EIF-A_Lasting Contributions

The Eastern Iowa Spring 2024 

Farmer 

® 

CLINTON | JACKSON | JONES 

A Publication of Sycamore Media 

LASTING 

CONTRIBUTIONS 

The men and women who built the farming community in 

Eastern Iowa worked hard to achieve their dreams and give 

the next generation a strong foundation for success. 

Young at Heart: Retirement 

is not in the forecast for local 

farmers who stay engaged with their 

operations well into their golden years. 

Into the Woods: Managing 

timber can improve habitat, better 

the land and help pay the bills. 

Fencing 101: From simple 

wood posts to high-tech metals, 

farmers have many options for 

corralling livestock and setting 

up rotational grazing. 

Soup’s on: Plan your garden 

planting with all the veggies you 

need to make a hearty soup after 

harvest. 

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eifarmer.com SPRING 2024 | EASTERN IOWA FARMER 7

The Eastern Iowa 

Farmer® 

DIRECTORY OF ADVERTISERS 

Altorfer Ag Products............................. 48 

American Family Insurance 

- Sandy Kloos................................. 55 

Amhof Trucking, Inc............................. 68 

Appliance Solutions............................. 71 

Asgrow - Alex Beck.............................. 41 

Beck’s.................................................. 73 

Bellevue FFA....................................... 93 

Bellevue Sand & Gravel...................... 34 

Bellevue Veterinary Clinic.................... 57 

Ben Schueller Auction Co.................... 53 

Brandenburg Drainage........................ 83 

Brazzen Livestock Equipment........... 121 

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

Bullocks, Inc........................................ 78 

Burger Chiropractic.............................. 62 

Burger Shoe Repair............................. 62 

Cascade Lumber Co............................ 47 

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

Citizens First Bank............................... 56 

Citizens State Bank........................... 126 

Clinton County Democrats................... 14 

Clinton National Bank.......................... 66 

Clover Ridge Place.............................. 99 

Community Foundation 

of Jackson County.......................... 35 

Cornelius Seed.................................... 75 

Cove Equipment.................................. 69 

Custom Dozing and Crane Service..... 16 

Davisson Well & Water...................... 118 

Deep Creek Applicators....................... 91 

DeKalb - Alex Beck.............................. 40 

Delaney Ag Service............................. 89 

Delaney Ag Service - Aerial................. 88 

Delmar Grain Service, Inc................. 124 

DeWitt Bank & Trust.......................... 140 

Dr. Appliance Sales & Service........... 114 

Eagle Point Solar............................... 109 

East Iowa Real Estate....................... 108 

Eberhart Farm Center........................ 116 

Eastern Iowa Farmer........................... 38 

Eastern Iowa Farmer......................... 120 

Farm Bureau Financial Services 

- Megan Fulgsang........................... 63 

Farm Bureau Financial Services 

- Megan Graves.............................. 74 

Farm Credit Services of America....... 122 

Farmers Creek Ag Supply................... 31 

Farrell’s Inc.......................................... 17 

Fidelity Bank & Trust............................ 44 

First Central State Bank...................... 92 

First Trust & Savings Bank.................. 37 

First Wealth Financial Group, LLP....... 87 

Franzen Family Tractors.................... 106 

Heritage Mutual Insurance................ 104 

Highway 64 Auctions......................... 107 

Hostetler Precision Ag Solutions......... 80 

Insurance Planning Services Corp.... 103 

Iowa State University Extension and 

Outreach - Clinton County............ 123 

J.J. Scheckel Performance Angus 

Genetics........................................ 128 

Jackson County Energy District........... 27 

Jim Lee Insurance............................. 123 

Jones County Community Foundation.96 

Keeney Welding.................................. 67 

Ken Kruger.......................................... 57 

Kunau Implement................................ 36 

Kunde Excavating & Trucking.............. 81 

Latta Harris............................................ 6 

Legacy Insurance Group..................... 33 

Liberty Ag & Excavating....................... 24 

LincolnWay Community Foundation.. 110 

LiquiGrow............................................ 64 

Maquoketa Livestock Exchange........ 100 

Maquoketa State Bank.......................111 

Martens Angus Farms....................... 105 

Marquette Catholic & Easton Valley FFA... 117 

Matthiesen’s........................................ 99 

Meant To Be with Flowers................... 51 

MidWest Metal & Supply................... 115 

Mississippi Valley Metals................... 102 

Moore Family Farms & Creamery....... 97 

Moore Local......................................... 97 

NewFields Ag..................................... 128 

Nissen-Caven Agency......................... 50 

Nutrien Ag Solutions.......................... 105 

Ohnward Farm Management............... 22 

Ohnward Insurance Group.................. 19 

Ohnward Wealth & Retirement............ 60 

Osterhaus Pharmacy........................... 46 

Padgett................................................ 20 

Peoples Company............................. 138 

Pioneer................................................ 21 

Preston Locker.................................. 119 

Preston Veterinary Clinic..................... 57 

Re/Max - Abby Schueller..................... 72 

Reiser, Jennings & Co., P.C................ 57 

River Bluff Community Foundation.... 127 

River Valley Cooperative................... 101 

Rockdale Locker.................................. 26 

Roeder Brothers.................................. 86 

RPJ Repair & Warehouse................... 58 

Scherrman’s Implement....................... 32 

Schlecht Farm & Hatchery................... 90 

Schlecht’s Lunch Wagon................... 100 

Schoenthaler, Kahler, 

Reicks & Petersen.......................... 65 

Schueller & Sons Reconstruction........ 61 

Schuster & Meinsma........................... 45 

Schwenker Senior Insurance............... 49 

Shearer Septic Service........................ 76 

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

Spain Ag Service................................. 82 

Star Moving Service............................ 53 

Steve Bradley...................................... 92 

Stickley Electric................................... 77 

Sycamore Media................................ 125 

TADA Meats......................................... 11 

The Feed & Grain Store...................... 54 

Theisen’s........................................... 109 

Titan Roofing & Spray Foam............... 98 

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

Veach Septic & Sewer......................... 25 

Weaver’s Pipeline Specialists.............. 28 

Welter Seed & Honey Co.................... 77 

Wheatland Manor................................ 59 

Whispering Meadows Resort............... 67 

White Front.......................................... 18 

Wyffels Hybrids.................................... 29 


EDITORIAL INDEX 

Lasting 

Contributions 

42 

The men and women who built the farming community 

in Eastern Iowa worked hard to achieve their dreams 

and give the next generation a strong foundation for success. 

