus on STEM 

n Units on lights and shadows 

n Robotics materials where students 

may partner with John Deere 

or the Quad-Cities Engineering and 

Science Council (boasting approximately 

3,000 associated professional 

members) 

n Project Lead the Way units, 

including engineering, biomedical and 

computer science units that may assist 

in the creation of online art portals or 

the analysis of DNA-sequence data 

Cassie Miller, Maquoketa High 

School ag instructor, is one of the 

beneficiaries of the CASE training for 

high school agriculture curriculum. 

She is certified in AFNR (Agriculture, 

Lindy Ibeling, 

Communications 

Manager, Iowa STEM 

advisory council 

Food and Natural 

Resources) 

– an intro 

to all things 

agriculture. 

She also has 

attended plant 

science training 

in Indiana 

and Agriculture 

Business 

Foundations 

(ABF) in 

Ankeny, Iowa. 

This summer 

animal science 

was taught virtually, 

and as she described it as learning 

“from the comfort of my kitchen 

table.” A dissection kit, stethoscope 

and a blood pressure instrument were 

just some of the materials received. A 

cow’s uterus and a fetal pig were sent 

to each participant for dissection. 

“Going to CASE Institute allows 

everyone to complete activities prior 

to using with students. It has helped 

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me to have a foundation of what 

I would like to teach in my classroom 

and gives me the freedom 

and ability to mix and match 

activities based on the direction 

of learning,” Miller said. “CASE 

has all of the standards connected 

to the curriculum with day-today 

lesson plans.” 

Miller received a scholarship 

to attend CASE training and coupled 

with district curriculum 

funds, her way to learning was 

paid. Next summer she hopes to 

attend the food science training. 

Stevens serves on the Southeast 

Region Board as part of the Iowa 

Governor’s STEM Advisory 

Council, which was established 

in 2011. The council is a public-private 

partnership with a 

mission to increase student 

Eastern Iowa Farmer photo / Trevis Mayfield and kate howes 

Andrew student Jack Strodtman uses a nut chopper to mix the ingredients in 

his goat cud. He and his classmates last spring measured out the ingredients in 

a real feed ration and then used a chopper to simulate the animal chewing its 

cud. Eventually the cud went through the rest of the ruminate digestive process. 

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interest and achievement in STEM. With an 

increase in STEM instruction, there is the potential 

to advance economic development in Iowa. 

Locally, teachers interested in learning more 

about STEM grants can contact Stevens at Jenna. 

Stevens@ifbf.org. 

“This council is funded annually by legislative 

appropriation, and receives significant support 

from business and industry, colleges and universities, 

program providers and other cost-sharing 

partners, as well as state and national grants,” said 

Lindy Ibeling, communications manager of the 

Iowa Governors STEM Advisory Council. 

“Agricultural education is STEM education and 

includes educational studies such as agricultural 

science, food science, animal science, plant and 

soil science, as well as some fields that may not 

come immediately to mind but are just as crucial 

to modern farming, such as microbiology, economics, 

biochemistry, engineering and equipment 

manufacturing,” Ibeling said. 

“Feeding the world’s burgeoning population is 

an incredible challenge for our future. Factor in 

the growing importance of food safety, health and 

nutrition, environmental protection, and climate 

change, and you’ve got a career option that carries 

significance worldwide,” Ibeling said. n 

Eastern Iowa Farmer photo / Contributed 

Students at Maquoketa Community High School display their 3-D models of different 

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9/15/21 10:22 am

Experts at 

exports 

Bellevue-based family business ships 

logs — from walnut to cherry and everything 

in between — across the world for use in 

high-end furniture and other applications 

BY Nancy Mayfield 


During the Great Depression, Iowa 

farmer Dayton Tracy cut hedge 

posts for fences, trying to make a 

living during hard times. 

A log buyer asked Dayton to 

“spot” black walnut trees in the southwest part 

of the state – look for good quality timber that 

could be harvested and used to make gunstock. 

Dayton agreed, having no idea that his decision 

would impact generations to come. 

“That’s what got our family into the business,” 

Craig Tracy said of his grandfather’s 

venture into the timber market. Bill Tracy, 

Craig’s father, also made a living buying and 

selling logs, with his wife, Betty, working in 

the office. In 1983 Bill founded Tracy Export. 

Three years later, the company was incorporated 

in Bellevue, and Craig joined his father in 

the venture. Today, the third-generation company 

exports high-quality veneer logs around 

the world for use primarily in furniture and 

flooring, as well as saw logs. 

In a state where livestock and grain are 

agriculture giants, the Tracy family has quietly 

built a business that’s grown to more than 

30 employees, has three holding yards (East 

Dubuque, St. Louis and Michigan) and sells 

logs to customers in Italy, Japan, South Korea, 

Company: Tracy Export Inc. 

Location: Bellevue, IA 

Founded: 1986 

Founders: Bill and Craig Tracy 

Website: tracyexportinc.com 

Bellevue-based Tracy Export Inc. specializes in exporting 

hardwood veneer logs and various grades of saw 

logs throughout Europe and Asia. It was formed in 1986 

by Bill and Craig Tracy and is headquartered in Bellevue. 

The fourth-generation family business employs about 30 

people, half of them from Jackson County. 

It has log yards in East Dubuque, Illinois; White Pigeon, 

Michigan; and Cahokia, Illinois. 

Craig Tracy’s three children now run the company: Matt 

Tracy is the president, Allysen Tracy Bonifas is the vice 

president, and Mike Tracy is the secretary/treasurer. 

China, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Taiwan 

and Indonesia, among other markets. 

Exports account for 90% of the company’s 

business, said Matt Tracy, who has been the 

president since 2015 and handles sales and log 

buying. 



9/15/21 10:22 am

Matt Tracy, Allysen 

Bonifas, Craig Tracy 

and Mike Tracy work 

together running Tracy 

Export. While Craig has 

turned most of the dayto-day 

operations of the 

Bellevue-based company 

over to his three children, 

he still is active in the 

business. 


photo / Trevis Mayfield 


9/15/21 10:22 am

P 

logging exports 

Tracy Export Inc.’s 

products include the 

following species: 

Craig Tracy discusses the family business in Tracy 

Export’s log yard in East Dubuque. It is one of three 

holding yards the company operates in the Midwest. 

Eastern Iowa Farmer photo / Trevis Mayfield 

➤ Walnut 

➤ White oak 

➤ Red oak 

➤ Grey elm 

➤ Red elm 

➤ Basswood 

➤ Hard maple 

➤ Soft maple 

➤ Walnut 

burls 

➤ Birdseye 

maple 

➤ Cherry 

➤ Sycamore 

➤ Sassafras 

➤ Hickory 

➤ Butternut 

➤ Beech 

➤ Brown ash 

➤ Black ash 

➤ Coigue 

➤ Quilted 

maple 

➤ Maple burls 

➤ European 

beech 

“Our forte is the actual log itself and 

finding the customers for it,” Matt said. 

And that involves understanding where 

the highest-quality and highest-in-demand 

trees grow. 

For example, northeast Iowa, southwest 

Wisconsin, northwest Illinois, northern 

Indiana and Ohio produce some of the 

best walnut trees in the country, he said. 

The St. Louis area is known for quality 

white oak. The company also procures 

and exports red oak, cherry and other 

varieties that are prized overseas. 

Tracy Export is a family affair, with 

Matt’s two younger siblings filling key 

roles. Mike is the secretary/treasurer and 

handles accounting and human resources; 

and Allysen is the vice president 

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About half of the 30 people employed by Tracy Export are from Jackson County. That includes three 

members from the Dostal family – Jack, Joshua and Abe. 

and oversees export shipping 

logistics. Craig still is actively 

involved in the business, though 

he ceded day-to-day leadership 

to his kids and now does more 

buying and customer relations, 

which he loves. Bill died last 

fall, having retired from the 

company in 1998. 

“Myself and my brothers 

never dreamed of working 

here,” Allysen said of the trio’s 

aspirations as young adults. 

Indeed, all three of Craig’s children 

found their way back to 

the company after being “pretty 

sure” they weren’t interested. 

They each tell a similar version 

of a story that has them venturing 

out into other careers before 

landing back with the company 

one by one. 

Mike was the last to join 14 

years ago, leaving a career in 

communication after he and his 



9/15/21 10:23 am


wife had their first child 

and wanted to live closer to 

home. 

“It was a good decision,” 

he said, echoing his siblings’ 

sentiments that they 

enjoy working together. 

“Our roles all kind of intertwine.” 

On an overcast day in 

early May, the log yard 

at Tracy Export’s East 

Dubuque location is buzzing 

with activity. 

Yard men have already 

cut, marked and sorted 

thousands of logs into 

different groups that each 

make up a container lot, the 

volume that will fit into an 

ocean-going container. 

As a fork truck loads logs 

marked with yellow paint 

into a container bound for 

Japan, lifting them from 


Most of the logs in Tracy Export’s holding yards are destined for 

overseas. Japan and Italy are two of the local firm’s major clients 

for wood that will be used in high-end furniture. 

one of the dozens of piles 

dotting the sprawling outdoor 

storage yard, Allysen 

noted that logs are a heavy 

load compared with other 

cargo. And because of their 

high-end use, they must be 

handled carefully. 

“We want to make sure 

the product is getting to 

the customer perfectly, the 

way it should be, and the 

way they want it, with no 

damage to the container, 

and no damage to the log,” 

she said. 

The company has 10 

buyers who travel the Mid- 

“Our Japanese customers 

will slice a piece of wood 

down to 0.2 millimeters 

for veneer, so it takes a 

very, very high quality 

log without any defects, 

without any holes, without 

any rot in the middle of it, 

to be able to manufacture 

something so thin.” 

— Matt Tracy 

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west, purchasing logs that are 

delivered to one of the Tracy 

sites. Once there, they are laid 

on the ground, piece by piece, 

with enough room in between 

so inspectors can measure, 

grade and scale each log to 

make sure customers receive the 

specifications they’ve ordered. 

The logs are eventually loaded 

into containers and transported 

by truck to Chicago and St. 

Louis, then by rail to the east 

or west coast where they are 

loaded onto ships. 

Unlike grain or other commodities, 

logs do not store well, 

particularly in the summer heat 

and sunshine, Matt said. 

“Logs are perishable. They’ll 

crack. They’ll stain. They’ll 

split,” he said, adding that 

would reduce the yield from 

each log as bad parts would 

have to be discarded. Consequently, 

the business is seasonal, 

with little activity in July 

and August. 

Quality is a hallmark in every 

aspect of the business, the 

Tracys said. 

“Our Japanese customers will 

slice a piece of wood down to 

0.2 millimeters for veneer, 

so it takes a very, very high 

quality log without any 

defects, without any holes, 

without any rot in the 

middle of it, to be able to 

manufacture something so 

thin,” Matt said. 

Buyers learn how to 

size up the quality of a 

log so it can be properly 

graded. For example, 

a low grade might have 

knots or defects. A higher 

grade will be straight, with 

tight rings. In this line of work, 

buyers develop a keen eye, and 


Photo / Trevis Mayfield 

A Japanese client gave this purse made 

of walnut veneer to Craig Tracy’s mother, 

Betty, during a trip. It now belongs to Betty’s 

granddaughter, Allysen Bonifas, and still holds Betty’s 

handwritten notes of her observations from the visit. 

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agents or customer representatives will come 

and do their own visual inspection. 

“One of the most important things we’ve 

learned over the years is you can’t sit in this 

office and sell logs.” Craig said. “You can, but 

you won’t know what you’re doing if you’re not 

out in the field.” 

This hands-on approach is rooted in the family’s 

belief that building customer relationships is 

everyone’s job. 

The meeting room at the East Dubuque facility 

is full of photographs and items collected over 

the years from overseas travels to visit with customers. 

A particularly interesting piece is a purse 

made of walnut veneer that a Japanese client 

gave to Craig’s mother, Betty, during a trip. 

That purse, which now belongs to Allysen, 

still holds Betty’s handwritten notes of her observations 

from the visit. 

“Our family has been known for the highest 

quality of walnut veneers that’s resulted in some 

heart-touching relationships,” Craig said, adding 

that he was honored to ask to speak at another 

company’s 100th anniversary celebration. For 

the occasion, he worked with an interpreter 

to learn one sentence he wanted to speak in 

Japanese. Matt has continued the tradition of 

building customer relationships, and both Mike 

and Allysen have had opportunities to travel 

overseas to meet customers. 

Products made from logs supplied by a Tracy 

family member have been used in everything 

from gunstock during World War II to wood 

used in the flooring for the 1988 Olympics in 

Seoul, South Korea. 

“Our customer satisfaction is incredibly 

important to us,” Matt said. “We are always 

working on developing new markets, but we realize 

our backbone is, and always has been, with 

our old, old generational clients that we’ve done 

business with for decades.” 

As travel opens up after being curtailed because 

of COVID-19 and demand for timber remains 

high, the coming year will be busy for the 

family. Craig and his wife, Kay, have 12 grandchildren, 

ranging from second grade to freshman 

in college. For Craig, it’s rewarding to watch his 

children thrive in the business he started. 

“It’s been quite a ride,” Craig said. “It’s really 

amazing to see what they’re doing.” n 

“We realize our 

backbone is, and 

always has been, 

with our old, old 

generational 

clients that we’ve 

done business 

with for decades.” 

— Matt Tracy 

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9/15/21 10:23 am

— 2021 — 

a Big 

year! 

After a decade of struggle, 

farmers are enjoying better times 

thanks to rising commodity 

prices, favorable weather, strong 

yield expectations and growing 

exports. Those factors have 

made 2021 into a make-money 

year and propelled agriculture 

land prices to new highs. 


9/15/21 10:23 am

(Left) Daran Becker 

watches for bidders 

at a land auction this 

summer at the Grand 

Mound Community 

Center. Becker is with 

the Indianola office 

of Peoples Company, 

the firm whose DeWitt 

office handled the 

auction. It was one of 

several this summer 

where land fetched 

record prices per 

acre. (Bottom left) 

Peoples Company 

auctioneer Jared 

Chambers facilitates 

the bidding in Grand 

Mound where close to 

100 people gathered 

for a July 20 auction. 

Eastern Iowa 

Farmer photoS / 


Setting 

Records 

Local farm ground prices 

ride wave of ag confidence 



The bidding began at 10:17 on a sweltering morning 

July 20 at the Grand Mound Community Center. 

By 10:24 a.m., Peoples Company Auctioneer Jared 

Chambers brought down his gavel to punctuate that 

magic word: “Sold!” 

And with that, two tracts of farm ground just north of DeWitt 

fetched $16,000 an acre, the highest price for land that many 

realtors, academics and county officials can recall in recent 

history. 

After years of anemic growth in land values stifled by depressed 

commodity prices, global trade challenges, a pandemic 

Fall 2021 | Eastern Iowa Farmer 41 


9/15/21 10:23 am

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a big year 

and a natural disaster, the local agriculture 

community is experiencing better times. 

The high price the ground brought last 

summer was symbolic of a few things, 

economic experts said. 

“Farmer confidence is high,” said 

Wendong Zhang, an assistant professor 

in economics and extension economist at 

Iowa State University. That optimism is 

partly fueled by rebounding commodity 

prices and all they imply. 

“It’s a whole perfect storm,” Zhang 

said. Low interest rates. Strong grain and 

meat exports to China. A limited land 

supply locally and statewide. Government 

agriculture supports for COVID-19 

impacts and trade issues. Cumulatively, 

they’ve led to a renaissance of sorts. 

Doug Yegge and Alan McNeil from the 

DeWitt office of Peoples Company, a national 

brokerage, were the listing agents 

for the July 20 auction of 306.9 acres sold 

by Dolan Family Farms LLC. The three 

tracts of land brought in $4.8 million for 

an average $15,599 an acre (the third tract 


Alan McNeil and Bryan Bergdale were among the Peoples Company representatives on hand to 

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are both with the DeWitt office, which has seen a pickup in farm ground for sale this year in 

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a big year 

“I’d be surprised 

if there hasn’t been 

more land sold 

here in Clinton 

County this past 

year than there 

has been in the 

past three years.” 

— Doug Yegge 

sold for $15,200 an acre). All three tracts were 

sold to local farmers who farm or own contiguous 

land. 

“The sellers are very happy,” said McNeil, 

a sales representative with the company, days 

after the event. “It brought way more than we 

ever thought.” 

Although Yegge and McNeil were expecting 

a decent price, possibly in the $15,000 an acre 

range, they pointed out that you never know for 

sure. 

“I’m always nervous going into an auction. 

The night before I couldn’t sleep,” said Yegge, 

who is a broker with the company. 

He’s had quite a few sleepless nights in 

the past few months as he and McNeil listed 

ground for a record number of auctions for 

their office this year. 

“I’d be surprised if there hasn’t been more 

land sold here in Clinton County this past year 

than there has been in the past three years,” 

Yegge said. “Every year if we get one or two 

farms in Clinton County, we’ve got the world 

by the tail. But between estates and other things 

it’s been quite a bit more. It’s a really fantastic 

situation because of commodity prices.” 


Doug Yegge talks on the phone during one of 

Peoples Company’s auctions this summer. 

Reasons for optimism 

Close to 100 people gathered for the July 20 

auction, and more were poised to participate in 

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a big year 

The Grand Mound Community Center buzzed with conversation 

as people greeted each other, sipped on paper cups of 

coffee, or conversed in small groups. Some paged through the 

information packet about the land. Others talked on their cell 

phones, making notes or punching numbers into calculators. 

The event was riding on the momentum of a July 1 auction, also 

hosted by Peoples at the same location, for 189.78 acres of farm 

ground just east of DeWitt. The ground, sold by the Sam S. Weatherly 

Trust, went for a total of $2.9 million – an average $15,420 an 

acre – in less than 40 minutes, including several breaks. 

Those outcomes are in line with what’s happening with land 

values in the state, Zhang said in late July. 

“We are seeing a more than 20% growth for tillable ground. 

Overall, when you are thinking about average prices, the prices 

we are seeing now are a lot more compared to three or four 

months ago,” he said. The average price per acre in Iowa in 

the second quarter jumped to $12,000 from $10,000 in the first 

quarter. 

“That’s a significant surge. It shows optimism. Everyone is 

watching land values,” Zhang said. 

That kind of percentage increase hasn’t been seen since 

2011/2012 when the growth in the land market was 32% and 

24% respectively, he said. In 2010 it was 16%, and in 2007 it 

was 20%. 

“We have seen these dramatic increases before during the 

third golden era of agriculture from 2003 to 2013,” he said. That 

boom period stemmed from low interest rates, surging exports 

and ethanol expansion. 

The Iowa and Midwest farmland markets had been in modest 

decline since the 2013 peak, and they were fairly steady the last 

three or four years before the recent ramping up, Zhang said. 

Current land values are still less than the 2013 peak, he noted, 

but “the surging crop and land prices offer optimism to landowners, 

producers and agricultural professionals, and once again 

proves the resiliency of agricultural real estate values.” 

2020 affected everyone 

The good news comes on the heels of an historically tough 

year for Eastern Iowa farmers. 

“Looking back to the first part of 2020, the COVID-19 

pandemic was affecting everyone. A lot of the land auctions 

were cancelled or postponed due to COVID, and there was a 

decrease of land being sold compared to the year before. There 

was a strain on farm income with corn prices around $3 and 

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9/15/21 10:23 am

a big year 

beans around $8 per bushel,” said Chuck 

Schwager, owner of East Iowa Real Estate 

in Maquoketa. 

The derecho in August 2020 damaged 

thousands of acres of corn and soybeans, 

and soon after China started buying large 

amounts of both those crops, which reduced 

the supply of stored grain, he noted. 

“Into the fall of 2020 we started to 

see commodity prices go up, which 

pushed land values up,” Schwager said. 

The average price for a bushel of corn 

in Iowa at the end of August was $6.54 

and for soybeans $13.24, that compares 

with $2.99 and $8.65 respectively for 

August 2020, according to the Iowa 

Department of Agriculture and Land 

Stewardship. 

Government Market Facilitation Program 

(MFP) and Coronavirus Food Assistance 

Program (CFAP) payments gave 

farmers a boost, and there is more cash on 

hand, Schwager noted in August. 

“There is much competition out there 

from buyers looking to purchase farmland,” 

he said. 

Yegge, McNeil and Schwager all noted 

Wendong Zhang, 

Iowa State University 

assistant professor 

in economics and 

extension economist 

that while the 

amount of land on 

the market is increasing, 

the supply 

of quality farm 

ground available 

in Eastern Iowa is 

still tight. 

That limited 

availability has an 

impact. 

“That plays a 

very big role,” said 

Alejandro Plastina, 

an assistant professor 

in economics 

and extension 

economist at Iowa State University 

“Farmland is a thin market. There’s 

such a small supply at any given time. 

That pushes prices higher,” he said. 

Going, going, gone 

As Chambers, the auctioneer at the 

Peoples Company July auctions, encouraged 

people to bid, he emphasized the 

fleeting opportunities to buy good quality 

farm ground. 

He noted the Dolan acres hadn’t been 

on the market since the 1980s. 

“It’s likely to be another 60 to 75 years 

before these come for auction again,” he 

told the crowd. “We’re here to sell a farm. 

You’re here to buy a farm to pass on to 

your next generation. Don’t be a member 

of the ‘wish I would’ve club.’” 

Much of the land getting sold recently 

around the state is being sold at auction, 

Schwager said. 

“The auction method is the best way to 

sell good quality farmland when the supply 

is low, and buyers have the resources 

and cash on hand to make the purchase. 

With limited land on the market, buyers 

are aggressive when land becomes available 

in their neighborhood,” he said. 

Farmland auctions are the primary 

mode of land sales in four of the six crop 

reporting districts in the state, Zhang said, 

noting that the higher offered prices and 

possible tax policy changes might induce 

more land supply and more auctions. 

And, he anticipates, they will continue 

to draw both crowds and motivated 

bidders. n 

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9/15/21 10:23 am

a big year 

Moving forward by 

‘thinking outside the box’ 

When Mike Schmidt, 

right, faced a labor 

shortage on the farm 

last fall, he put his 

10-year-old son Kale 

to work operating the 

grain cart. It worked 

out well as Kale was 

attending school 

online. 

Eastern Iowa 

Farmer photo / 


s 

m 

y 

a 

e 

n, 

s. 

After a year of setbacks, farmers such as Mike Schmidt have regrouped and 

emerged stronger than ever. In his case, rebuilding and repairing grain bins 

damaged by the derecho, bringing his young son into the fold, and using 

technology have prepared him for a good harvest and brighter future. 

BY jenna stevens 


Driving down the backroads 

outside of DeWitt, it is hard 

to miss the 500,000-bushel 

grain bin structure sitting 

just off the highway. This 

massive storage system makes up one of 

the main components of a family business 

started more than 20 years ago. 

Like many of their neighbors, the 

Schmidt family was hit hard by the 

derecho that came through the area in late 

August 2020. When the calm finally came 

after the storm, the family had extensive 

damage, especially to their grain bin, 

which was thankfully almost empty at the 

time. 

“It made me sick to see what had 

happened,” said Mike Schmidt, one of 

the partners of Schmidt Ag Services of 

DeWitt. 

“I phoned our millwrights, the guys 



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who built the bin, and explained 

that the bin had come 

down. They called the bin 

builders who were already 

heading back south because 

they were finished with work 

in the area, but they had a 

crew turn around and come 

back and they worked into 

December,” he said. 

More than a year later 

the damage is still not fully 

repaired and will not be until 

at least the end of this harvest 

season when the structures 

are once again full, and a roof 

can be properly attached. 

The other bin had some roof 

damage, so they temporarily 

patched the roof until the bin 

is full again, and they can put 

on a new roof. 

The company offers a variety 

of ag solutions, everything 

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chemical, fertilizer, feed sales 

and more. With such a diverse 

business profile, it is easy to 

imagine the setbacks this past 

year has brought. Property 

damage was not the only issue 

the family faced. Another 

challenge was a shortage of 

labor. 

“Covid hit our area hard in 

the fall,” Schmidt said. “And 

we rely on a lot of part time 

and retired help to get things 

done. A lot of those guys 

understandably took time off, 

which limited our workforce.” 

Thinking outside of the box, 

Schmidt employed the assistance 

of his 10-year-old son, 

Kale, to operate the grain cart. 

“At that point, the kids were 

going to school online, so we 

set up an iPad in the cab of 

the tractor and Kale did Zoom 

classes while he was hauling 

grain for me. He loved it!” 

Schmidt said. 

Embracing technology 

became the new motto around 

the office as Schmidt and his 

family learned to navigate 

everything from video conferencing 

to Google Classroom. 

What was a struggle at first actually 

wound up being a time 

a big year 

“The kids were going 

to school online, so 

we set up an iPad in 

the cab of the tractor 

and Kale did Zoom 

classes while he was 

hauling grain for me. 

He loved it!” 

— Mike Schmidt 

saver in some ways. 

“It really does save time 

to do business meetings and 

conferences online,” Schmidt 

said. “You do not have to 

travel, which frees up a lot 

more hours to do other things. 

Do I miss the face-to-face 

interaction, of course, but I 

can also see some of the video 

meetings becoming a part of 

the normal routine. It can be a 

balance.” 

That balance has been tricky 

over the past 12 months, but 

Schmidt continues to look at 

the positives. His new bin is 

built heavier than before and 

has upgraded pieces that will 

hopefully allow it to withstand 

the Iowa weather. He learned 

the latest methods to expand 

communication within his 

business and most importantly 

he had the opportunity to work 

with his son and the rest of his 

family in an industry he loves. 

“This past year has definitely 

been a challenge,” Schmidt 

said. “But we learned a lot and 

will apply that knowledge to 

keep moving forward.” 

A goal that ensures their 

family business will be around 

for the next generation and 

will carry on with the tradition 

of forward progress no matter 

what challenges life throws at 

them. n 



9/15/21 10:23 am

a big year 

The derecho downed grain bins, 

but not farmers’ hopes 

BY sara millhouse 


When the derecho tore 

through Iowa Aug. 10, 

2020, it downed more 

than half a million 

acres of corn, as well 

as a significant amount of the state’s 

grain storage capacity: about 120 million 

bushels’ worth. About half of that storage 

capacity was on farms, according to the 

Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land 

Stewardship. 

In the aftermath, farmers and those 

who service bins scrambled to prepare for 

harvest. This year, many of the farmers 

Lane Seamer and his father, 

Rick, farm outside Goose 

Lake. They expect their 

grain bins to be full this fall 

from a robust harvest. 


photo / Brooke Taylor 

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9/15/21 10:24 am

a big year 

g 

ive 

ts 

Eastern Iowa Farmer photos / contributed 

Clinton-based Seeser Storage Systems did the repair work on the Seamer’s Goose Lake-area farm. The company’s business increased about 50 

percent after the derecho. 

affected by the derecho are putting the 

finishing touches on revamped grain storage 

and are looking optimistically toward 

this year’s harvest—and beyond toward 

the harvests of the future. 

Those with bin damage tell stories, 

not only of the destruction caused by the 

straight-line wind, but also of what can 

be repaired, what can be rebuilt and what 

remained. 

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Outside of Goose Lake, father and son 

Rick and Lane Seamer still tend the land 

Rick’s grandfather Henry started farming 

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9/15/21 10:24 am

a big year 


Rick Seamer still tends the land his grandfather Henry started farming in 1867. He and the 

family are happy to have 2020 behind them and are looking forward to harvest. 

in 1867. 

Rick watched the derecho from the 

garage. It wasn’t until a neighbor drove 

by the family’s bins that he learned they’d 

suffered more than downed corn: their 

bins were in “bad shape.” 

The family learned just how capricious 

a so-called “straight-line” wind can be. 

A truck auger behind the bins flipped, 

but another auger in the direct line of the 

winds lay untouched. 

To assess the damages, Seamers called 

Seeser Storage Systems. With cranes, 

manlifts and expertise, Seeser replaced 

a bin that the Seamers didn’t think was 

salvageable, taking sheets from the destroyed 

bin to repair the other bin. “They 

did miracles,” Lane said. 

Seeser Storage Systems brought two 

cranes and two manlifts, carefully pushing 

and pulling back a bin that had come 

up about six inches. 

“This is our 49th year in business, so 

we’ve got some experience,” said Harlan 

Seeser. “Experience kind of guides you.” 

The Seamers’ other bin was beyond 

repair. 

“The roof of that far bin looked like a 

balloon,” Lane said. “The wind just got 

underneath it.” 

Neighbors, friends and family helped 

the Seamers tear down the destroyed bin. 

To recapture some of the capacity lost 

through the bin destroyed last year, they 

rented a bin down the road. 

Their new bin went up this summer, 

complete with a wind ring at the top and 

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9/15/21 10:24 am

the edge of the bin. 

“That storm opened the 

eyes of a lot of people, manufacturers 

and so forth,” Rick 

said. “They’re selling that 

bin now instead of this bin,” 

gesturing toward the new, 

reinforced bin, then the older 

one. 

Seeser is seeing the 

increased demand for such 

wind-resistant “commercial” 

bins. “It never really hit home 

until the derecho, that very 

few of those with the wind 

rings got damaged,” Seeser 

said, referring to Sukup bins 

he sells. 

With the new bin up, 

Seamers have only a “little 

more work to do,” primarily 

electrical, to be back in working 

order for harvest this year, 

Lane said. They’re optimistic 

that the harvest this year will 

a big year 

“We tried to take 

care, if a customer 

couldn’t do anything, 

we’d get up them 

up and going first. 

Some were just 

adding another 

bin. They can start 

harvest. You had to 

kind of prioritize.” 

— harlan Seeser 

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9/15/21 10:24 am

a big year 

look more like 2019 than 2020. 

As for Seeser Storage Systems, business 

increased about 50 percent after the derecho, 

as long-time customers and others called for 

help. 

“We tried to take care, if a customer 

couldn’t do anything, we’d get up them up 

and going first,” Seeser said. “Some were 

just adding another bin. They can start harvest. 

You had to kind of prioritize.” 

Seeser added that new bins have been arriving 

within a week of expected schedules, 

though driers sold out for the year in January. 

Farmers also had to decide, if replacing 

a bin, whether or not to increase capacity, 

especially considering increasing yields. 

Seeser believes that long-term trends of 

increasing yields will continue to drive the 

need for increased grain storage. 

“If you’ve got 1,000 acres, for every 

10-bushel increase in yields you see per acre, 

you need 10,000 more bushels of storage,” 

he said. The math adds up quick. 

In Jones County 

Further west, between Clarence, Oxford 

Junction and Olin, husband and wife Lynn 


When Lynn and Shelly Ahrendsen needed to replace a grain bin after the derecho, they also 

decided to upgrade their dryer, with an eye toward future harvests. 

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9/15/21 10:24 am

a big year 

and Shelly Ahrendsen had to 

replace one grain bin entirely, 

as well as make significant 

repairs after the derecho. The 

roof of a bin blew into a yard 

holding 120 cattle, and a tube 

connecting the bins flew over 

one bin and down, punching 

a hole in the roof of the cattle 

shed. 

The bin damage occurred 

at the home of their son Jace, 

his wife, Brittany, and their 

two small children. Neighbors 

fared no better, and often 

worse. 

“We felt so blessed that our 

bin was standing, even though 

it was damaged, while all of 

the legs around us, they were 

flattened,” Shelly said. 

The bin that was destroyed 

lacked the vertical and ring reinforcements 

that would help 

it stand up to heavy winds. 

Instead, the tubing between 

the bins may have helped the 

Eastern Iowa Farmer photo / Contributed and Brooke taylor 

The roof of a bin at the Jones County farm of Lynn and Shelly Ahrendsen blew into a yard holding 120 cattle, 

and a tube connecting the bins flew over one bin and down, punching a hole in the roof of the cattle shed. 

remaining ones stay standing. 

Repair work has been slow, 

but they have the storage they 

need for this year’s harvest. 

“It’s been so hard,” Lynn 

said. “Labor’s hard right 

now, and everybody’s busy. 

We’re all doing repairs.” 