12 ‘If you love what you’re 

doing, it’s not work’ 

Age doesn’t stop these 

octogenarian farmers from 

tending their fields 

23 What to do with 

those woods 

30 Save money on fuel 

with no-till farming 

32 Slowing the pace 

Iowa farmland values rose 

higher in 2023 but the 

price-per-acre surge seen the 

previous two years slowed 

39 Career, technical ed 

opportunities abound for 

high school students 

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE 

76 Growing up in ag 

teaches lessons that 

last a lifetime 

79 Setting Boundaries 

From docile cattle to 

cantankerous goats, there’s 

a creative fencing solution 

out there that will keep your 

animals where they belong 

84 Organization weaves 

tapestry of Food, Farming, 

and Community 

90 Planting the seeds 

of innovation 

Students tackle project 

for John Deere to develop 

technology that promotes 

sustainability and boosting 

crop yield during summer 

internship 

94 The Rural Reader 

Pocket-sized and portable 

second opinions for weed, 

insect and other farm 

challenges 

98 The land will endure 

102 Iowa institutes new tax 

laws for retired farmers 

108 Pasture improvement 

has its rewards 

Eastern Iowa cattlemen can 

add grazing capacity 

without always expanding 

acres 

112 A jar of healthy goodness 

On a cold winter’s night, 

visions of veggies danced in 

my head 

120 Ag Bytes 


Farmer 


LASTING 


CONTRIBUTIONS 




Young at Heart: Retirement 

is not in the forecast for local 

farmers who stay engaged with their 

operations well into their golden years. 

Into the Woods: Managing 

timber can improve habitat, better 

the land and help pay the bills. 






Soup’s on: Plan your garden 


need to make a hearty soup after 

harvest. 



friends and neighbors! 


Farmer 

® 

Sycamore Media President: 

Trevis Mayfield 

Advertising: Bobbie Husemann, Faith 

Jones, Trevis Mayfield, Wendy McCartt, 

Connie Myers, and Dean Upmann 

Creative: Elizabeth Goodman, Erica 

Mohr, Brittany Nopar, Brooke Till 

Editorial Content: Delaney Barber, 

Lowell Carlson, Kelly Gerlach, Dale 

Kilburg, Kris Koth, Nancy Mayfield, 

Trevis Mayfield, Sara Millhouse, 

Brittany Nopar, Jane Schmidt, 

Jenna Stevens, Kristine Tidgren 

Photography Content: Lowell 

Carlson, Lauren Dema, Ross Eberhart, 

Harv Hansen, Nancy Mayfield, Trevis 

Mayfield, Sara Millhouse, Brittany 

Nopar, Erica Mohr, Brooke Till and 

contributed 

Editors: Kelly Gerlach, Nancy Mayfield, 

Trevis Mayfield, Wendy McCartt 

Published by: Sycamore Media 

108 W. Quarry St., Maquoketa, IA 

563-652-2441 

Cover: Brooke Till 

The Eastern Iowa Farmer is a specialty publication 

of Sycamore Media Corp., 108 W. Quarry Street, 

Maquoketa, Iowa 52060, 563-652-2441. 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 

Story ideas are easy, 

mostly thanks to you! 

There’s one question we hear 

more than any other while we 

work on this magazine. 

“Aren’t you going to run 

out of things to write about 

someday?” 

Farmers ask us that while we sit at 

their kitchen table during interviews for 

stories, and advertisers ask the same 

during sales calls and photo sessions. 

Our reaction is always the same. A 

knowing smile 

and a chuckle first, 

and then the same 

old, honest answer 

we’ve given what 

seems like a hundred 

times. 

“Never. There 

are so many interesting 

people and 

Trevis Mayfield stories in agriculture 

we won’t live 

President, 

Sycamore Media Corp. long enough to 

write them all.” 

The fact is, it is the people who ask 

us that question who make us sure the 

trough will never go dry. All we need to 

do is listen. 

Some of the story ideas we have 

garnered from listening are of a technical 

nature, such as futuristic ways to 

apply cover crop seed from the sky using 

remote control drones. Others are driven 

by current events or shifts in the industry 

people are talking about, such as new 

drought-resistant hybrid seed or changes 

in input costs. 

My favorite story ideas are the ones 

that bring out family histories, capture 

personalities or connect the farming 

community through common threads, 

and we are working on one of those now 

for a future issue. And, yes, the story 

sprang to mind while I was talking (but 

mostly listening) to a farmer explaining 

the history of an ancient tractor in a 

tattered, black-and-white photograph of 

his grandfather putting up hay. 

It was an Alice Chalmers from the 

first half of the last century, and it made 

me think of the first tractor I drove, and 

that’s when I realized that for most farmers, 

there is a single tractor that stands 

out in their mind as being special for one 

reason or another. 

Mine is an Oliver 1850 that my father 

bought in 1968, the first new tractor he 

ever owned. A decade or so later, it was 

the first tractor I learned to drive. 

That’s how it works. You say something 

that makes us think, wow, I can relate 

to that, and the next thing you know, 

we are working on a story. So, stay tuned 

for our fall issue, which will include a 

story about favorite tractors. If you have 

a good tractor story to share, email me at 

tmayfield@sycamoremedia.com. 