But this year is a far cry 

from last year, when derecho-damaged 

crops meant 

lower yields and a “slow-motion” 

harvest. “Last year, 

when that happened, the word 

I used was ‘prioritize,’” Shelly 

said. “What was the most important? 

Obviously, it was the 

livestock, they needed water, 

then prioritize getting the road 

cleared with trees so people 

can get in.” 

With damaged bins still 

standing, the Ahrendsens 

stored as much as they could 

last year, though Lynn said 

that some grain had to go 

to town. They filled what 

they could and fixed leaks 

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9/15/21 10:24 am

a big year 


A tube connecting grain bins dislodged by high 

winds during the derecho punched a hole in 

the roof of the cattle shed belonging to the 

Ahrendsen Family in Jones County. 

temporarily. 

One of the bins had been blown off 

its foundation, but filling it allowed it to 

settle back so it could be tightened down. 

“It was egg-shaped a bit, but they fixed 

that when they put the new roof on,” 

Shelly said. “It’s incredible what they can 

fix.” 

Dale and Dan Hosch of Hosch Grain 

Tec in Hopkinton worked on their bin, 

along with electrical, concrete and 

construction contractors. In the course of 

repairs, the Ahrendsens also decided to 

upgrade their dryer, with an eye toward 

future harvests. 

Shelly tells how their 2-year-old granddaughter 

has learned to take the punches 

of Mother Nature with a pragmatic attitude. 

When she plays with her toy phone, 

she calls “the bin guys,” already preparing 

for a future life farming. 

The Ahrendsens were just grateful 

for the ability to continue their lives and 

livelihoods. 

“This can be replaced,” Lynn said as he 

looked at their bin setup. “People can’t.” 

Despite a little dryness this summer, 

“Every spring, we’re all 

excited to start the crop year 

over again. That’s why we’re 

farmers. You plant the seed 

and hope everything goes in 

your favor. Sometimes it does. 

Sometimes it doesn’t.” 

— Shelly ahrendsen 

the family looks with hope to the future. 

“Every spring, we’re all excited to start 

the crop year over again,” Shelly said. 

“That’s why we’re farmers. You plant the 

seed and hope everything goes in your 

favor. Sometimes it does. Sometimes it 

doesn’t.” n 

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9/15/21 10:24 am

a big year 

The Supply 

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Last year, the wall that displays long-handled garden 

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although they started resurfacing in late summer. Other 

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owner Jesse Kueter. 

“It was all over the place as far as what we had in stock. Some 

things would come in, and some things would never show up. 

Canning lids were the biggest thing. We just couldn’t get them,” 

he said. “We usually get bulk seeds the first of the year, and 

those didn’t come in until April this year. The inventory just 

didn’t ship.” 

Cleaning supplies are now plentiful, garden tools and seeds 

are available, and limited canning jars and lids are appearing and 


Jesse Kueter, owner of Kueter True Value hardware store in Bellevue, 

stands in front of a full wall of garden tools. Shortages of many items 

during the pandemic are loosening up, and Kueter and others in the 

industry have focused more energy on finding new suppliers and 

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9/15/21 10:24 am

a big year 


Canning jars and lids were almost impossible to come by for gardeners hoping to preserve their harvests 

in 2020. A paint shortage – particularly the color red – was an issue that began in the summer. 

expected to increase in volume. Merchants 

are taking the lessons they learned during the 

past year and a half and are looking ahead. 

“I’m spending a lot of time behind the desk, 

figuring out how to get around that. I’m on 

the phone tracking things down,” Kueter said. 

“I’ve increased my suppliers. I’m always 

asking myself, ‘If I can’t get this, then what’s 

a good replacement that’s reasonably close?’” 

Vendors also have been limiting the number 

of boxes or how many of a particular item 

they’ll ship to stores at a time, so when merchandise 

does come in, Kueter moves quickly 

to order the next shipment. 

While empty shelves were a frustration to 

store owners and consumers alike in Eastern 

Iowa and beyond, they’ve learned to creatively 

address issues caused by a disrupted supply 

chain. 

John Noonan, who handles purchasing and 

marketing for the retail division of Cascade 

Lumber in Cascade, said that while he has 

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know what hasn’t 

been touched by 

workforce issues. 

The supply chain 

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9/15/21 10:24 am

a big year 


John Noonan, who handles purchasing and marketing for the retail division of Cascade Lumber in Cascade, 

talks with customer Tom English at his Bernard farm. Noonan said he and the store staff have been working 

hard to meet customer needs the last 18 months. “There’s no doubt it’s been stressful,” Noonan said. “This is 

a retail business. Things will be back to normal, but it is hard to say what the new normal is.” 

seen many ups and downs in 

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9/15/21 10:24 am

a big year 

rt 

Tightness in the supply chain 

and rising prices for things like 

lumber started last year and 

finally started relaxing at the 

end of the second quarter, only 

to be replaced by a shortage in 

anything that contains resin – 

siding, windows, and plastic 

used in such things as electric 

boxes. Wait time for these types 

of items to come in was weeks 

or sometimes months. 

From the retail store perspective 

at Cascade Lumber, 

employee Al Blatz said a paint 

shortage – particularly the 

color red – was an issue that 

began last summer. Red was 

the color paint the store used 

to mark trusses in the lumber 

yard. They switched to using 

burgundy paint as a result. 

Unusual icy weather last 

February in Texas caused many 

of the raw ingredients for paint 

to freeze and become unusable. 

That, on top of the increase in 

construction and remodeling, 

squeezed supply. 

Kueter said in mid-July that 

he was still having problems 

stocking anywhere between 

400 and 800 items in his store, 

which has an estimated 50,000 

items on the shelves at any 

given time. 

“I still have purchase orders 

from last March (2020) that are 

unfulfilled,” Kueter said. However, 

his wall of garden tools 

is full, and he, Noonan and 

other merchants have focused 

more energy on finding new 

suppliers and alternative items 

to stock. 

The summer of 2020 was 

particularly trying as people 

ramped up home improvement 

projects, yardwork and gardening 

as the pandemic kept them 

home. 

“I couldn’t get a lawnmower 

for the life of me,” Kueter 

said, adding that the models 

he ordered in February never 

showed up. Canning lids were 

nonexistent. Cleaning supplies 

flew off the shelf as soon as 

they were stocked. 

He had a woman come into 

the store from Madison, Wisconsin, 

looking for a garden 

tiller. She was stopping everywhere 

she could think of, traveling 

farther and farther away 

from her home base. Kueter 

ordered one for her, and, to his 

surprise, it arrived weeks later. 

She drove back to Bellevue to 

pick it up. 

Adjusting business practices 

to whatever the current economic 

climate happens to be is 

something retailers know they 

must do. 

“There’s no doubt it’s been 

stressful,” Noonan said. “This 

is a retail business. Things will 

be back to normal, but it is hard 

to say what the new normal 

is.” n 

“I’ve increased 

my suppliers. I’m 

always asking 

myself, ‘If I can’t 

get this, then 

what’s a good 

replacement 

that’s reasonably 

close?’” 

— Jesse Keuter 

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9/15/21 10:24 am

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9/15/21 10:24 am

a big year 

Taking a long-term view 

A combination of 

increased world demand, 

rebounding commodity 

prices and favorable 

area weather is adding 

up to a good year for 

Eastern Iowa farmers 



In early August, Dennis Campbell 

leaned against the concrete footing 

where a grain bin would be 

constructed in the near future. The 

structure, a replacement for one destroyed 

in the derecho 12 months earlier, 

represented both a nod to the hardships 

of the previous year and the promise of 

better days ahead. 

Low commodity prices had been plaguing 

farmers for several years when crops, 

buildings and other equipment were damaged 

by the storm’s powerful, straightline 

winds. Further hardships were caused 

by COVID’s negative impacts on agriculture, 

including supply chain problems and 

lower demand because of closed restaurants 

and schools. 

“How quickly things have changed,” 

Campbell said. “A year ago, Aug. 10, 

corn was at $3.25. I thought, ‘This too 

shall pass.’” 

And it has, to some extent, with higher 

commodity prices and decent weather 

fueling better times. The average price 

of corn this past August in Eastern Iowa 

was about $6.25 a bushel. Beans were at 

about $13.30 a bushel, compared with 

about $8.70 a bushel the same month a 

year earlier. 

Such is the cyclical nature of a 

farmer’s life, said Campbell, who hails 

from a six-generation farm family in 

Grand Mound. 

While Campbell, like other Eastern 

Iowa farmers, has seen a lot of ups and 

downs during his decades in the business, 

this year economic factors and Mother 

Nature are working in their favor. 

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the first step in a multiple-prong cog 

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manager. My factory is much larger 

than most. It doesn’t have a roof. Most 

of the raw ingredients that I need don’t 

show up in a timely fashion. It doesn’t 

rain when I want it to. There’s too much 

wind. There’s too much rain. There’s not 

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9/15/21 10:24 am

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9/15/21 10:24 am

a big year 

enough rain. Our factory is just taking 

sunshine and turning it into energy.” 

This 2021 growing season has 

been mostly favorable for Eastern 

Iowa farmers. In some pockets, rain 

wasn’t plentiful enough. In other 

areas, winds from a late-August storm 

flattened some corn (not at the level 

done by the derecho), but overall 

expectations for record production 

coupled with strong prices translate 

into a good year. 

From his perspective, Campbell 

said low interest rates and good prices 

for wheat, corn and soybeans were 

boosting his optimism for farmers in 

what he described as “a very cyclical, 

capital-intensive, high-risk industry.” 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 

quarterly trade outlook in late 

August showed that exports continued 

at a record-setting pace for the fiscal 

year 2021. In addition, U.S. agricultural 

exports in fiscal year (FY) 2022 

are projected at $177.5 billion, $4.0 

Sixth-generation farmer Dennis Campbell of 

Grand Mound said benign moves in historically 

low interest rates and good prices for wheat, 

corn and soybeans are boosting his optimism 

for farmers in what he described as “a very 

cyclical, capital-intensive, high-risk industry.” 


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9/15/21 10:24 am

a big year 

billion higher than the revised forecast for 

the preceding year. The FY 2022 forecast 

value increase is primarily driven by higher 

export values for soybeans, cotton, and 

horticultural products. 

“Commodity prices are up because of 

two things,” Campbell said. “Number one, 

it really boils down to weather, global 

weather. Brazil has had some tough times 

getting their corn crop to match production 

of years past. Between drought and some 

snow they caught – they’re fighting frost 

on corn right now – it’s been tough conditions 

for them.” 

Last summer, as Campbell was reflecting 

on the world scenario, he noted Ukraine 

had been struggling with weather, and 

China was having issues with droughts and 

floods. 

“Weather trumps all. If we have great 

weather, we’ll over produce and see prices 

down. If weather doesn’t cooperate in some 

areas, we’ll see better prices,” he said. 

And demand for protein is increasing 

worldwide. 

“You’re seeing those people want a better 

diet, a more diverse source of protein. 

People live longer, wealth is up, and they 

have more money in their pocket,” he said. 

Those are the positives, Campbell said. 

Of course, higher commodity prices, as ag 

industry insiders are aware, lead to higher 

input costs. That’s a balancing act for 

farmers, too. 

“As farmers we always operate under the 

fear of the ‘what-if.’ What if interest rates 

change? What if we have overproduction 

weather? Cooperative weather on a global 

basis and we have all of the sudden taught 

the rest of the world how to grow corn? 

What if China has a great year, and Brazil 

has a record year, and Ukraine pumps it out 

and we have a plethora?” 

It’s important to not be short-sighted. 

“You have to go into it with that philosophy. 

Sometimes it gets to be hard on the 

ego. You think ‘I did everything right, and 

the cards just didn’t play out.’ You have 

to step back from it and take a long-term 

view. That’s the other piece. It’s a cyclical 

long-term horizon,” he said. 

For Campbell, farming is the way of life. 

“I enjoy the challenges and the variety 

of the different tasks. I like the change 

of seasons,” he said. “We enjoy our piece 

in making the protein puzzle work. A lot 

of what we do goes to feed people elsewhere, 

and that’s an important part of 

our work.” n 

For derecho-hit forest 

landowners, sunlight 

follows the storm 


Jim Piper lost a few beautiful trees on his property in northwest Clinton County to the 

derecho, but, like many people with timber, he used it as an opportunity to effectively 

manage timber and re-plant desirable species that will thrive in the newly-cleared canopy. 

Many farmers have stands of trees on 

their property. The silver lining to damage from 

the August 2020 storm is an opportunity to 

manage timber and re-plant desirable species. 

BY Sara Millhouse 


On Aug. 10, 2020, Rick 

Springsteen “watched 

28 years of work blown 

away.” 

His 87 acres of forest 

were among the approximately 

724,000 acres of Iowa forest damaged 

in the derecho. Statewide, Iowa lost 

about a quarter of its forest acreage, 

a hard blow for timber landowners. 

However, even as clean-up continues, 

foresters see the silver lining in all 

these downed trees. 

To regenerate, forests rely on 

natural disturbances, such as flooding, 

fire – and storms. In other words: the 

derecho was a challenge, but it’s also 

an opportunity to effectively manage 

timber and re-plant desirable species 

that will thrive in the newly-cleared 

canopy, experts said. 



9/15/21 10:25 am


9/15/21 10:25 am

a big year 

“Trees are a crop, 

but you don’t 

harvest a tree every 

day. When a farmer 

thinks about it, it’s 

a once-in-a-lifetime 

opportunity.” 

— Ben bruggeman 

“Trees are a crop, but you don’t harvest 

a tree every day,” said Ben Bruggeman, a 

fourth-generation logger from Monticello. 

“When a farmer thinks about it, it’s a once-ina-lifetime 

opportunity.” 

Trees are big business in Iowa. Iowa State 

University Extension estimates that the state’s 

three million acres of forests contribute to 

about 18,000 jobs and $4.9 billion in annual 

economic output in Iowa. 

Iowa Department of Natural Resources 

district forester David Bridges says that, when 

thinking about timber, farmers have to transition 

from thinking about an annual harvest to 

considering a harvest that might come 20 or 40 

years in the future. 

“If they’re not as worried about the here 

and now, and they want to make something 

better for their kids and grandkids, that’s when 

forestry seems to click,” Bridges said. Then, 

landowners can reap both economic and the 

ecosystem benefits. 

Labor of love 

Jim Piper has painstakingly managed his 

woodland in northwestern Clinton County. 

“I’m really into my trees,” he said, echoing the 

David Bridges, 

Iowa Department of 

Natural Resources 

district forester 

passion of many timber 

landowners. 

A recent, five-acre 

timber harvest took 

some trees that had at 

least 132 rings on them, 

which means the seeds 

would have started 

growing when Grover 

Cleveland was president. 

“A man that plants 

trees to read the newspaper 

in the shade is a 

fool,” Piper joked. 

He may not be eyeing 

up shade for himself in 

doing so, but Piper has planted thousands of 

trees on his land, a crop that may not reach maturity 

during his lifetime. He’s planted a diverse 

mix of species, including sycamore, river birch 

and Kentucky coffee trees. 

Over time, he’s thinned them and cared for 

them, constantly working to improve his timber 

stand. He leaves some “junk” trees hinge-cut to 

provide habitat. 

Piper lost a few beautiful trees in the storm. 

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9/15/21 10:25 am

a big year 


Lisbon-area landowner Rick Springsteen took this picture after the 2020 derecho, during which 

he lost more than 70% of his tree canopy. On May 8, Boy Scouts from Troop 66 in Monticello 

helped him plant 1,500 trees, including 700 red oak, 500 swamp oak and 300 walnut. 

He’s quick to point out that he was lucky 

compared to many landowners. Still, his 

losses may have been greater if not for his 

constant efforts at timber stand improvement. 

Succession planning 

Professional foresters urge landowners 

to make a plan for their forests now, 

rather than waiting for an event that could 

drastically change a forest in an instant. 

“For professionals, it’s been a giant 

reminder of the fundamentals of having 

a forest that’s not too old,” Bridges said 

of the derecho. “We need to have that 

age diversity. We love having all those 

old picturesque stands, but it’s leaving us 

exposed to these wind events.” 