Note to readers: 

I’d like to take a moment to say thank 

you for reading this magazine, and I 

want to give an extra especial thanks to 

our advertisers. Without their support, 

this magazine wouldn’t be possible. 

Lastly, if you did not find this magazine 

in your mailbox but would like to 

receive it at home, please email your 

address to eifarmer@sycamoremedia.net 

or call us at 563-652-2441 and we will 

add you to our mailing list. 

Cheers, and have a great spring! 

Sincerely, 

Trevis Mayfield, 

Sycamore Media president 


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(Above left) The livestock are gone, but the sign for Pork and Behn Farms remains. (Above 

right) A downpour of corn shoots into the grain cart. 

‘If you love what 

you’re doing, 

it’s not 

work’ 

Age doesn’t stop these octogenarian 

farmers from tending their fields 

BY BRITTANY NOPAR 

EASTERN IOWA FARMER 

One day this past November 

was like most fall days for 

Caroline Behn, 88, a native 

of Preston. At barely fivefeet 

tall, she sits on two telephone 

books and two pillows to see over 

the steering wheel of her Chevy Silverado 

as she drives to the family farm. 

“I can’t believe I’m still doing this,” 

Behn said, not long after arriving at the 

farm, as she was driving a John Deere 

9360R 4WD tractor, pulling a Brent Avalanche 

1196 grain cart, driving over the 

uneven, newly-tiled farmland and trying 

to catch up with her son’s combine. 

“I said way back when I was in my 

70s, ‘I want to do this ’til I’m 80.’ Now 

that I’m in my 80s...why not do it ’til I’m 

90?” 

Behn is not the only octogenarian who 

is still farming. And she certainly is not 

the only one who wants to keep going. 

Many aging farmers continue working 

on the farm late into life, according to 

Peter Martin, a professor at Iowa State 

University in the Department of Human 

Development and Family Studies. 

“There is a legacy aspect we find in 

farmers,” he said. “We know about family 

farms, and century farms are popping 

up all over Iowa.” 

Roy Schnoor of Maquoketa has lived 


(Above) Behn drives the tractor at the same 

pace as the combine while the combine fills 

Behn’s grain cart with corn. 

(Left) Behn captures corn from her son’s 

combine. They communicate over the two-way 

radio, with hand gestures, and sometimes by 

flashing their lights. 



OCTOGENARIAN FARMERS 

on his family’s farm since it 

was purchased in 1938. Schnoor 

eventually bought the farm from 

his grandfather in 1969, and he 

and his wife Janice inherited her 

father’s farm near Nashville. 

Altogether they own about 420 

acres, which they now rent out. 

“I don’t know why I still do 

it,” Schnoor said with a chuckle. 

Even at the ripe old age of 89, 

Schnoor has taken on the role of 

maintaining his massive garden, 

mowing, and tending the fences 

on the property. But Schnoor sees 

no end to his role in the field, 

either. 

“I gotta have something to 

do,” he said. “I have fences to 

look over.” 

His daughter, Susan Sheets, 

sees it another way. 

“It’s just in him,” she said. “He 

likes to see things grow.” 

By March, Schnoor has numerous 

seedlings growing inside, 

getting ready to become his 

summer garden. 

New technology 

There are more and more 

people involved in farming well 

into their 80s and even their 90s 

as mechanization makes farming 

less physically demanding. The 

idea that farmers have to be out 

in the elements lifting heavy 

objects and pulling ropes and 

levers has gone by the wayside, 

according to Kelvin Leibold, 

farm management field specialist 

at Iowa State University. 

“Tractors can drive themselves 

and operate without night 

vision,” Leibold said. “New 

technology has made it easier 

and safer for farmers to operate 

machinery, and at older and older 

ages. The work environment has 

also become friendlier to farm- 



(Above) Schnoor’s work bench inside his shed. The countertop is 

recycled from a university classroom. (Left) Schnoor’s wife, Janice, 

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ers’ health. Instead of being out in dust, 

dirt, and heat, they now spend years in 

air-controlled tractor cabs.” 

The Behns recognize the abilities and 

luxuries new technology affords. They 

buy a new combine every five years. 

“These new combines, they make them 

so nice,” said Behn’s son, Darwin. “The 

ones Dad had were real crude. Heaters 

didn’t work. No GPS. Didn’t have none 

of the luxuries.” 

But the Behns don’t always feel the 

need to keep up with the latest and greatest. 

“We’re just a small farmer,” Darwin 

said. The Behns started out with a tworow 

combine and worked their way up 

over the years to an eight-row combine. 

“Everyone else has a 12-row combine. 

Some big guys have two combines. Put 

us to shame. It costs $400,000 for a small 

combine, and prices go up from there. If 

you got the money, life can be easy. But 

we’re happy where we’re at.” 

Schnoor has three tractors, but it’s his 

Behn drives her tractor to collect her 

next load of corn from the combine. 

EASTERN IOWA FARMER PHOTO / 

BRITTANY NOPAR 

oldest one that is hard to run that he likes 

to take out and use to lift heavy fence 

posts and to clear out brush. 

“I think it makes him feel good to get 

it out,” Sheets said. But Schnoor has to 

constantly make updates to his farm to 

adapt to the new technology used by his 

renters. 

“They got a new combine. I had to 

tear out a part of the fence to make it 18 

feet wide to fit it,” Schnoor said. He also 

pointed out that new planters are 24-rows. 

His was four. 

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Multi-generational and familial operations 

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“Everyone else has 

a 12-row combine. 

Some big guys have 

two combines. Put 

us to shame. It costs 

$400,000 for a small 

combine, and prices go 

up from there. If you got 

the money, life can be 

easy. But we’re happy 

where we’re at.” 

— DARWIN BEHN 

“Younger generations may take over more of 

the management issues,” he said. “Dealing with 

pesticide recommendations, seed varieties, and 

purchasing can be handled by younger generations, 

and older generations can focus on what 

they enjoy such as finance, public relations, 

community relations, and running the business. 