Oaks, especially, are dependent on 

storms to make openings in the forest in 

order to regenerate. Oak seedlings love 

sun, and without disturbance to the forest 

canopy, young oaks won’t survive and 

thrive. 

Without sunlight, the seedlings that 

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9/15/21 10:25 am

a big year 

succeed in a forest are species like maples, 

basswood, hackberry, box elder and 

elm. While there’s nothing wrong with 

these trees, they’re not as prized as our 

oaks, walnuts and hickories, for timber 

value, aesthetics or habitat. 

Unfortunately, the holes in the canopy 

opened up by the derecho also benefit 

invasive species. Landowner Springsteen 

said that the multiflora rose he’d almost 

eliminated has made a roaring comeback 

now that new light is reaching the forest 

floor. 

Cody Widner is a forester with the 

National Wild Turkey Federation. He 

calls for acting swiftly to combat invasive 

species like honeysuckle. 

“The longer you wait, it’ll take more 

and more time to combat these undesirable 

species,” he said. 

The DNR’s Bridges said that some 

landowners called immediately after the 

storm for help assessing timber damage. 

“Other people were so sickened by 

what had happened that it took them 

months to come out and look at it for the 

first time,” Bridges said. “I had a handful 

Cody Widner, 

National Wild Turkey 

Federation forester 

of people say, with 

some emotion in 

their voice, ‘I’m 

not sure if I’m 

going to tear up 

or vomit, but this 

means a lot to 

me.’” 

Some landowners 

who had put 

off timber harvests 

now have salvage 

harvests on their 

hands, according 

to Bridges. It 

wasn’t the way 

they had hoped to harvest their trees. 

“You went from full value to 35 percent 

value,” he said. 

From October to February, Bridges 

worked almost exclusively with derecho-impacted 

forest landowners, helping 

with 99 program applications and assisting 

about 50 other landowners. 

The application window has now 

passed for the Emergency Forest Restoration 

Program, but Bridges said that 

some other programs could help landowners 

still dealing with derecho damage, 

such as a cost share for removing 

undesirables and replanting with more 

desirable trees. 

Clean-up and regeneration 

Outside of Lisbon, Springsteen estimates 

that he lost 70% to 80% of his 

canopy. Within the first week, Springsteen 

contacted Bridges, who put him in touch 

with the logger Bruggeman. 

Bruggeman said his great-grandfather 

started the company making blanks for 

gunstocks in World War II. The derecho 

increased his business from two crews to 

four or five. 

“We probably planted 8,000 trees so far 

this spring, and we plan on doing 15 to 

20,000 this fall,” Bruggeman said. “Mostly 

oaks, hickories and walnuts.” 

Springsteen invested in more equipment 

to handle the clearing. While 

Bruggeman’s crew worked with the large, 

dangerous trees, Springsteen worked with 

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9/15/21 10:25 am

Apple Pie Bars 

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· 1 teaspoon salt 

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Filling: 

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· 1 cup sugar 

· 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 

· 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg 

· 1/2 teaspoon salt 

· 4 Tablespoons Minute Tapioca 

Frosting: 

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· 1 teaspoon vanilla 

· 1 Tablespoon milk 

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9/15/21 10:25 am

a big year 

his skid loader and splitter on the smaller 

trees and trimmed the brush on his 

beloved trail system, which he re-opened 

in December. 

“I’ve put in well over 200 hours 

already, and the loggers had over 200 

hours,” Springsteen said. “It’s a lifetime 

commitment now. I’ll be pulling trees out 

of there for the rest of my life.” 

On May 8, Boy Scouts from Troop 66 

in Monticello helped plant 1,500 trees on 

Springsteen’s property, including 700 red 

oak, 500 swamp oak and 300 walnut. 

Piper’s stepson Blake Barkley has been 

kept busy by the derecho, too. Barkley 

owns Complete Land Management, and 

his work includes forestry mulching and 

invasive species removal, especially in 

the hard-hit Cedar Rapids area. 

Forestry mulching can help remove 

smaller, damaged timber, making it easier 

to remove larger pieces without damaging 

remaining trees. Dragging logging equipment 

through timber can damage living 

oaks by harming their bark, leaving them 

susceptible to oak wilt. 

Act now, manage for future 

While there’s still time to harvest 

derecho-damaged timber, the window is 

closing for both economic and ecological 

benefit. Downed trees start to lose their 

value, even as salvage. 

“In two to three years you won’t get 

anything for them,” Bruggeman said. 

When assessing the damage, be careful. 

Watch out for “widowmakers,” and look 

down just as much as you look up. 

Bridges warns landowners to be careful 

in dangerous situations with storm-damaged 

trees. 

“Even for people who’ve been doing it 

for years, it’s dangerous work,” he said. 

“A busted-up tree is better than a busted-up 

person.” 

Those looking to buy young trees can 

also check out 40 native species of Iowa 

trees and shrubs at Nursery.IowaDNR. 

gov. The nursery re-opened for orders 

Sept. 1. 

Widner of the National Wild Turkey 

Federation hopes that active management 

will better prepare forest landowners for 

Ben Bruggeman, 

Fourth-generation 

logger, Monticello, IA 

the next disaster. 

“Farmers have 

this stand of trees, 

and they can either 

let nature take its 

course or productively 

manage the 

forest,” he said. 

“We can mimic 

these natural 

disturbances so 

that when disaster 

comes through, we 

can be prepared to 

withstand it.” 

Bruggeman said 

he worked with one landowner whose 

land has been in the family for more 

than 100 years. “His grandfather planted 

trees,” Bruggeman said. “The storm came 

through and destroyed the whole woods.” 

Now, that landowner has a vision for 

the next 100 years. 

“We came, got it cleaned up and 

replanted,” Bruggeman said. “When they 

see it cleaned up and young trees starting 

to grow, it’s a glimmer of hope.” n 

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9/15/21 10:25 am

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9/15/21 10:25 am

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9/15/21 10:25 am

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9/15/21 10:25 am

growing local 


The Naeves are a six-generation farm family that raises cattle, grows crops and operates a trucking company based out of Andover. They 

decided to expand their operation with a meat processing plant that is currently under construction and will meet a need in the local market. 

Pictured are three generations of family members, including Allan Naeve, Roberta Naeve, Andrew Naeve, Kristin Naeve, Ray Naeve, Marcia 

Naeve, Tiffany Naeve, and Adam Naeve. 

From the 

ground 

up 

The Naeve Family builds a beef 

processing plant in Camanche 

to put a piece of the cattle 

market back under local control. 

BY Jenna Stevens 


The price of meat is 

causing sticker shock 

these days, especially 

for farmers. 

While hamburger is now more 

than $5 a pound, the cattle 

market has stayed relatively 

flat, meaning farmers are not 

the ones benefiting from the 

higher prices. 

This lack of balance is a 

source of frustration for many 

area producers, including 

the Naeves, a six-generation 

farm family that raises cattle, 

grows crops and operates a 

trucking company based out 

of Andover. 

The Naeve family set out 

to change how they get paid 

for their product. The family 

includes Andrew and wife 

Kristin; Adam and wife 

Tiffany; grandparents, Allan 

and Roberta; and parents, Ray 

and Marcia. 

The idea for a branded beef 

processing plant is something 

they had thought about in the 

past and even discussed on 

occasion, but it was not until 

COVID-19 hit that they decided 

to get serious and look at 

what it would take to make it 

a reality. 

They broke ground in June 

on a state-of-the-art, 50-headper-day 

beef processing plant 

and retail store at 1902 Seventh 

Ave. in Camanche. 

“Generations of hard 

work, tough decisions and 

challenging times have led us 

to the day where we are finally 

able to make that dream a reality,” 

Andrew Naeve said at the 

groundbreaking. 



9/15/21 10:25 am

growing local 

“We have raised cattle for a 

long time. We understand 

how to feed them out and 

get them to grow quickly and 

efficiently, and from there we 

load them onto one of our 

semis and take them to be 

processed. We never spent 

a lot of time considering what 

happened after that step.” 

— Andrew Naeve 

The 15,000-square-foot plant will 

provide food for consumers, retailers, 

restaurants, grocery stores, and food 

distributors. 

Their first step was research. 

“We spent a lot of time just looking 

at things online and talking to people in 

the industry,” Andrew Naeve said. “One 

of our earliest conversations was with a 

professor from Cornell’s meat science 

program. We knew we had some serious 

gaps in our knowledge of what it would 

take to pull something like this off, and 

so we made sure to put in the time early 

on to answer those questions.” 

Those questions included things like 

how meat actually is processed inside 

a packing facility and what is needed 

to properly handle, store, and ship that 

meat. 

“We have raised cattle for a long 

time,” Naeve said. “We understand how 

to feed them out and get them to grow 

quickly and efficiently, and from there 

we load them onto one of our semis and 

take them to be processed. We never 

spent a lot of time considering what 

happened after that step.” 

Figuring out that next step took hours 

that included looking up consultants and 

considering how to design a business 

plan. The family was fortunate enough 

to find a consultant with the guts to tell 

them not only the parts of the plan he 

thought would work, but also the parts 

that would not. 

“The internet is really good at showing 

you professionals who will sugar coat 

things. We didn’t want that. We wanted 

someone who would tell us honestly if 

something was not going to work before 

we spent a lot of time and money on it,” 

Naeve said. “We knew this was crucial 

to our success and we were lucky 

enough to find someone who not only 

has been with us since the beginning, 

but who has agreed to stay with us for at 

least the first three to five years after we 

get up and running.” 

Making the process transparent to 

all the major parties involved was crucial 

in moving forward. Once an initial 

business plan was developed, the family 

took the proposal to its team of legal and 

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9/15/21 10:25 am

growing local 

financial experts to make sure everyone 

was on the same page. 

Their biggest hurdle came in the summer 

of 2020 when they started looking for 

building sites. Initially the family thought 

they’d put the plant on their farm, which 

would make it convenient for trucking. 

After looking into it more, however, 

they realized that managing the water 

flow necessary to run a processing plant 

would not be possible with their current 

situation. Thus, they started shopping for 

locations in Clinton and Jackson counties. 

Andrew and his father looked at close 

to 10 locations, narrowing the field to 

three options before setting on the industrial 

park near the rail tracks in Camanche. 

This location not only had a viable 

water source, but it also offered them 

the opportunity to create their plant with 

enough space to eventually grow beyond 

their initial 50-head-per-day estimates and 

gave them extra room for a retail shop on 

site to sell their branded products. 

The family officially broke ground on 

the new facility in June with a ceremony 

that included a visit from Iowa Gov. Kim 

Reynolds, who talked about the importance 

of continuing to bring agricultural 

jobs to the state and about filling a niche 

in the meat processing market. 

On a national level, the meat packing 

industry is controlled by four major 

players who control prices in such a way 

that leaves producers with little room for 

profit. 

“It has long been a frustration for us 

as producers to not be paid well for our 

cattle,” Naeve said. “We produce a higher 

quality meat product than cattle in other 

parts of the country, but that is not being 

taken into consideration. With our own 

brand, we will be able to highlight this 

quality and pass it on to local customers 

who know the difference in Iowa fed 

beef.” 

Naeve’s plan is to initially process 50 

head of cattle per day, of which about half 

will come from their own yards. The rest 

will be contracted through other producers 

who already have a branded product. 

Different customization packages will 

be offered, and meat will be cut to order 

based on the customization selected. 

Long term, the Naeve family would 

like to expand processing to 100 head 

per day and eventually use all their own 

cattle, which means more than doubling 

their current finishing operation. 

“This is not going to happen overnight; 

it is more like a 10-year plan. Right now, 

our priority is developing a high-caliber 

product on a small scale,” he said. 

To do this, the Naeves will start by 

bringing in cheaper cattle to train their 

workers and themselves and then sell the 

meat, mostly hamburger in the beginning, 

to an established distributor. 

“Our goal is to open the plant in 

January, but with the way things go with 

construction, we know it could take until 

closer to March of 2022. We do not plan 

to have our retail shop up and going until 

at least June because we want plenty of 

time to do quality control and train our 

workers.” 

The hiring of managerial staff has already 

started, but Naeve is a little worried 

about finding enough workers to fill the 

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9/15/21 10:25 am

growing local 


Andrew Naeve, president of Naeve Family Beef, speaks in June at the groundbreaking for 

the family’s state-of-the-art, 50 head-per-day beef processing plant and retail store at 1902 

Seventh Ave. in Camanche. The facility will open early next year and employ up to 50 people. 

almost 50 jobs the plant will create. 

“Labor is always a concern when you 

start a new business, especially with so 

many jobs available right now, but one 

thing that sets us apart from other packing 

plants is that everything we have is brand 

new and state-of-the-art,” he said. “For 

example, our whole building will be temperature 

controlled, which is not always the 

case in other facilities.” 

Despite the numerous challenges this 

project has created, the Naeves are excited 

with the progress they are making. 

“This has been fun. It is fun to connect 

with so many different people and learn 

from them and to try things we have never 

done before. We think it can be a game 

changer for our family and community, 

and this model could change a lot in the 

packing industry.” 

The family hopes to have the new plant 

and retail shop up and going by next summer 

and from there will look at contracting 

with local grocery stores, restaurants, and 

lockers to feature their products. They also 

hope to develop an online store where meat 

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9/15/21 10:25 am

growing local 

Moore Local, Rockdale Locker to fill 

ag niche in Jackson County 


Heather and Brandon Moore and Chad Thompson, along with his wife Kimberly (not pictured), partnered to form Rockdale Enterprises. 

They are renovating the building at 605 Birch Drive, Maquoketa, into Moore Local and Creamery and Rockdale Locker. 

Following a movement to source milk, meat and eggs locally, 

two families join forces to create a new business model 

BY Kelly Gerlach 


Like the Naeve family, two 

Jackson County couples also 

saw a need for local, expanded 

meat processing. But they’re 

adding a local creamery into 

the mix, along with a retail outlet that’s 

already open. 

Chad and Kim Thompson are partnering 

with neighbors Heather and Brandon 

Moore to form Rockdale Enterprises. 

Through that partnership, they are renovating 

the former blue tin Woodform 

building at 605 Birch Drive, Maquoketa, 

into Moore Local and Creamery and 

Rockdale Locker. 

Moore Local will include an expanded 

and locally sourced grocery and gift 

retail store. It also will feature a creamery 

where the Moores will churn their locally 

produced milk into cheddar cheese. 

They’re also developing some special 

cheese creations to meet local demands 

during a time period in which demand 

for most products outstrip the available 

supply, Heather Moore said. 

Meanwhile, Rockdale Locker will handle 

a 1,200-head beef equivalent livestock 

procession operation. Tentative plans 

include custom processing beef, hogs, 

sheep and goats to order. 

“Our goal is to help get the food people 

want and need to them, and now I think 

we’re poised to do that,” Heather explained. 

Creation of the local food production 

and processing hub in Maquoketa 

will positively impact the community, 

according to Nicolas Hockenberry, former 

director of the Jackson County Economic 

Alliance, who assisted the Thompsons 

and Moores at the genesis of the project. 

“Agriculture is a pillar of the Jackson 

County economy and this business will 

bring back processing capability to the 



9/15/21 10:25 am

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9/15/21 10:25 am

growing local 

“We’re in America’s heartland, 

24% of Jackson County is in 

agriculture, and still shelves 

were empty. People couldn’t 

get milk and meat and eggs. 

That was really hard on me. I 

looked out my window and saw 

our cows and milk but knew we 

couldn’t sell it to people.” 

— Heather Moore 

area creating more resilient food 

processing infrastructure for our 

producers,” Hockenberry said. “Additionally, 

with the growing interest in 

local food, this project creates a retail 

hub elevating local producers and will 

provide fuel for other start-ups.” 

The overall project comes with 

an estimated $2.3 million price tag. 

Rockdale Enterprises has applied 

for and received multiple loans and 

grants to assist in bringing the project 

to fruition. 

From genesis to reality 

The idea of a creamery percolated 

for quite a while in Moore’s mind. 

She opened a pop-up shop in Maquoketa 

in 2015, with the intent to 

be open only through Christmas. The 

business venture flourished, adding 

Edgewood Meats, ice cream and more 

and became a permanent store. 

Moore eventually expanded into 

a former convenience store on West 

Platt Street, adding more locally 

sourced food, candies, and handmade 

gifts as well as coffee and sandwiches. 

But the Moores hoped to be able 

to make their own cheese in Jackson 

County instead of having their milk 

trucked to Wisconsin to be made into 

cheese. 

“We’d been looking for some time 

to make our own cheese and realized 

the potential was here,” Moore said. 

The pandemic cemented the need 

for the creamery, the grocery/retail 

store, and a new concept — a meat 

processor. 

Shortly after the pandemic began, 

“I had a really hard time watching, 

seeing empty store shelves,” Moore 

said. “We’re in America’s heartland, 

24% of Jackson County is in agriculture, 

and still shelves were empty. 

People couldn’t get milk and meat 

and eggs. 

“That was really hard on me. I 

looked out my window and saw our 

cows and milk but knew we couldn’t 

sell it to people,” Moore explained. 

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growing local 

Eastern Iowa Farmer photos / Trevis Mayfield 

Moore Local’s offerings include locally sourced groceries, 

such as meat, sauce, noodles and cheese. 

Across the country, dairy 

producers dumped their milk due 

to a drop in demand from schools, 

restaurants, and other food service 

providers because of the coronavirus 

pandemic. That sudden shift in 

demand meant a glut of milk with 

nowhere to go. 

Also, the Thompsons and the 

Moores knew people who were 

culling their herds because of the 

slow down in meat packing. 

And, in many cases, small 

processors were booked out 16 to 

24 months. 

“I guess we all had a conversation 

one night (in 2020) and 

so it started,” Chad Thompson 

explained. 

The two couples discussed the 

need for a creamery and a locker 

and considered building a facility 

near their homes north of Maquoketa. 

However, the Moores had 

been working with the Jackson 

County Economic Alliance on 

a plan for the creamery, and the 

former Woodform building was 

for sale. 

The building is 31,000 square 

feet. Rockdale Locker will encompass 

about 10,000 feet, with the 

creamery requiring 1,200 and the 

store using about 4,600, Moore 

said. 

Thompson said he hopes Rockdale 

Locker can slice into the need 

for local meat processing 

Construction for Rockdale 

Locker and Moore Creamery 

began last spring. Thompson had 

planned to open this summer, with 

the creamery opening in the fall. 

However, various shortages, 

particularly in construction 

supplies and steel, have delayed 

openings for the entire entrepreneurial 

endeavor, Thompson said. 

Rockdale Locker turned its 

attention to electrical work and 

refrigeration needs. 

Thompson and Moore said they 

are still working on assembling 

experienced staff and pairing them 

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9/15/21 10:25 am

growing local 

with novices to create an ongoing, talented, 

knowledgeable crew. 

“(Processing) is a great career path for new 

people entering the field,” Thompson said. 

He explained that many of the most 

seasoned processors in the area are or have 

retired. Rockdale Locker already hired experienced 

head butcher Tim Clasen to head up 

operations. 

Thompson said he expected Rockdale 

Locker to open sometime in October or later 

this fall – “the sooner the better.” 

Meat will hang for 20 days instead of the 

industry-standard 11 days, he emphasized. 

That’s because the longer the meat is hung, 

the better the flavor is, he said. 

“We’re hoping to expand this service into 

the community,” Thompson said. “Our goal is 

to put out a really good product.” 

Meanwhile, Moore Creamery’s opening 

day has been pushed back, likely into 2022, 

due to increasing steel prices and a backorder 

of creamery equipment, Moore said. 

She expected to install the necessary equipment 

sometime around Christmas. 

The creamery will start with small-scale 

cheddar cheese production with plenty of 

room to grown, Moore said. She also has local 

interest in creating specialty cheeses. 

The Moore Local retail outlet reopened this 

spring, and the Moores have now also opened 

a coffee shop and retail store in Bellevue. 

Maquoketa’s Moore Local will not offer 

a drive-thru window as it did on West Platt 

Street, but there will be ice cream, coffee, 

and some sandwiches, as well as additional 

locally sourced inventory, including Edgewood 

Meats, candy, snacks, frozen meals, 

cheese curds, and, of course, cheddar bricks 

by Moore Family Farms. 

“We’re continuing to add product lines,” 

Moore explained. “If you’ve been in here 

before, you need to see it again.” 

When full-time staff gets into place, Moore 

Local will begin serving lunches and other 

meals, likely in September or October, Moore 

said. 

“We’re just excited to get it going and that 

there’s been so much genuine interest from 

the community,” Thompson said. 

“Yeah, we’re excited for people to see 

everything we’re working on here,” Brandon 

Moore added. n 

“We’re hoping to 

expand this service 

into the community. 

Our goal is to 

put out a really 

good product.” 

— Chad Thompson 

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9/15/21 10:25 am

Earning your cape 

through mentorship 

By JENNA STEVENS 

Ag in the Classroom 

Coordinator 

Clinton County Farm Bureau 

EASTERN IOWA FARMER 

do you 

want to be 

when you 

grow up; 

“What 

or what are 

you going to major in for college?” 

These might be the two most 

dreaded questions for any high school 

student to hear, second only to “Hey, 

did you study for the chemistry exam 

today?” 

Deciding what to do with the rest 

of our lives is challenging enough as 

an adult, yet we expect students who 

are barely old enough to drive a car to 

have it all figured out. 

All of us are guilty of asking these 

questions, myself included, especially 

if the student we are talking to is a 

senior. It is just what you ask. And 

we also make assumptions about 

what the correct answer to those 

questions should be. Most of the time 

it involves getting a four-year college 

degree and a job that makes at least 

$50K a year. For those kids who 

tell us they do not know what they 

want to do, we are immediately put 

off. How can you be a senior in high 

school and not know? 

It is the panic to avoid the “I don’t 

know” answer that sometimes causes 

kids to close their eyes and blindly 

throw a dart towards a career that 

they think sounds cool or might make 

them a lot of money. But once they 

start taking classes in a specific field, 

they oftentimes realize it is not what 

they initially thought. 

As the executive director of the 

CAC Media Group, I have the 

privilege to work with some of the 

best and brightest students in Clinton 

County. These students write about, 

interview, and connect to people 

all over the country and have built 

themselves impressive resumes in the 

process. They have not been able to 

accomplish these things alone. Each 

of these students has found mentors 

within agriculture, people who have 

invited them in and taken the time to 

guide them to be better versions of 

themselves. 

Mentorship is a term that most 

of us associate with someone else’s 

action. Mentors are not who we 

are; rather, they are some unknown 

persons who devote their weekends 

to tutoring underprivileged youth or 

star athletes who put on children’s 

camps and then sign autographs at the 

end of the day. Mentors are people 

with something to offer. We are just 

normal people, no superhero cape 

around our shoulders. And yet most 

of us have memories of a time when 

we coached a little league team or 

volunteered in our child’s classroom 

to talk to them about our career or an 

interesting hobby we might have. 

It is these everyday moments of 

teaching that prompted the members 

of our media team to create their 

own mentor’s project as a way to 

help connect kids who are looking 

for guidance in their futures with 

adults who have experiences or skills 

they can share. The premise behind 

this project is to show students what 

opportunities are available to them 

based on the types of things they 

are interested in and help them gain 

real-life knowledge about a career 

before they start college. 

The process of pairing up students 

with mentors starts with honest 

conversations about strengths, 

weaknesses, passions, and dislikes. 

These conversations are designed to 

help students recognize what they 

like doing and what they are good 

at rather than focusing on a specific 

job or salary point. What students 

sometimes find is that their strengths 

and passions do not always align with 

their original thoughts about a career, 

but, instead, they are actually interested 

in doing something that they 

maybe were not even aware was an 

option. 

Trying out different career paths 

through job shadows, interviews, or 

even project-based learning gives students 

the chance to experience what 

their daily tasks may entail and is 

also an opportunity for adults to share 

the professional knowledge they have 

gained over the years. 

This sharing of self through knowledge 

and time is what it really means 

to be a mentor and is also what makes 

the biggest impact on students. Those 

individuals in the community and 

across the country who have stepped 

up to help share with kids have found 

their own lives have been enhanced 

because of the experience. Mentors 

all across Iowa are creating a positive 

difference in the lives of students, 

and that is certainly worthy of a 

superhero cape. n 



9/15/21 10:25 am

By KRIS KOTH 

Clinton County Executive Director 

Cedar County Acting Executive Director 

Farm Service Agency 

kris.koth@usda.gov 


FSA offers 

loans to help 

producers with 

storage needs 

Last year we saw a derecho come 

through and destroy fields and 

building sites. The derecho 

damage didn’t just limit itself to 

buildings and fields; it also destroyed 

countless grain bins. Because of the 

derecho damage, a producer’s on-site storage 

may be limited, and a producer is now left 

wondering “What can I do?” 

Maybe you didn’t have derecho damage to 

grain storage. Maybe higher yields this year 

have your grain storage at capacity, and you 

are wondering “What should I do for storage?” 

The Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) Farm 

Storage Facility Loan (FSFL) program provides 

low-interest financing to help you build 

or upgrade storage facilities and to purchase 

portable (new or used) structures, equipment, 

and storage and handling trucks. 

The following new/used facilities and upgrades 

are eligible: 

n Conventional bins 

n Electrical equipment and handling equipment 

n Equipment to improve, maintain or monitor 

the quality of stored grain 

n Concrete foundations, aprons, pits and 

pads, including site preparation 

n Renovation of existing farm storage 

facilities 

n Grain handling and grain drying equipment 

n Structures that are bunker-type, horizontal 

or open silo structures, with at least two 

concrete walls and a concrete floor 

n Structures suitable for storing hay built 

according to acceptable design guidelines 

n Structures suitable for storing renewable 

biomass 

n Bulk tanks for storing milk or maple sap 

n Cold storage buildings, including prefabricated 

buildings that are suitable for 

eligible commodities. 

n Storage and handling trucks, including 

semi-trailers, wagons, and auger carts 

A quick overview of the FSFL program: an 

eligible producer may borrow up to $500,000 

per loan, with a minimum down payment of 

15 percent. Loan terms are up to 12 years, 

depending on the amount of the loan. 

Producers must demonstrate storage needs 

based on three years of production history. 

FSA also provides a microloan option that, 

while available to all eligible farmers and 

ranchers, also should be of particular interest 

to new or small producers where there 

is a need for financing options for loans up 

to $50,000 at a lower down payment with 

reduced documentation. Applicants for all 

loans will be charged a nonrefundable $100 

application fee. 

The interest rates for July were between 

0.500% with 3-year loan terms and 1.500% 

with a 12-year loan term. If last year’s 

derecho left you without enough storage or 

higher yields have you wondering what to 

do for storage, call your local FSA office 

and inquire about the Farm Storage Facility 

Program. n 

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 

Dubuque County 

210 Bierman 

Road, Epworth, IA 

52045 

(563) 876-3328 

Jackson County 

601 E. Platt St., 

Maquoketa, IA 

52060 

(563) 652-3237 

Jones County 

300 Chamber Dr., 

Anamosa, IA 

52205 

(563) 462-3517 



9/15/21 10:25 am

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9/15/21 10:25 am

Hands-on internship 

creates lasting 

lessons, relationships 


One of Rachel Moore’s duties during her summer internship with Brandon 

and Heather Moore was milking and other farm chores, as well as working 

at the family’s retail store. The job gave the Wisconsin native the chance to 

apply her college studies in both dairy science and marketing. 

By Rachel Moore 


When the topic of 

my passion for 

agriculture and 

the dairy industry 

comes up, 

one of the questions I get asked 

the most is “Did you grow up on 

a farm?” The short answer is no, 

I did not grow up on a farm, but 

agriculture goes much deeper 

than that. 

“Without agriculture, you 

would be naked and hungry.” 

These wise words came from one 

of my high school ag teachers/ 

FFA advisors, and it’s a phrase I 

often repeat to others. 

I don’t think a lot of people 

recognize that agriculture is a 



9/15/21 10:25 am


Rachel Moore changes a filter that removes the particulates that may 

make it into the milk through the milking process. 

part of everyone’s life. As 

soon as clothes touch your 

body and food goes into your 

mouth, agriculture becomes 

part of your life. So while I 

did not grow up on a farm, I 

did grow up with agriculture 

all around me. 

Once I got to high school 

in my hometown of DeForest, 

Wisconsin, I took every ag 

class that I had room for and 

was heavily involved in FFA. 

I also started working on a 

small dairy farm, which is 

where I developed a deeper attachment 

to the dairy industry 

specifically. After high school 

I went on to the University of 

Wisconsin–River Falls, where 

I am a junior double majoring 

in dairy science and marketing 

communications. 

As a person who is always 

eager to further my knowledge 

and reach toward new 

experiences, I started my 

hunt for a hands-on summer 

internship. This led me to my 

summer home in Maquoketa, 

working for Heather and Brandon 

Moore. I spent my time 

between the farm and at the 

Moore Local store. This gave 

me the chance to apply both 

of my studies in dairy science 

and marketing communications 

to the internship. 

While I had worked on a 

small dairy similar to Heather’s, 

every farm is unique. I 

adapted to the different ways 

Heather’s dairy operates. I 

had to familiarize myself with 

the milking system, know the 

process of feeding calves and 

sometimes goats, understand 

the way certain things were 

done compared to my previous 

farm background, and 

learn about Heather’s cows 

and their lineage along with 

being able to better recognize 

favorable qualities in the herd. 

Also during my time at the 

farm I dabbled in the beef 

side of things, learning from 

Brandon about raising beef 

and working the feedlot cattle 

with him. 

As for working at the store, 

I learned how to price items in 

order to turn a profit, designed 

appealing display shelves to 

promote purchases by customers, 

marketed the store and its 

products through social media, 

advanced my customer service 

skills, and I even became a 

proficient barista. 

It seems my summer in 

Eastern Iowa has gone by in 

a flash with all of the new 

experiences I’ve acquired, 

skills I continued to expand, 

and lasting relationships I was 

able to build with people. I 

was lucky to have found such 

a great internship and amazing 

people to work for and learn 

from. This all goes to show 

how important hands-on internships 

in your field of study 

are. You never know where an 

internship might lead you or 

the network of people you will 

develop. n 

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9/15/21 10:25 am

From Garden to Table 

Sweet or Savory: 

Eastern Iowa gardeners 

have a long-standing 

tradition of combining their 

love for fresh air, playing 

in the dirt, and enjoying 

the fruits – and vegetables 

– of their labors. 

BY Jenna Stevens 


Rena Farrell started 

gardening when she and 

her husband, David, 

moved into their Bryant 

farmhouse in 1980. 

Her father-in-law was engaged in 

gardening and had planted several 

fruit trees on the property, including 

apple and cherry trees. They also 

had a large grape vine when she 

moved in. 

Farrell continued to nurture these 

plants and expanded her garden to 

include one of her most treasured 

items, her rhubarb patch. 

“The rhubarb came from a lady I 

used to work with at Blain’s Farm & 

Fleet,” Farrell said. “The woman’s 

husband did not want it anymore, 

so I dug it up and took it home. The 

patch has been at my place for at 

least 30 years now.” 

Raspberries are another specialty 

you can find on Farrell’s farm. 



9/15/21 10:25 am


Gardens can grow food for everyone 

Eastern Iowa Farmer photos / 

Brooke Taylor 

(Left) Bridget Miller tends to some of the lettuce in her DeWitt garden. 

She and her husband, Michael, like to grow vegetables used in savory 

dishes, including tomatoes and peppers. 

(Above) Rena Farrell and her grandson, John Farrell, spend some time 

in the rhubarb patch at the family farm in Bryant. Farrell also grows a 

big crop of raspberries, which she uses to make sweet treats. 

She has a large raspberry bush spanning 

one whole side of her garden and spends 

hours each summer picking and trimming 

the patch to keep it productive year after 

year. 

“I don’t even eat raspberries,” Farrell 

said. “It is my husband who really likes 

them, but he won’t eat rhubarb. I am the 

opposite; I like the rhubarb but not the 

raspberries.” 