These are roles older generations can participate 

in and still have time for the things they 

want to do.” 

In the Behns’ case, they work as a team, each 

performing the role he or she enjoys. In harvest 

season Behn drives the grain cart, Darwin 

runs the combine, and Behn’s other son, Dale, 

unloads the semi-trucks into the grain bins just 

down the road. 

Behn also works in the spring, pulling the 

chisel plow and field cultivator to prepare the 

fields for planting corn and beans. She drives 

the truck with the hay cart at haying time and 

helps white-wrap the bales. Darwin also serves 

as the manager after his father Wes passed in 

2007. 

“Darwin is a very good manager,” Behn said. 

“He took after Wes. Wes was very particular; 

everything had to be done right. If we ever 

spilled corn, Wes and I got off and picked up 

every kernel. I give a huge amount of credit 

to Wes for his hard work and what he did for 

us. But good thing Dar don’t give me heck if I 

screw up!” 

What Behn likes to do is work in the fields. 

“It’s better than any vacation,” she said. 

Schnoor stays aware of current trends and 

prices of land, crops, and cattle, and takes on an 

advisor role as he gives guidance to his renters 

on what to do with the fields. 

“He constantly reads and listens to the news 

and is pretty much always up to date,” Sheets 

said. 

Cultivating the garden also keeps both of 

the Schnoors very busy. They have many fruits 

such as blackberries, raspberries, grapes, apples, 

peaches, watermelons, and muskmelons, 

along with a full garden of vegetables, and lots 

of tomatoes. 

“This year we didn’t do as good,” Schnoor 

said. “The weather was bad. I had to water a 

lot. We also had some sort of tomato blight. It 

was a rough year all around.” 

According to Sheets, there is never a lack of 

effort on the part of her parents, even in chal- 

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lenging times. 

“Really, Dad is a very hard 

worker, but so is Mom,” she said. 

“They’re a team.” 

One thing about farming the 

Schnoors enjoy the most is taking 

the extra produce to nursing homes 

and giving the rest to friends, neighbors, 

and family. 

“People like that fresh stuff from 

around the farm,” Janice said. She 

said there is another bonus to donating: 

“It means less canning!” 

With the extra time on his hands, 

Schnoor enjoys repurposing things 

and experimenting. 

“One thing about Dad is he’s always 

got a way to do things,” Sheets 

said. “Like MacGyver.” 

Last summer, he tore down a huge 

barn on his property that was built 

in 1954. Tearing up the concrete, 

cleaning the debris, rebuilding the 

fences, and replanting the grass kept 

him busy all summer. He saved the 

good wood from the barn to repurpose 

into shelves and refurbished his 

shed to make it new again. He has 

even turned an old stove into a table. 

Downsizing 

Along with sharing responsibilities 

on the farm, operation 

obligations may also be downsized 

or handed off to minimize time 

and physical energy spent, such as 

selling off livestock or renting out 

the land. 

The Behns had 200 hogs – the 

namesake of their family farm “Pork 

and Behn Farms” – but they sold 

them off in 2017. 

“I don’t know what we were 

thinking with all that work,” Dale 

said. 

“Life is so nice now,” Darwin 

said. “We don’t work like we used 

to. We can slow down and smell the 

roses.” 

On the Schnoor farm, they used 

EASTERN IOWA FARMER PHOTO / BRITTANY NOPAR 

Talk about ingenuity: Schnoor dropped a watermelon 

seed into a crack in the cement in the old cattle yard. 

The seed grew into a full-fledged plant. Schnoor placed 

some salvaged wire fencing along the cement so the 

watermelon vines would grow in and around the fencing, 

preventing the vines from being blown away and 

damaged by wind. He also repurposed some old metal 

sheets to prevent the watermelon from growing outside of 

the cattle yard. He jokes that “it’s kind of hard on the hoe 

when you’re trying to hoe the cement.” He also likes to 

mention that this cement garden has no weeds. 

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“One thing about 

Dad is he’s always 

got a way to 

do things. Like 

MacGyver.” 

— SUSAN SHEETS 

to grow corn, oats, and hay, and had quite a 

few hogs and cattle. But they no longer have 

the livestock, and they now rent out all of the 

pasture and crops. 

“I’m lazy now,” Schnoor said. 

“That’s not really the case,” said Sheets. 

“He’s anything but lazy.” 

‘Til the very end 

Farmers connect themselves to their land, 

their farm, and their home, according to Martin. 

“Giving that up is more difficult than, say, 

retiring from a job as an engineer,” he said. 

“Home has a special meaning for farmers.” 

Farming, in a traditional sense, is a family 

enterprise, and many older farmers may want to 

“age in place” at the farm where they grew up 

and took over from their parents. 

“It is only when functional problems, such 

as vision, mobility, and hearing, turn up that 

it may not be feasible to stay in the home,” 

Martin said. 

Schnoor says he will continue working at the 

farm until he is unable to. 

“I like to have something to do,” he said. 

“But I’m slowing down. I’m just tired.” 

“He does pretty good for 89, that’s for sure!” 

Sheet said. “If my husband and I did everything 

he does in one day, we would be tired, too!” 

When the Schnoors move on, the farm will 

go to their four daughters. 

“All of us want to keep it in the family,” 

Sheets said. “We want to keep it as it is and 

maintain it.” 

Behn does not like entertaining the idea of 

becoming unable to work in the fields. 

“If you love what you’re doing, it’s not 

work,” she said. “What am I going to do when 

I’m homebound – read? Watch TV? I have so 

much energy I don’t know what to do with it. 

I’m so active, I never get tired.” 

Behn says the secret to staying active is 

being active. 

“Darwin’s never going to quit either,” she 

said. 