Even though she does not eat them, 

Farrell continues to freeze the raspberries 

each summer and makes desserts for 

her husband and other family members, 

including her unique raspberry pizza. 

“Raspberry pizza is one of David’s 

favorites,” she said. “He always looks 

forward to it, especially when the raspberries 

are fresh, and I like the fact that he 

enjoys it.” 

Farrell is not the only gardener who 

likes to make sweet treats with her produce. 

Mary Fier of Maquoketa creates 

pumpkin desserts from her fall harvest. 

Fier and her husband, Ron, have a large 

pumpkin patch located between Maquoketa 

and Preston. 

Each spring they carefully plant their 

pumpkin crop in one of the fields on their 

farm. Pumpkins cannot be planted in the 

same space year after year, so the Fiers 

must continue to move their pumpkins to 

a different strip of land. 

Once the pumpkins are in the ground, 

careful attention is given to preventing 

weeds and squash bugs from taking over 

the crop. This requires maintenance 

throughout the growing season, which 

takes a significant amount of time if you 

are growing the number of pumpkins the 



9/15/21 10:25 am


Mary Fier creates a variety of pumpkin desserts from her fall 

harvest. She and her husband, Ron, have a stand between 

Maquoketa and Preston where people can find pumpkins of 

all shapes and sizes right now. 

Eastern Iowa Farmer photos / Brooke Taylor 

Fiers grow. 

What started out as an interesting 

conversation with a neighbor many years 

ago has turned into acres of pumpkins 

that get used around the farm or sold in 

their pumpkin shed along Highway 64. 

“I just love fall,” Fier said. “And pumpkins 

are my favorite. It is really about 

the thrill of going out and finding a big 

one. There are so many different kinds of 

them, it is just fun.” 

Fier is not the only one who gets excited 

about harvest season. She said her 

husband also enjoys the process just as 

much as she does. 

“My husband will say, ‘Oh Honey! 

Look at this one!’ even as he is teasing 

me about how excited I get when I 

find a big one. It is so much fun and is 

something that we look forward to doing 

together each fall.” 

Fier Farms sell their pumpkins on the 

honor system in a small shed along the 

highway, and on weekends they get to enjoy 

a steady stream of cars through their 

living room windows. 

“It warms my heart so much that people 

are so honest,” Fier said. “We have 

so many nice messages from people who 

want to tell us thank you for all of our 

hard work. People really appreciate the 

pumpkins, and we love seeing them go all 

over Eastern Iowa. People have just been 

great.” 

With the pumpkins she keeps back for 

herself, Fier cuts them in half and then 

removes the seeds. She places them face 

down on a cookie sheet and bakes them 

for one hour. Once they are done baking, 

she removes the pumpkin pulp inside 

and freezes it or uses it to make pumpkin 

bars and pumpkin rolls for her holiday 

gatherings. 

Not all of the produce found in area 

gardens create sweet treats; some who 

prefer the savory route for their crops. 

Gardeners Michael and Bridget Miller 

of DeWitt are the savory sort, growing a 

variety of tomato and pepper plants, rows 

of lettuce and unique additions such as 

kale and even peanuts. 

A diversity of plants allows the couple 

to experiment with unique recipes in the 

kitchen, most of which consist of a little 

of this and a little of that. 

“My husband doesn’t always follow a 

recipe,” Bridget Miller said. “He just puts 

things together until it tastes right. It is always 

delicious, but he can never recreate 

it exactly.” 

Not being able to recreate a dish does 

not deter the couple from trying new 

things, which also includes canning 

and freezing their garden bounty to use 

throughout the year. 

“We can a lot of salsa and pasta sauce, 

and we like to make pickles and peppers. 

We usually freeze our Brussel sprouts 

and kale, and most of our lettuce goes to 

neighbors throughout the summer.” 

This sharing of produce is what keeps 

the Millers working hard in their garden 

all season. They enjoy using their backyard 

as a way to help out others in the 

community. 

“Depending on what we have, we 

donate our produce to the Referral Center 

or the American Legion. I like to make 

jam from our grapes, and we donate jars 

to be sold at the Legion’s bake sales and 

fundraisers,” she said. 

Neighbors, including neighborhood 

kids, also have access to the garden in 

the summer, and it is not uncommon for 

the Millers to look out their window and 

see someone picking off of their tomato 



9/15/21 10:26 am


Garden Fresh Recipes 

Rhubarb Bars 

Rena Farrell 

Filling: 

2 Tablespoons cornstarch 

1/4 cup water 

3 cups of cut rhubarb 

1 1/2 cups sugar 

1 teaspoon vanilla 

Crust: 

1 1/2 cups of oatmeal 

1 1/2 cups of flour 

1 cup of brown sugar 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1 cup margarine 

or pepper plants. The garden 

is free range, and one of the 

biggest reasons behind it is 

because it encourages people 

to come over and catch up. It 

invites a sense of community 

and has been a great way to 

get to know those living near 

them. 

“Michael grew up on a 

farm and was used to raising 

his own food. When he was 

deployed, we did not have this 

opportunity, and it was something 

we were excited to get 

back into once we moved to 

DeWitt. There is a satisfaction 

in growing your own food, 

and it is even more fun to 

watch those around you share 

in the experience,” she said. 

Whether it is growing food 

for family and friends or helping 

fill a need in the community, 

Eastern Iowa gardeners 

are up to the challenge. A cup 

of sugar, a dash of salt, and a 

whole lot to share. n 

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. 

Grease a 9x13 inch pan and set aside. 

In a saucepan dissolve cornstarch in 

water, add rhubarb, sugar, and vanilla. 

Cook until thickened. Mix ingredients 

of crust and pat 1/2 mixture into a 

9x13 inch pan. Spread rhubarb over 

the crust and sprinkle with remaining 

crumbs. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. 

Raspberry Pizza 

Rena Farrell 

Crust: 

1 to 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose 

flour 

1 cup of butter 

1/2 cup chopped pecans 

1/4 cup of brown sugar 

Filling: 

1 8-ounce package of cream 

cheese 

3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar 

1 8-ounce container whipped 

topping 

Topping: 

1 3-ounce package raspberry 

Jell-O 

Dash of salt 

1/2 cup of sugar 

1 cup of raspberry juice or 

water (divided) 

4 Tablespoons cornstarch 

4 cups raspberries 

To make crust, mix all ingredients 

to form dough. Spread in a pizza pan. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. 

For filling, mix cream cheese and 

confectioner’s sugar, fold in whipped 

topping. Spread over cooled crust. To 

make topping, combine gelatin, sugar, 

salt, and ½ cup raspberry juice or 

water. Dissolve cornstarch in remaining 

water; stir into gelatin mixture. Cook 

over medium heat until thickened. Stir 

in raspberries. Cool. Spread on top of 

filling. Serve with additional whipped 

topping or ice cream. 

Pumpkin Bar 

Recipe 

Mary Fier 

1 cup oil 

4 eggs 

2 cups flour 

2 tsp baking powder 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

2 cups sugar 

2 cups cooked pumpkin (Cut 

pumpkin in half. Remove seeds. 

Place face down on a cookie 

sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 

one hour or so. Remove cooked 

pumpkin from skin.) 

2 teaspoon cinnamon 

1 teaspoon baking soda 

Mix together oil and sugar. Add in 

eggs and pumpkin. Sift together flour, 

cinnamon, baking powder, baking 

soda, and salt. Add flour mixture to 

pumpkin mixture. Place in a greased 

jelly roll or cake pan and bake at 350 

degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. 

Frosting: 

1 3-ounce package cream 

cheese (softened) 

3/4 stick of butter 


1 3/4 cup powdered sugar 

1 Tablespoon milk 

Mix together cream cheese, sugar, 

butter, milk, and vanilla in order. 

Spread on cooled bars. 

Pumpkin Roll 

Mary Fier 

2/3 cup pumpkin 

3/4 cup flour 

1 cup sugar 

3 eggs 

1 teaspoon baking soda 

1 teaspoon cinnamon 

Mix all of the ingredients 

together. 

Filling: 

1 8-ounce package cream 

cheese (softened) 

4 Tablespoon butter (softened) 


1 cup confectioner’s sugar 

Mix all ingredients for filling 

together. Grease and flour a jelly roll 

pan. Spread cake mixture over the 

entire pan. Bake at 350 for 10 to 15 

minutes. Remove immediately from 

pan onto a clean, lint free, towel. Roll 

up and place in the refrigerator for 

one hour. Unroll cake and spread with 

filling. Re-roll and put in foil paper in 

refrigerator. Slice and serve. Freezes 

well. 



9/15/21 10:26 am


Michael’s Pickles 

or Peppers 

Bridget and Michael Miller 

1 gallon cucumber or peppers 

1/3 cup minced onion 

12 garlic cloves 

2 tablespoons of mustard seed 

2 tablespoons of peppercorns 

1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes 

1 tablespoon of coriander seed 

6 heads of fresh dill 

1 and1/2-quart water 

1 cup white vinegar 

1 cup cider vinegar 

1/2 cup canning salt 

Slice cucumbers or peppers, put into 

jars with dill, boil liquids and seasonings 

to dissolve salt, let cool. Pour over pickles 

and let sit on counter for 3 days. (Shake 

or turn occasionally if you remember!) 

Refrigerate. 

We have been known to do a big batch 

of this in a 5-gallon bucket and added some 

onion slices in for the fun of it, delicious. 

Hamburger Relish 


7 cups cucumbers-seeds out and 

ground. You can leave peel 

4 cups carrots ground 

3 medium onions ground (add 

more if you like) 

1 green pepper and 1 red pepper 

ground (add more if you like) 

4 teaspoons plain salt. Don’t use 

iodized salt or it will spoil 

Let stand 2 hours 

Put in strainer and drain 

Combine: 

3 cups vinegar 

4 cups sugar 

1 teaspoon mustard seed 

1 teaspoon celery seed 

1 teaspoon turmeric powder 

Add vegetable mixture and boil 20 

minutes and seal. Turn jars upside down 

and cover with towel overnight, and they 

should seal. 

Makes 4 pints. 

Spaghetti Sauce 


4 medium onions, chopped 

4 cloves garlic, minced 

12 cups tomatoes, peeled and 

chopped 

3 bay leaves 

1/2 cup of oil 

1 1/4 teaspoon pepper 

4 teaspoons salt 

2 teaspoons oregano 

1/2 teaspoon basil 

12-ounce can tomato paste 

1/3 cup brown sugar 

Sauté onions and pepper in oil until the 

onion is tender. Add garlic, tomatoes, bay 

leaves, salt, oregano, and basil. Simmer 

for two hours, stirring occasionally. Add 

tomato paste and brown sugar. Simmer for 

one hour. Remove from heat, and remove 

bay leaves. Use immediately or cool and 

freeze. A pint of this sauce works just right 

for a pound of browned hamburger. 

Amber Knickrehm, Kerry Schepers-ChFC, and Shirley Driscoll 

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9/15/21 10:26 am

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9/15/21 10:26 am

Where’s the Beef? 

Post-Covid challenges 

face industry 

BY carter mommsen 


is it so expensive?” 

This is a common 

“Why 

phrase in the year 

2021. Many products cost more as the 

result of the recent pandemic, which has 

impacted millions of people across America. 

Beef is one item that experienced a 

price surge due to the lack of available 

laborers, which were cut short because of 

widespread illness and increased restrictions. 

Unfortunately, many people have 

placed the blame of the increased costs 

on farmers. The general public sees the 

expensive price tag on products, such as 

beef, in the grocery store and immediately 

assumes farmers are the only ones 

profiting from the soaring prices. That is 

simply not the complete story. 

Beef processing plants, also referred 

to as packers, predominantly control the 

sale price of live cattle and determine the 

profit margins the farmer will earn from 

each live animal sold. 

There are currently four main U.S. 

packers, which process most of the beef 

produced in our country. The lack of 

competition has resulted in what some 

refer to as a quasi-monopoly in the beef 

industry. It is something that has caught 

the attention of the federal government, 

which is currently investigating the matter 

on behalf of producers. Another factor 

in increased beef prices may also be a 

widespread lack of drivers in the transportation 

industry, coupled with the influx 

of online shopping over the past year. 

One way to combat the issue seems to 

be bypassing the packer and increasing 

competition within the marketplace by 

supporting construction of locally owned 

packing plants and locally sourced beef. 

Creating additional sale outlets for beef 


Carter Mommsen shows his Angus heifer in the ring. Mommsen believes that locally sourced 

beef and packing plants can help create a more fair cattle market. 

gives consumers more retailers to choose 

from and increases competition. This also 

gives producers added outlets to sell their 

products to, and may begin to make the 

cattle market fair again. For example, in 

Camanche, Iowa, a town right outside of 

Clinton, a cattle producer located in Eastern 

Iowa is putting up their own beef processing 

plant. They will begin processing 

approximately 50 head of cattle per day. 

Other local producers are selling their 

animals directly to the public, cutting out 

the middle-man, and increasing their profit 

margins while delivering a reasonably 

priced product to those within their own 

community. We, farmers and ranchers, 

can and should take actions like this to 

ensure the future of the cattle industry 

stays profitable and small producers 

remain viable. 

As I have said before, producers need 

to tell their side of the story by using 

common social media such as Facebook, 

Instagram and other platforms. You can 

help promote the good work that all people 

involved in the agriculture industry 

accomplish daily. It is as easy as sharing 

a photo of you doing chores, tending the 

crops, or anything agriculture-related. 

This small contribution could impact 

hundreds, even thousands of not only 

Americans but people across the globe. 

By presenting the positive side of agriculture, 

we educate people who do not have 

the privilege to experience living on a 

farm, and then they may pass this positive 

information along helping to eliminate 

false opinions. 

— Carter Mommsen, a freshman at 

Northeast High School, is a member of 

the CAC Media Group 

A 



9/15/21 10:26 am

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9/15/21 10:26 am

August 2020 

A year after first chronicling the challenges faced 

Farmer, Ashley Johnson reflects over the past 12 

March 2020, her family found themselves shocked and 

and bustle, came to a screeching halt. In some aspects, it 

their three children, but thankfully she says, most of their day-tothere 

was no physical church, they couldn’t travel to cattle shows, 

a family vacation, but the cattle still needed fed, hay made, corn 

other daily tasks that needed tending. Their lives never stopped nor 

you can find the beauty in each and every day if you look for the 

Ty turned 7, and we again 

had a birthday party. Family 

and friends attended, and we 

enjoyed normalcy, even though 

it was short-lived. We should 

have been getting calves ready for state 

fair, and ultimately that didn’t happen. 

Thankfully, 4-H, FFA and the Iowa State 

Fair board were able to come together 

and offer a special show with limited 

spectators and entries, but those kids with 

livestock were able to show. James and I 

took a quick trip to Des Moines to watch 

the steer and heifer show. We traveled 

home via Highway 30 to check out the 

derecho damage. I was brought to tears by 

the devastation August 10th brought to so 

many farmers in our state. Speaking of the 

derecho, Aug. 10 was the day we said go 

with our addition and ordered the trusses 

and lumber. Talk about timing and a money-saving 

decision! 

We made the difficult decision to transfer 

schools for our kids. Ultimately cattle 

markets were the driving force. The volatility 

in the agricultural markets on a daily 

basis is frustrating enough, let alone trying 

to survive in a pandemic. Sure, there were 

stimulus packages and agricultural subsidies, 

but we had to look at the long term 

and the unknowns, and we simply couldn’t 

afford to send them to private school. 

Their first week of school was nothing 

short 

of overwhelming for me as a 

parent as I dropped them off at 

a school they had never been 

in, didn’t know their teachers, 

aides or associates – never mind 

the fact they didn’t know any 

classmates. It was a challenge, 

and for the first week both boys 

cried. I can’t say I blame them. 

One week in and one of my 

biggest fears was confirmed; Ty 

fell behind in reading and needed 

intervention. Falling behind 

was a major concern of mine 

last spring when COVID-19 

hit and schools closed. I personally 

felt because we attended 

a private school and had 

to finish the school year Ty 

would be ok, but he wasn’t. 


9/15/21 10:26 am

y her young farm family for the Eastern Iowa 

months. When COVID-19 arrived in full force in 

at a loss. The lifestyle they once knew, the hustle 

deeply affected Ashley, her husband, James, and 

day life stayed the same. The kids didn’t go to school, 

give mom a break in the kitchen with a meal out or take 

and soybeans planted and harvested, as well as so many 

slowed down. As Johnson reflected, she came to believe 

good and positive. 

He had reading recovery lessons daily 

until he met grade level standards, which 

happened to be at Christmas break. I fear 

for those children who went an entire 

year with virtual school and had little to 

no guidance educationally or at home 

as parents tried to work. The educational 

system failed our students in 

ways which haven’t been measured 

nor will surface for years to come. In 

a world so technologically driven, 

there is no software that can teach 

and help those who are struggling, failing 

or simply need structure, love, compassion 

and guidance. The long-term effects from 

homeschooling children during the pandemic 

are life changing and unmeasurable, and I 

hope we can find a way to cope and recover 

before we have lost a generation or further 

divide the gap. 

September 2020 

Within the first week of school 

there were two teachers who 

tested positive for COVID-19, 

but school continued on as 

planned. While the kids were 

at school, Addie and I tended to our sale calves 

making preparations for our online club calf sale 

on Sept. 21. We also were busy helping complete 

the late summer/early fall farm tasks: weaning 

and vaccinating calves and ultra-sounding and 

vaccinating cows, while others were chopping corn 

silage, making the last crop of hay, and preparing 

trucks and machinery for corn and soybean harvest. 

Since fairs were cancelled, we had 

a fair-themed birthday for little Ms. 

Addie, “the queen of our hearts” on 

her 3rd birthday, and boy were the 

homemade corndogs, pork chops 

on a stick, funnel cakes and 

homemade fair lemonade a treat! 

October 2020 

Finally, a cattle 

show! The boys 

had prepared two 

heifer calves to 

show at a feeder 

calf show in Tipton. While the results 

weren’t what we had hoped for, it was a 

beautiful day spent with 

special family and friends 

and we had a little piece of 

normalcy. Oh, and we can’t 

forget how we finished the 

month… carving pumpkins 

and trick-or-treating with the 

“Three Little Pigs!” We traveled 

around to limited family 

and friends for a few deserved 

treats. 


9/15/21 10:26 am

November 2020 

Harvest was still full 

steam ahead as was 

making cornstalk 

bales. It’s all handson 

deck during this 

time of year with a harvest crew 

and a stalk bale crew. Sometimes, 

it doesn’t always work that way, but 

when it does it sure makes the process 

go faster! The kids would come 

home from school, do homework and 

their heifer chores, and somedays 

ride with dad. Their time with him is 

always short during this time of year, 

and secretly we pray for rain every 

couple of days just so we can see him. 

Yes, I married a farmer. Sure, I kind 

of “knew what I was getting into,” 

but no, I didn’t grow up with this. I 

lived in town and saw my parents 

every day, and we had a sit-down 

supper every single night. We 

always ate together and listened 

to or watched the nightly news. 

This is a tradition I have tried to 

instill into our home, but it has 

become so hard to implement with 

the lifestyle we live. And, since 

the pandemic hit, we still aren’t 

watching the news of any form; it 

seems to be politically driven and 

always bad news, and we simply 

don’t need the constant negativity 

and drama in our life. I try 

extremely hard to roll with the 

punches, but it isn’t easy. Some 

days are harder than others, 

especially since our kids are at 

the age where they realize they 

are stuck with mom quite a bit and dad 

isn’t home to do “dad” things like their 

friends from school. Maybe the challenge 

lies in us having to share our husband, 

daddy and farmer with the world. Many 

don’t understand or appreciate all we are 

giving up so he can work from sun up to 

sun down to allow for them to put food on 

their table. And, when we are constantly 

fighting the packer to get a fair price, it’s 

easy to get frustrated, angry and discouraged 

as well. But this, unfortunately, is 

nothing new in the agricultural industry. 

You just learn to deal with the daily challenges 

better. 

COVID-19 continues to ravage the 

United States and Iowa, with numbers at 

all-time highs. We had to home school via 

virtual learning the week of Thanksgiving. 

Uh, that was rough especially with a 

Dear diary 

first 

grader and kindergartener and 

most all the work done on an iPad. It was 

hard to keep their interest and focus and 

took quite a bit of time. Unfortunately, 

because the numbers were peaking, my 

elderly grandparents were out on any sort 

of get together, and we had a very untraditional 

Thanksgiving. We survived, but 

it was definitely not a memorable holiday 

or one we would like to repeat. 

December 2020 

The kids stayed in school for 

the remainder of the month, 

finishing Dec. 22 for Christmas 

break. Covid numbers 

continued to soar, limiting 

Christmas gatherings. 

It was depressing, but I 

was sure to decorate the house 

extra this year so the kids didn’t 

notice or miss a beat. There 

was Christmas everywhere in 

our house, which made it feel 

a little more like the holiday it 

wasn’t. We did have gatherings 

with our immediate family, but 

for the most part didn’t see our 

grandparents for yet another holiday. 

We had Lane’s 6th birthday 

party on his birthday, Dec. 23. 

We invited all the regulars and 

left the decision to attend up to 

them. Much to our surprise almost 

everyone attended, even Santa! 

It was a fun birthday party and 

helped fill the void of all we had missed 

this holiday season. 

January 2021 

The new year started off in a 

foggy haze, much of how the 

2020 year had been for most 

of us. It made for a beautiful 

backdrop frosting trees, 

fences and cows, however, we longed for 

sun in these long, dark days. We spent 

our evenings cheering on our favorite 

college basketball team, and while the 

boys longed to be in the stands at Carver 

Hawkeye Arena like years past, the edge 

of the couch was the next best option. 



9/15/21 10:26 am

February 2021 

Calving is in full 

swing and of 

course Mother 

Nature had to flex 

a few muscles. 

It was so incredibly cold, and 

calves born outside had a slim 

chance of survival. James and I 

spent hours checking cows and 

assisting with calving. The nights 

were long as I would take the 8 

p.m. to 2 a.m. shift and James the 3 a.m. 

to 7 a.m. shift, and alternating during the 

day. Some nights were so cold we were 

checking hourly and sleeping in the barn 

in between checks. It was the most logical 

solution to getting a little sleep, staying 

warm, and allowing the other some 

uninterrupted sleep. To be honest, looking 

back, February was a complete blur. And 

other than one calf picture, there were 

very few taken of even the kids. There 

was a lot of grace shown in February as 

the meals, laundry and house quickly 

spiraled out of control as we tried to keep 

Dear diary 

everything safe, alive and well 

during the coldest temperatures 

of the year. 

March 2021 

March was much of 

the same as February; 

calving cows 

and keeping everything 

alive and healthy. We 

enjoyed cheering on the Hawks in March 

Madness, although they didn’t make it as 

far as we had hoped. Luka Garza was a 

bright spot for us and really has become 

a favorite player of all time around our 

home. What a class act! 

April 2021 

On a positive April presented 

itself as almost 100% 

NORMAL!!!!! Calving was 

getting finished up, spring 

planting began and a calf 

show 

was on the horizon. 

We traveled to Lancaster, 

Wisconsin, where the boys both showed 

first place heifers and enjoyed an overnight 

stay at a hotel. It was a great way 

to round out the month and enjoy some 

spring fresh air with special family who 

came to cheer us on. 

May 2021 

I 

never knew a month could hold so 

much meaning, but man did May 

ring the bell! We made it an entire 

school year with our kids in school 

during a pandemic! Our governor 

lifted mask bans and some restrictions 

Your success is our success! 

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9/15/21 10:26 am

Dear diary 

they could. The good and benefits 

from this one year of school are 

going to far outweigh the impacts 

of their contemporaries whom never 

stepped foot in a school all year. 

Summer Time 

(June & July) 

allowing our kids to have a spring 

music concert with guests and 

spectators. The kids finally got to 

take pictures with their teachers, in 

which we could see their beautiful, 

smiling faces; and, most importantly, 

they completed a year of school 

when so many said they couldn’t! I’m 

so thankful our kids attend a school 

that went to bat for them and put their 

needs and priorities above their own 

and taught and allowed them to be kids 

and have as much of a normal year as 

How enjoyable having our 

kids home this summer, 

doing kid things! They 

have enjoyed playing in 

the dirt, swinging, practicing 

baseball and basketball skills, 

swimming, working with their show 

heifers, helping their dad at the farm, 

exploring and simply fighting and arguing 

with their siblings. As I think about the 

events which have unfolded before me 

this past year, I can’t help but think they 

were a gift from God, and one I never 

knew I needed. 

As COVID-19 ravaged our country, I 

found myself in the trenches trying to 

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Dear diary 

make 

the most of the unfortunate 

situation at hand. I questioned a 

lot of what I was doing and how we were 

going to move forward out of this mess. 

I also questioned where I was in life and 

what I was doing, most importantly my 

career. However, I always knew I wanted 

to be a stay-at-home mom so I could 

spend time 

raising my children the 

way I saw fit, being 

there to help them in 

times of need and teach them all the basics, 

like I had seen done by my mother. 

And, let’s be honest, don’t TV, ads and 

movies make being a stay-at-home mom 

look so easy, cute and glamorous?! What 

I didn’t know about being a stay-at-home 

mom as the wife of a full-time farmer was 

all the hats I’d have to wear: chef, maid, 

laundromat, landscaper, accountant, hired 

man, farmer, babysitter, 

photographer, writer, spouse. Nor did I 

realize how difficult completing all these 

tasks could be. 

Most days I truly sucked at balancing 

my time, and my time with the kids got 

pushed to the back burner trying to make 

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9/15/21 10:27 am

Dear diary 

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9/15/21 10:27 am

Dear diary 

ends meet. As the life we once knew was 

taken away overnight, pretty much literally, 

I freaked out and over reacted. But, at 

the same time it was wonderful to have life 

put into perspective and make the important 

parts clearer than ever, most specifically 

God had given us time and each other. 

We had time to sit down and spend time 

with our kids while making memories 

doing all the little things we always said 

we were going to do. I also realize we were 

damn lucky! We NEVER had COVID-19, 

and we NEVER quarantined. How fortunate! 

I’m not sure if our vitamin regimen 

was the secret, but we are still sticklers on 

Vitamin C, elderberry, multivitamins and 

Vitamin D daily. While I do miss the simplicity 

the past year offered and the special 

times we were blessed to have with our 

children at home, at a young age, I hope they 

won’t remember all the cannots but rather all 

the special moments they did have. And, if 

nothing else resonates from all the darkness 

shed by a virus, I hope it’s that you can find 

the beauty in each and every day; look for the 

good and positive. n 

Keeney 

Welding 

SINCE 1953 

Steel Fabrication 

Portable Service 

Steel Sales 

MIlES, Ia 563-682-7699 



9/15/21 10:27 am

2021 means many tax 

changes for farmers 

By Kristine A. Tidgren 

Staff Attorney 

Center for Agricultural Law & Taxation 


eastern Iowa farmer 

Congress responded to the 

COVID-19 pandemic with legislative 

packages to stimulate 

the economy and aid Americans. 

These laws provided relief 

through changes impacting tax returns. 

Last year, we saw the CARES Act, the Families 

First Coronavirus Response Act, and 

the Consolidated Appropriations Act bring 

economic impact payments, the Payroll 

Protection Program, and paid family and 

sick leave credits, among many other relief 

provisions. This year, it was the American 

Rescue Plan Act, signed into law March 11. 

The $1.9 trillion plan contained many new 

laws that will impact a farmer’s 2021 tax 

return. Here are several key provisions that 

impact farmers’ returns for 2021. 

Third Round of Economic 

Impact Payments 

Modeling a new 2021 program after 

two rounds of economic impact payments 

reported on 2020 returns, the Rescue Plan 

authorized 2021 recovery rebate payments 

to eligible taxpayers at $1,400 per taxpayer 

($2,800 in the case of a joint return), plus 

$1,400 per dependent. The rebate was paid 

for any legal dependent, not just children 

under the age of 17. 

As with the two prior rounds of payments 

(one in mid-2020 and one at the beginning 

of 2021), the payment deposited by the 

Treasury was an advance payment of a 

refundable credit, but this time for tax year 

2021. Eligibility for the 2021 rebate payment 

is more restrictive. The credit begins 

to phase out for those who were married 

filing a joint return with $150,000 of adjusted 

gross income. Those earning $160,000 a 

year or more are not eligible for the credit. 

For singles, the credit begins to phase out 

with $75,000 of income and those with 

$80,000 of income or more are ineligible. 

The prior two rounds of payments also began 

to phase-out with incomes at $150,000 

(MFJ) and $75,000 (singles), but the phaseout 

was much more gradual, meaning that 

those with higher incomes qualified for a 

reduced credit. 

When farmers file their 2021 returns, 

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9/15/21 10:27 am

Tax changes 

they must report the amount of the advance recovery rebate credit 

payment they received. If they did not receive the full amount 

to which they were entitled, they can receive the difference as a 

refund on their return. If they received more than they were entitled 

to receive, they are not required to repay the difference. These 

differences may arise because the IRS based the advance payment 

upon 2020 information, but the actual credit is calculated based 

upon 2021 information. For example, if a single farmer had $60,000 

of income in 2020, the IRS would have sent that farmer a $1,400 

payment in early 2021. If that farmer turns out to have income of 

$80,000 on his 2021 return, he is not eligible for the recovery rebate 

credit because his income is too high. Even so, the law does not 

require the farmer to repay the difference. 

Increased Premium Tax Credits for Insurance 

Purchased on the Marketplace 

The Rescue Plan also significantly enhanced the availability of 

the Affordable Care Act’s premium tax credit (PTC) for 2021 and 

2022. This credit was designed to make healthcare acquired on the 

ACA’s Health Insurance Marketplace more affordable. Because 

many farmers and ranchers are self-employed or owners of small 

partnerships or corporations for which insurance plans may be costly, 

they may benefit from purchasing insurance on the marketplace. 

The ACA created the refundable PTC for those taxpayers purchasing 

insurance on the ACA Marketplace with household income 

generally between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level. To 

qualify for the benefit, the taxpayer may not be eligible for affordable 

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9/15/21 10:27 am

Tax changes 

employer-sponsored health plans or other 

qualifying coverage. The Rescue Act 

eliminated the 400% ceiling for eligibility, 

meaning that those with income above 

400% of the federal poverty level may 

qualify for a PTC if the cost of the premium 

for the second lowest cost “silver plan” on 

the Marketplace would exceed 8.5% of their 

household income. A married couple with 

no children reaches 400% of the FPL with 

$69,680 of income in 2021. 

In such cases, the individual or family 

may be eligible for a PTC in the amount of 

the difference between the actual premium 

and 8.5 premium of their income. The PTC 

is generally paid, in advance, directly to the 

insurer. Those who receive an advance premium 

tax credit must reconcile and repay 

any overpayment on their 2021 return. The 

PTC calculated on the return is based upon 

actual 2021 income, while the advance PTC 

is based upon estimated income. Those 

purchasing insurance on the Marketplace 

should be careful not to underestimate 

income or they will be responsible to repay 

any excess PTC they received in advance. 

Farmers who may benefit from these 

changes should go to Heathcare.gov to 

explore their options. The increased credits 

are available only for 2021 and 2022. 

Advance Child Tax Credit 

Many farmers with children have been 

receiving monthly deposits in their bank 

accounts since July 15. These are advance 

payments of a child tax credit expanded for 

2021 by the Rescue Plan. These payments 

too must be reconciled on the 2021 tax return. 

In some cases, however, the recipient 

may be responsible to repay some of the 

advance payment. 

Since 2018, most parents with children 

under 17 have been eligible for a $2,000 

tax credit per qualifying child when they 

file their tax return. Eligibility for this credit 

has not begun to phase-out until modified 

adjusted gross income exceeded $400,000 

for married taxpayers filing a joint return 

or $200,000 for other taxpayers. The 

Rescue Plan expanded this credit significantly 

for 2021 only. In 2021, parents 

receive a credit for children who are under 

18, meaning that they receive the credit 

for their 17-year-old children. The credit 

also is increased to $3,000 per child and 

$3,600 for children under six for taxpayers 

within certain income thresholds. The 

increase begins to phase out where income 

exceeds $150,000 for married taxpayers 

and $75,000 for singles. Higher earning 

taxpayers are still entitled to the $2,000 

credit for each child. 