“I grew up with it,” Darwin said. “Once you 

grow up with this life, you don’t want to do 

anything else.” n 

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INTO THE WOODS 

EASTERN IOWA FARMER PHOTO / SARA MILLHOUSE 

Kevin Oetken of Woodland Forestry Consulting demonstrates a backpack sprayer used to treat invasive bush honeysuckle with herbicide. Bush 

honeysuckle can easily take over the forest understory, crowding out native plants that provide better habitat and food for wildlife. 

What 

woods 

to do with those 

BY SARA MILLHOUSE 


Do you have forest on your 

property? Whether your 

woods are a prized hunting 

spot or simply too steep to 

crop, forest management 

can make ground work for you. 

Managing your woods can improve 

habitat, better your land and help pay the 

bills through conservation supports and 

timber sales. 

On a banner day in late September, foresters 

and forest landowners met at two 

properties outside Maquoketa to discuss 

invasive species removal, timber values, 

caging young trees and clearcutting to 

promote regeneration. 

In Eastern Iowa, the most valuable tree 

is also the quickest to shoot up. 

“Walnut always wins,” said Kevin 

Oetken of Woodland Forestry Consulting, 

placing his hand on the diamond bark of a 

quick-growing walnut on the Myrna and 

Al Tubbs property. 

Around here, walnuts typically outcompete 

slower-growing species such as 

oaks. 

Eastern Iowa is in the heart of veneer-quality 

walnut country. 

“We grow the best walnut in the world 

right here,” said Oetken. “There’s worldwide 

demand for these trees. You can 

look at land as an investment, and it’s 

hard to argue with walnut.” 



No other tree in Eastern Iowa comes 

close to walnut in terms of value per 

board-foot. 

With about 40 attendees gathered in 

a semicircle, Oetken talked through the 

possible future values of a 33-year-old, 

17-inch-in-diameter walnut. Its current 

value would be a little more than $300, 

but with sufficient access to sunlight, it 

could double its value in a decade and 

quadruple its value in 20 years. 

Oetken likes to see an annual growth 

rate of a half-inch of diameter at breast 

height (dbh). If a walnut is growing at a 

lesser rate, it needs more sunlight, and 

that means thinning the trees around it. 

“It’s an additional cost to the landowner, 

but I’ll take the additional thinnings 

and increased growth anytime,” 

he said. 

It takes decades and careful management 

to grow valuable trees, but the 

payoff can be significant: upwards of 

$25,000 per acre, assuming a mix of 

walnut and lower-value species. 


Al Tubbs talks about how he manages the forest on his property during a field day last autumn. 

The field day covered a host of topics, including tree shelters, timber values, prescribed burns, 

clear-cuts and invasive species management. 

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Protecting young trees 

State district forester Dave Bridges 

talked about how to shelter young trees. 

On his left was a plastic tube that protects 

the trunk of a sapling. On his right was 

a tree ringed by heavy steel mesh, like a 

tomato cage on steroids. 

Each form of protection has its benefits 

and drawbacks. 

“These are low maintenance,” Bridges 

said of the cages. “They are an absolute 

pain to install.” 

He turned to the plastic tree shelter. 

“These go up quick, but you are 

married to them,” he said. “You have to 

come around once a year. Critters and 

your farm will find new ways for these 

to fail. They’re inexpensive. They go up 

fast. They do work — with some maintenance.” 

Bridges turned back to the cages. 

“These are expensive,” he said. Installation 

is “no fun. You will get cut. You’ll 

be sore from doing it. They’re a lot of 

work on the front end, but almost no work 

on the back end.” 


Howard Miller has found that the Conservation 

Stewardship Program is a good fit for his 

needs as a landowner. Miller grows chestnuts 

in Bellevue. 

Invasive species management 

In established woodlots, active management 

includes controlling invasive 

species such as bush honeysuckle, multiflora 

rose, buckthorn, Oriental bittersweet, 

garlic mustard and Japanese barberry. 

Some species can be hand-pulled, 

but carefully-timed pesticide application 

is often the recommended way to remove 

invasive woodland species. 

Oetken shows attendees how to spray 

bush honeysuckle, a pretty, red-berried 

plant that fills the understory. “It’s the 

first plant to green up in the spring, and 

it’s the last plant to go dormant in the 

fall,” he said. “It has slowly become our 

number-one invasive species.” 

Bush honeysuckle is shallow-rooted, 

and small plants can be pulled early in the 

season when the soil is moist. It can also 

be cut, followed by an application of an 

herbicide such as Pathfinder to prevent 

regrowth. 

Oetken demonstrates a traditional 

pesticide backpack sprayer, then struggles 

into a large backpack with a spray nozzle 

and a motor, which can be used to treat a 

larger area more quickly. Pesticides like 

the Roundup Ultra in his backpack will 

kill any understory plants, so they should 

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Curt Kemmerer, 

Iowa Department of 

Natural Resources 

be applied after 

other plants have 

gone dormant. 

For still larger 

areas, applicators 

are starting to use 

drones and helicopters 

to spray 

herbicide and kill 

forest invasives. 

Curt Kemmerer of 

the Iowa Department 

of Natural 

Resources told 

attendees that he 

saw “phenomenal 

results” after helicopter-spraying 

herbicide to remove about 200 acres of 

bush honeysuckle in Jackson County. “I 

haven’t noticed, with my eye, any off-target, 

unintended results, and I would say 

we had over 90 percent effectiveness on 

treated areas,” he said. 

Bridges suggested a “multipronged 

approach” to control invasive species 

such as bush honeysuckle. “Herbicide, 

followed by fire, followed by spot treatment,” 

he said. “Goats followed by fire. 

It’s probably not going to be one thing 

that you do over and over that’s going to 

take it out.” Costshares through NRCS 

can pay for several years of invasive 

species treatment, at different levels of 

investment and support. 