The Rescue Plan also instructed IRS 

to pay half of these credits to parents 

in advance. Beginning July 15, eligible 

parents began receiving monthly payments 

of $300 for children 5 or younger and $250 

for children 6 to 17. For those with higher 

incomes, their advance payments are $167 

per child. 

Those who do not wish to receive 

advance credits may “unenroll” through an 

online portal available on the IRS website. 

Each spouse must unenroll separately. This 

unenrollment may be important because, 

unlike the economic impact payments, the 

advance child tax credits may have to be 

repaid if an individual receives more than 

the payments to which they are entitled on 

their 2021 returns. 

Talk to your tax preparer for more 

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9/15/21 10:27 am

Ag Bytes 

Sale barn under 

new ownership, 

legacy continues 

The sounds of the auctioneer’s call 

and bawling livestock filled the sale barn 

off 33rd Street in Maquoketa on Sept. 15 

when Maquoketa Livestock Exchange 

LLC held its first auction under new ownership. 

Dan Powers, Deb Powers and family 

partnered with Mike and Sandy Franzen 

and family to buy the former Maquoketa 

Livestock Sales last summer. Kevin and 

Tammy Kilburg of LaMotte manage and 

operate the auction. 

“It’s been a lifelong dream of mine (to 

operate a sale barn) and it’s all coming 

together,” Kevin Kilburg said earlier this 

year. “I grew up here, bought and sold cattle 

here, worked sales with Bob (Larkey) 

here.” 

The purchase came after the Dec. 18 

death of Eastern Iowa ag icon Bob Larkey, 

the 76-year-old who owned and operated 

Maquoketa Livestock Sales for more than 

40 years. Larkey’s family hosted the final 

livestock sale last April and announced 

plans to sell various properties and pieces 

of equipment. 

That sale sparked Kilburg’s interest. 

“I said to Dan one day, ‘Have you ever 

thought about owning a sale barn one 

day?’ And he said, ‘Well, yes,’” Kilburg recalled. 

They signed Franzen onto the project — 

a natural foray further into the ag world. 

Powers Auction has been in business 

for 75 years. Franzen and Powers have 

operated Highway 64 Auctions in Baldwin 

for 15 years, and Kilburg has worked there 

that long. 

After sprucing up the grounds, painting, 

installing new signs, and modernizing the 

place, Maquoketa Livestock Exchange 

had two auctions in October, then one every 

week in November, except the week of 

Thanksgiving. 

“Then hold on to your hat. We’re gonna 

rock and roll in December,” Kilburg said. 

The sale barn will focus on livestock 

first. There also will be some hay and 

feed sales and possibly other small consignment 

auctions, but not on a scale to 

compete with Highway 64 Auctions, Powers 

said. 

The trio retained many of the former employees 

and hopes to provide new jobs for 

the community in the future. That includes 

employing Kilburg’s 82-year-old father Bill, 

who worked for Larkey for decades. They 

also plan to work closely with area 4-H and 

FFA groups. 

They also will operate T.J.’s Café inside 

the sale barn to feed and hydrate buyers, 

sellers, employees and the public. 

Kilburg, Franzen and Powers said they 

cannot wait to continue the ag sales legacy 

Larkey grew in Eastern Iowa. 

“We wanted to carry on this great business,” 

Franzen said. “The livestock producers 

need it. The town of Maquoketa 

needs it.” 

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9/15/21 10:27 am

Ag Bytes 

Holdgrafer takes 

reins as FFA southeast 

state vice president 

Kesley Holdgrafer was elected the 2021- 

22 Iowa FFA Southeast State Vice President 

last spring. Only 

nine FFA members out 

of more than 10,000 in 

the state get elected to 

serve. 

She is the daughter 

of Gary and Lisa 

Holdgrafer. Kesley, who 

calls the Northeast FFA 

chapter in Goose Lake 

home, is a freshman at 


majoring in agricultural communications. 

While in high school, she was involved 

in 4-H, speech team, National Honor Society, 

Silver Cord Program, and softball. 

Holdgrafer has an immense passion for 

advocating for the ag industry, especially 

writing. For the past three years, she has 

had a weekly column, Kesley’s Corral, in 

the Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman Clinton 

County news section. These ag articles 

reach 11 counties with thousands of devoted 

weekly readers. Holdgrafer served as a 

District Officer in the Southeast District in 

2020-2021. 

Beef quality training 

set for Nov. 18, 

pre-registration required 

A Beef Quality Assurance Training is set 

for Thursday, Nov. 18 at the AmericInn Hotel, 

1910 Nairn Dr. in Maquoketa. Dinner is 

at 6 p.m., and the training begins at 6:30 

p.m. Pre-register by calling Maquoketa 

State Bank at (563) 652-2491, ext. 4148. 

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, pre-registration 

is required, and attendance may be 

limited in some sessions. Masks will be required, 

and participants are asked to social 

distance. For more information, contact 

Denise Schwab, Iowa State University Extension 

and Outreach Beef Program Specialist, 

at (319) 472-4739 or the Iowa Beef 

Industry Council at (515) 296-2305. 

ISU study says federal 

program might increase 

farmland owner taxes 

According to a Iowa State University 

study released in late summer, some of 

Iowa’s farmland owners could face a substantial 

increase in taxes to pay for the 

American Families Plan proposed by the 

Biden administration in April. To cover the 

$1.8 trillion benefits package to provide 

new social programs to millions of U.S. 

households, the Administration has proposed 

significant tax changes. 

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9/15/21 10:27 am

Ag Bytes 

“Because of the proposed increase in 

rates, we estimate that, on average, a fulltime 

farmer owning 358 acres of farmland 

would see tax liability from a lifetime sale 

increase from $475,248 to $860,572, an 

81% increase, or from 14.5% to 26% of fair 

market value,” said Kristine Tidgren, director 

of Iowa State’s Center for Agricultural 

Law and Taxation. 

Tidgren authored the study with Wendong 

Zhang, an associate professor of 

economics at Iowa State’s Center for Agricultural 

and Rural Development. Zhang 

said that their study looked at 80% of Iowa’s 

farmland owners, including those who 

own land as sole owners, joint tenants, 

tenants in common, and through a revocable 

living trust. He said that they did not 

study other owners that own farmland in 

corporations, partnerships, life estates, or 

irrevocable trusts that could face new tax 

liability as well. 

The impact of the AFP depends upon 

farm size and appreciation. 

The authors noted that 83% of farmland 

owners would not be impacted by the proposed 

tax solely because of their ownership 

in farmland. This is largely because 

most Iowa farmland owners own fewer 

than 200 acres. However, ownership of 

other assets could still make the proposed 

tax affect those landowners. 

For now, the authors said, the AFP is 

only a proposal, and no current laws have 

been changed. More specific proposals 

were expected this fall. 

Local farms earn 

Century, Heritage 

recognition from state 

Several Eastern Iowa farm families were 

honored with Century or Heritage Farm 

designations at the Iowa State Fair last 

summer. The program celebrates farms 

that have been owned by the same families 

for 100 and 150 years, respectively. 

The Century Farm program began in 

1976 as part of the nation’s Bicentennial 

Celebration. To date, 20,541 Century 

Farms and 1,566 Heritage Farms have 

been recognized across the state of Iowa. 

In Clinton County, Richard Dickman of 

Lost Nation received both a Heritage and 

Century Farm recognition for farms established 

in 1870 and 1921 respectively. 

Receiving Century Farm distinctions were 

Garth and Anita DeWulf, Wheatland, 1921; 

Kay (Schmidt) Harksen, Camanche, 1914; 

and Henry and Tara Kramer, Clinton, 1919. 

In Jackson County, Heritage Farm Awards 

were given to Wanda Cornelius, Bellevue, 

1871; and Felderman Family Farm, Bellevue, 

1853. Receiving Century Farm distinc- 

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9/15/21 10:27 am

Ag Bytes 

tions were the William N. Goettler Revocable 

Living Trust, Maquoketa, 1889; and 

Gary J. Marcus, LaMotte, 1919. 

Naig announces 

Artisanal Butchery 

Task Force members 

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig 

last summer announced 19 members appointed 

to the Artisanal Butchery Task 

Force, which will study workforce challenges 

in the meat processing industry, specifically 

for small-scale meat lockers. 

The task force will be chaired by Naig and 

consist of meat locker owners from across 

the state, livestock producers and professionals 

from the public and private sector 

who have a vast knowledge of the industry. 

During the 2021 legislative session, 

lawmakers charged the Iowa Department 

of Agriculture and Land Stewardship with 

establishing the Butchery Innovation Task 

Force to study workforce 

issues in the 

meat processing industry. 

The legislation 

also established a 

grant program jointly 

administered by the 

Department and Iowa 

Economic Development 

Authority to help 

lockers purchase equipment to increase 

production and create jobs. 

“When I visit meat lockers across Iowa 

throughout the year, I typically hear about 

two major challenges they face: difficulty 

affording upgrades to grow their businesses 

and a lack of skilled workers that hampers 

their ability to increase processing 

capacity,” said Naig. 

The task force will study the feasibility of 

establishing an artisanal butchery program 

at a community college or at Regent institution. 

The task force will consider things 

such as apprenticeship and internship opportunities, 

employment outlook for graduates, 

and potential program enrollment 

and costs. A report with findings and potential 

recommendations is due to the Iowa 

General Assembly by the end of the year. 

Meat processors 

awarded grants 

Five Eastern Iowa companies were 

among more than 200 awarded meat processing 

and expansion grants through the 

Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land 

Stewardship. The funds can be used to 

purchase or upgrade equipment, develop 

a direct-to-consumer sales strategy, 

or participate in food safety certification 

training. The grants are part of $4 million 

in Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic 

Security (CARES) Act funding allocated by 

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. Local recipients 

include the Charlotte Locker, Charlotte; 

Matthiesen’s Deer & Custom Processing, 

DeWitt; Tada Meats, Maquoketa; Cinnamon 

Ridge Inc., Donahue; and Woven 

Strong Farm, LaMotte. 

Personal • Ag & Business • Financial Services 

We’re Here To Serve You 

Give us a call today! 

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FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION 

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 

102 E. Carlisle, 

Maquoketa, IA 

(563) 652-2211 

Pictured - the Citizens State Bank team, left to right: Jim Thines, Joel Ahrendsen, 

Connor Harms, Susanne Snead, Landon Hunter, Bree Kilburg, and Tony Portz 



9/15/21 10:27 am

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9/15/21 10:27 am

1. Aaron Ambrosy and 

Addison Ambrosy bottle 

feeding a newborn calf 

Photo submitted by 

Aaron Ambrosy 

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7 

2. Jana Rae Miller, 5, 

engages in a good old stare 

down with pot-bellied pig 

Tater Tot. Jana Rae was 

outside giving the beloved pet 

some belly rubs and feeding 

it tomatoes from the family 

garden. Tater has free range 

of the farm and spends his 

day laying in a baby pool and 

looking for things to eat. 


alicia miller 

3. Hudson Macumber 

enjoying his time hanging out 

with Roo the goat, summer 

of 2021. 


Samantha vaske 

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4. Brayden Winkler with the 

newest calf, Luke. 


callie winkler 

5. Elizabeth Whitman petting 

her horse, Sweetie. 

Photo submitted by Lydia 

Whitman 

6. This farm, located in rural 

Clinton County, is a little slice 

of Iowa heaven. 

PHOTO Submitted by 

kristy weimerskirch 

cornelius 

7. Laurie, Makayla and 

Mckenna bring dinner to Dad 

(Jody) and help fill the corn 

planter hoppers. 


Laurie Hueneke Martens 

8. Wesley Timmerman, 

2, with a calf born 2 hours 

before this picture! Papa 

Brian Timmerman brought 

him home just for pictures. 

The calf and his mama 

now live in the pasture at 

Timmerman’s house and 

Wesley keeps a close eye 

on him. 

PHOTO Submitted by 

Payton Timmerman 



9/15/21 10:27 am

1. Savannah Keeney is just a 

small-town, 4-year-old Iowa 

girl who loves her sweetcorn, 

according to her parents, Sarah 

and Ty Keeney of Lost Nation. 


Sarah Keeney 

2. Dave and Elaine Luett look 

at their Shorthorn Beef Cattle in 

the background. They raise that 

breed of cattle. 

Photo submitted 

by Joyce Ostert 

3. Isaac Thomas, 7, of 

Spragueville, dons his bibs as 

he checks on the recent addition 

to his family’s small cattle and 

crop farm. Isaac cares for the 

family’s chicken flock. 


by Mary Thomas 

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4. Katie VanderHeiden, Ellianna 

Elvert and Tannen Kelting take 

some time from watching their 

siblings and friends showing 

bucket bottle calves to work on 

their construction site. 


by Ashley Kelting 

4 

5. Max Becker of Monmouth is 

showing his bottle calf, Shadow 

at the 2021 Jackson County Fair. 


Janna becker 

6. Blair Becker of Monmouth is 

enjoying sitting on her Uncle, 

Justin Bisinger’s draft horse, Bill, 

in early 2021. 


Janna becker 

9. Connor Ambrosy waiting to go 

check cows 


Aaron Ambrosy 

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10. Tom Lapke moving 

old corn crib. 


Tom Lapke 



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7. Kyler Kilburg goes on his first 

tractor ride at six weeks old with 

his dad, Brad Kilburg. 

Photo submitted by Ali Kilburg 

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8. Kyler Kilburg with his grandpa, 

Dan Kilburg, showing him his 

farm for the first time. 

Photo submitted by Ali Kilburg 

11. Ruth Whitman and Faith Will 

drawing pictures in Goat barn at 

Clinton County Fair 2021. 


by Lydia Whitman 

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12. Maddie Bopes is excited for 

the Clover Kids bucket bottle calf 

show. 

Photo submitted by katie bopes 

13. Abby Bopes with her favorite 

poultry entry at the 2021 fair. 

Photo submitted by katie bopes 



9/15/21 10:28 am

Land values are s 

The Peoples Company team 

Doug Yegge Alan McNeil Jared Chambers 

Doug Yegge 563.320.9900 

doug@peoplescompany.com 

2011-2021 

563.659.8185 

700 6th Avenue | DeWitt, Iowa 52742 

aLaN McNeiL 563.321.1125 

alan@peoplescompany.com 


9/15/21 10:28 am

setting records! 

We’ve handled a record number of auctions in 

Eastern Iowa that have brought in record prices. 

Whether in-person or online, our events draw crowds 

and motivated bidders. And, of course, we are committed 

to providing our customers with a great experience through 

our expert care to all the details. 

One of the nation’s fastest growing land services 

organizations offering land brokerage, 

land management, land investing, and appraisal services. 

YeggeMcNeilLand.com 563.659.8185 


9/15/21 10:28 am

We have the 

TOOLS 

You 

can count on DeWitt Bank & Trust Co. 

for quality banking and business services 

that will help you be successful 

today and for years to come. 

Banking | Lending | Trust | Tax & Accounting 

Investments 

*Securities and Investment Advisory Services offered through Cetera 

Advisor Networks LLC, a Broker/Dealer and Registered Investment 

Adviser. Member SIPC and FINRA. Located at DeWitt Bank & Trust Co., 

815 6th Ave., DeWitt, IA 52742. Phone: 563-659-3211. DeWitt Bank & 

Trust Co. and Cetera Advisor Networks LLC. are not affiliated companies. 

Investments are not FDIC insured – May lose value – Not a deposit – 

No bank guarantee. Not insured by any federal government agency. 

815 6th Ave, DeWitt | 563.659.3211 | www.dewittbank.com 

Pictured: Bridget Maher, Kathy Rollings, Greg Gannon, Sarah Jurgens, Francesca Schwartz, 

Marty Murrell*, Tina Lively, Mike Dunn, Bill Vetter and Roger Hill. 


9/15/21 10:28 am

Eastern Iowa Farmer Fall 2021

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