Clearcut harvest, after the fact 

After walking the Tubbs property, field 

day attendees traveled to Oetken’s property 

overlooking a bend in the Maquoketa 

River. They visited an area that had been 

burned, as well as five acres that had been 

harvested as a clearcut in 2018. 

The prospect of a clearcut will horrify 

some dedicated forest landowners, and 

Oetken warned property owners that they 

will have moments when they bemoan the 

loss of their timber after a “bombs away” 

clearcut. 

Five years out, however, he’s excited 

by the regeneration he sees on the 

acreage. “In the past, our timbers were 

replaced through catastrophic events,” 

he said. Despite the derecho of 2020, a 

community of trees under 10 years old 

remains “the rarest plant community in 

the state of Iowa.” 

With the “missing ingredient” of 

sunlight, seed banks of woodland wildflowers 

and raspberries sprouted. “We 

have the most critical habitat, this early 

successional habitat,” he said. “There’s 

ground-nesting birds, butterflies, insects, 

grouse, that need this.” 

Flags mark small oaks growing up 

through the surrounding plants, proving 

that the clearcut is achieving the results 

he wants. “My goal is early successional 

habitat with diversity and oak regeneration,” 

Oetken said. 

Conservation supports 

While you’re waiting decades for 

a timber sale, some practices can improve 

timber stands while qualifying for 

conservation program payments. These 

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practices include plantings with 

shelters, burning and invasive 

species management. 

Federal conservation programs 

generally accept applications 

year-round. Priority 

funding is often given to those 

who submit applications before 

a given deadline, but current 

investment levels make it likely 

that many projects will gain 

funding even after first-round 

deadlines. 

For the Conservation Stewardship 

Program (CSP), the next 

priority deadline is April 12. 

CSP provides an annual payment 

for a five-year contract, in 

exchange for the implementation 

of conservation practices. In November, 

the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture announced that most 

minimum CSP payments would 

increase from $1,500 to $4,000 

annually. 

For those interested in conservation 

programs, whether 

to support oak regeneration 

or “goats on the go,” the first 

step is talking to someone at a 

nearby USDA Natural Resources 

Conservation Service office, explained 

NRCS district conservationist 

Lori Schnoor. 

Those who work at an NRCS 

office can help a landowner 

navigate program details and determine 

what might make sense 

for their property. 

Schnoor reminded forestry 

field day attendees that now is a 

good time to explore options for 

forest stand improvements, even 

if projects hadn’t been funded 

in previous years. “This year, 

we’re expecting record levels of 

funding,” she said. 

Local NRCS offices are located 

in Epworth, Anamosa, Tipton, 

Maquoketa and DeWitt. n 

EASTERN IOWA FARMER PHOTO / TREVIS MAYFIELD 

Lori Schnoor, district conservationist at the Natural Resources 

Conservation Services Maquoketa office, describes the newest 

conservation programs in the federal pipeline. Some of these 

programs are seeing higher funding levels, allowing more 

opportunities for landowners to participate. 

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By KRIS KOTH 

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kris.koth@usda.gov 


How much fuel can farmers save 

each year by transitioning from 

conventional tillage to continuous 

no-till? 

According to a new report 

from USDA’s Conservation Effects Assessment 

Project (CEAP), 3.6 gallons per acre is 

a reasonable estimate. With current off-road 

diesel fuel prices, this could translate into 

approximately $17 per acre saved annually. 

Nearly 87% of all cropland acres nationwide 

are farmed using some form of conservation 

tillage, where tillage is reduced for at 

least one crop within a given field. Continuous 

no-till accounts for 33% of this total. 

Improving soil health is one known 

benefit of limiting disturbance. Farmers 

who minimize tillage across their operation 

may reduce soil erosion, maximize water 

infiltration, improve nutrient cycling, build 

organic matter, and strengthen resilience 

to disaster events or challenging growing 

conditions. Based on the latest data, they 

may also use significantly less fuel than 

with conventional tillage and reduce their 

associated carbon dioxide emissions. 

According to CEAP, farmers who implement 

conservation tillage practices instead of 

continuous conventional tillage: 

•Reduce potential nationwide fuel use 

by 763 million gallons of diesel equivalents 

each year, roughly the amount of energy 

Save money 

on fuel with 

no-till farming 

used by 2.8 million households. 

•Reduce potential associated emissions 

by 8.5 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO 2 

) 

equivalents each year, equivalent to removing 

nearly 1.7 million gasoline-powered 

passenger vehicles from the road. 

How is this possible? Annually, farmers 

who practice continuous no-till use approximately 

3.6 fewer gallons of fuel per acre 

than if they practiced continuous conventional 

tillage. Farmers who practice seasonal notill 

– farming without tilling for at least one 

crop – use approximately 3 fewer gallons of 

fuel per acre than they would with conventional 

tillage year-round. 

Acre by acre, fuel saved is money saved. 

Let’s assume an average off-road diesel fuel 

price of $4.75 per gallon. By transitioning 

from continuous conventional tillage to continuous 

no-till, a farmer can save just over 

$17 per acre each year in fuel costs. A farmer 

who transitions from continuous conventional 

tillage to seasonal no-till can save more 

than $14 per acre on fuel annually. These 

potential savings are significantly larger than 

with CEAP’s first fuel savings report, primarily 

due to the current price of diesel fuel. 

The bottom line for farmers: Reducing tillage 

leads to fuel savings that deliver significant 

financial benefits while building healthier 

soils for a more resilient operation. n 

USDA Can Help 

If you’re a farmer interested in reducing tillage 

or pursuing other conservation efforts across 

your operation, USDA can help. Please visit 

www.farmers.gov or contact your local USDA 

Service Center. 

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 

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Anamosa, IA 

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LAND VALUES 

SLOWING THE PACE 

Iowa farmland values rose higher 

in 2023 but the price-per-acre surge 

seen the previous two years abated 

BY NANCY MAYFIELD 


In December 2021, Maquoketa real 

estate agent Chuck Schwager sold 

75 acres of high-quality ground for 

$19,900 in just 15 minutes at an 

auction, setting a Jackson County 

record. 

The previous October, 278 acres north 

of Elvira in Clinton County brought 

$17,500 an acre, recalled Alan McNeil, 

who represented the sellers along with 

Doug Yegge. Both are with the DeWitt 

office of Peoples, a national brokerage. 

That event followed two auctions they 

hosted the summer of 2021 that brought 

prices in the $15,000 and $16,000 range. 

At the time, the three men all noted that 

low interest rates, high yields, good commodity 

prices, cash on hand and limited 

land supply fueled both the crowds attending 

the live auctions and the resulting 

high per-acre price tags. All those factors 

and more – weather, economic policy, 

input costs, etc. – impact land values in 

Eastern Iowa. 

Many of the factors behind the large 

surge in values in 2021 and 2022 supported 

the increase in 2023 as well, said 

Rabail Chandio, an agricultural economist 

at Iowa State University, who presented 

the Center for Agricultural and Rural 

Development (CARD) annual land values 

survey results at the end of last year. 

“Interest rates were lower through the 

first half of the year, commodity prices 

were still elevated, crop yields were 

a positive surprise despite the weather 

challenges throughout the growing 

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LAND VALUES 

Chuck Schwager 

East Iowa Real Estate 

season, cash and credit 

availability remained 

ample and allowed 

farmers to stay aggressive 

in the land market, 

and investor demand 

grew stronger nudged 

by inflation concerns 

and lack of alternative 

investment options,” 

Chandio said. 

And while the robust 

jump in land prices over 

the past three years has 

Alan McNeil 

Peoples Company 

slowed its pace, the average price per acre still 

remains strong. 

The value of farmland in Eastern Iowa, 

including Clinton, Jackson and Jones counties, 

increased 0.7% to an average price of $12,678, 

while values in the state overall were up 3.7% 

to an average price of $11,835. 

“This modest (state) increase, following the 

dramatic 17% surge last year, means that Iowa 

farmland values, still at an all-time high since 

Iowa State started tracking the land value information 

in the 1940s, 

have started to cool 

off,” Chandio noted. 

Local realtors said 

that while prices aren’t 

climbing like they 

had been the past two 

years, they are on solid 

ground. 

“The land market in 

our area and throughout 

the Midwest is holding 

steady,” said Schwager, 

owner of East Iowa 

Real Estate in Maquoketa. 

He noted that locally a big percentage of the 

buyers for farmland are local farmers adding 

parcels to their current operation. 

“Potential buyers went from 2022 into 

2023 with cash on hand from a profitable year 

in farming. With low inventory and buyers 

looking to purchase farmland, the market has 

stayed strong,” Schwager said. 

“We are already 

seeing more 

farmland available on 

the market compared 

to a year ago. Overall 

the land market is 

very good with the 

cropland parcels 

selling fairly fast.” 

— CHUCK SCHWAGER 

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LAND VALUES 

“At end of day, 

land is still a 

great investment. 

There are always 

people wanting 

to buy it.” 

— ALAN McNEIL 

McNeil agreed, noting that while the market 

is not as hot as it was the previous 18 months, 

he expects land will retain a strong value despite 

the slowed growth. 

“Things are pulling back,” he noted. “What’s 

holding the market up the most is the low 

amount of inventory. There are always going to 

be those little pockets, high-quality ground, that 

will bring really good money and set records 

for area. A quality farm always brings good 

money.” 

The marketing technique for what McNeil 

characterized as the “B” and “C” quality 

ground also has changed. 

“People look at it differently than a year and 

a half ago. They list it rather than auction it. 

Buyers have tightened up because of interest 

rates.” 

While commodities “are doing ok, and people 

are still making money,” the rise in interest 

rates have had an impact, he said. 

“Lower interest rates are attractive to younger 

guys who were going to borrow,” he noted. 

“At end of day, land is still a great investment,” 

he said. “There are always people 

wanting to buy it.” 

Rabail Chandio 

Iowa State University 

Schwager said there 

are still buyers looking 

to invest if the right 

parcel becomes available, 

although the pool 

of buyers decreased 

as higher interest rates 

crept up. 

“There are still 

some investors and 

some younger farmers 

purchasing farmland as 

well, but higher interest 

rates have had an effect 

through the second half 

of 2023,” he noted. “We aren’t seeing buyers 

as aggressive as they were a year ago with the 

lower commodity prices and the higher interest 

rates. We may see more land on the market as a 

result of the higher interest rates.” 

Retired farmers and investors may sell land 

and take advantage of the higher rate of return 

by investing in the money market, he explained. 

“We are already seeing more farmland available 

on the market compared to a year ago. 

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LAND VALUES 

Overall the land market is 

very good with the cropland 

parcels selling fairly fast. It 

seems the higher quality cropland 

parcels will have more 

competition from buyers than 

the lower quality cropland. 

There are also buyers for 

pasture and timber ground, 

especially the smaller parcels. 

Land will continue to appreciate 

and is still a solid and 

stable investment,” he said. 

After three years of increases, 

Chandio said farm land 

values are at a plateau. 

“While positive influences 

were more prominent at the 

beginning of the year, negative 

pressures are building as 

we approach 2024. Barring 

any unusual activity in the 

land markets, we may see the 

curve start to decline in the 

LAND VALUES LOCALLY 

(average price per acre) 

CLINTON 

COUNTY 

Values fell 1.9% to 

$11,665 in 2023. 

That small dip 

followed increases of 

16.3% in 2022 and 

31.7% in 2021. 

JACKSON 

COUNTY 

Values were up 

0.5% to $11,158 in 

2023. That followed 

increases of 17.5% 

in 2022 and 33% in 

2021. 

JONES 

COUNTY 

Values were down 

1.6% to $11,801 in 

2023. That followed 

increases of 14% in 

2022 and 29.6% in 

2021. 

EAST CENTRAL 

IOWA DISTRICT 

(Benton, Cedar, Clinton, 

Iowa, Jackson, Johnson, 

Jones, Linn, Muscatine 

and Scott counties) – 

Values were up 0.7% 

to $12,678 in 2023. 

That followed increases 

of 14% in 2022 and 

29.6% in 2021. 

Your Legacy 

Begins Now. 

In Jackson County, $3.2 billion is expected to transfer 

from one generation to the next through 2049. 

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in a community endowment, $6.8 million could 

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nonprofits.* That’s a contribution that lasts forever. 

*Based on a 4.25% annual payout 

An affiliate of the Community Foundation 

of Greater Dubuque 

Let’s Build Your Legacy. Together. 

Lori Loch 

Executive Director, Community Foundation of Jackson County 

563.588.2700 | lori@dbqfoundation.org | dbqfoundation.org/cfjc 


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LAND VALUES 

next year or so,” she said. 

And although the land market is 

likely to face declines in the short 

run, she said, Chandio, McNeil 

and Schwager all share the opinion 

that they don’t foresee a sudden 

collapse of the agricultural land 

markets in the near future. 

“There have been three ‘golden’ 

eras for Iowa land values over the 

past 100 years,” Chandio said. “The 

first one ended in a long, drawn-out 

decline in land values from 1921 to 

1933, the second golden era ended 

with a sudden collapse from 1981 

to 1986. The third golden era ended 

with an orderly adjustment in values 

from 2014 onwards as opposed 

to a sudden collapse. We are now 

at the cusp of another great period 

of farmland values, and if the 

economy bypasses a recession as 

planned, we should be able to end 

this era without a rapid collapse in 

land values.” n 

LAND VALUES SURVEY 

KEY FINDINGS 

The Ag Economy Barometer led by Purdue University, a nationwide monthly 

agricultural producer survey, showed that most surveyed farmers expect 

higher farmland prices 12 months from now, mostly due to strong investor 

demand which is expected to outweigh the rising costs, lowering prices, and 

higher interest rates. 

The 2023 survey reported that investors represented 24% of land sales, which 

is slightly lower than the 27% in 2022, coinciding with the fall in inflation. 

Consistent with previous years, the majority of farmland sales, 70%, were still 

to existing farmers, of which existing local farmers captured 69% of land sales. 

Farm income, though lower than last year, is still higher than the 

pre-pandemic levels. At least 84% of Iowa farmland is fully paid for, and 

farmland is increasingly viewed as a more stable and robust investment 

option given greater general economy and geopolitical uncertainty. 

Source: Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) annual land values survey 

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Farmer 

Anywhere, Anytime 

with our online edition 

Read an exact digital replica of the latest Eastern Iowa Farmer 

wherever you are with your computer, tablet or smartphone. Catch 

up with past issues of the magazine or submit your story ideas 

and favorite photos for consideration in future editions. Share the 

magazine with family and friends with only a couple clicks. 

For an enhanced reading experience, visit: 

www.eifarmer.com

BY JENNA STEVENS 

Ag in the Classroom 

Coordinator 

Clinton County Farm Bureau 


Career, technical education 

opportunities abound 

for high school students 

With graduation season 

fast approaching for 

area students, questions 

about their next steps 

seem inevitable. 

“Where are you headed?” or “Are you 

doing a four-year or a two-year degree?” 

or “Not going to college, do you already 

have a job lined up?” 

These are just a few of the standard 

questions we ask soon-to-be graduates. 

Luckily this generation has more options 

than ever available to them to help answer 

these questions. One that is receiving a 

big boost in Iowa is Career and Technical 

Education programs. 

Career and Technical Education, or 

CTE as it is called in schools, is happening 

across the state with explicit instruction 

available in a variety of fields. The 

Iowa Department of Education says its 

goal is to have 70 percent of all Iowans in 

the workforce educated with some type of 

additional training by 2025. 

Some of the classes that fall into the 

realm of CTEs include agriculture, 

welding, woods, mechanics, family and 

consumer science, culinary arts, and even 

early childhood education. Each of these 

courses offers students the chance to 

engage in hands-on learning and develop 

skills that could potentially turn into a 

career. 

While schools have been offering 

hands-on learning classes for years, CTEs 

place an added emphasis on student engagement 

and technical development that 

targets the acquisition of certificates or 

AA degrees. For example, instead of just 

taking a welding class or two, students 

can be working on their welding certificates, 

making them employable almost 

immediately after high school. 

Work-based learning programs are also 

on the rise, giving students the chance 

to experience a job before they commit 

to it post-graduation. Area schools have 

work-based learning coordinators who 

help match kids with local business partnerships 

in the surrounding communities. 

Students then spend part of their school 

day on the job working for a business, 

learning the job, and interacting with 

co-workers and supervisors. 

A great example of this comes from 

Northeast High School where one former 

student worked for an area electrical 

company. He enjoyed it so much that he 

went on to pursue his education at NICC 

at Calmar where he earned his industrial 

electricians’ certificate. 

After college, he landed a full-time job 

at Clyser and continued training to earn 

his Journeyman’s Certification. His time 

spent in a work-based learning environment 

gave him basic skills and experience 

in a field that allowed him to figure out 

that he truly enjoyed this career path. 

For those who do not have time to do 

a work-based learning program or who 

may not be old enough for one, they can 

get involved in a CTSO, which stands 

for Career and Technical Student Organizations. 

This covers groups like FFA 

and FBLA (Future Business Leaders of 

America); it also extends to programs like 

SkillsUSA, which is a trade organization. 

Students involved in SkillsUSA compete 

in contests, not unlike their FFA counterparts, 

but those contests include things 

like cabinetmaking, masonry, plumbing, 

and more. Students doing well in these 

areas often go on to be recruited by the 

program sponsors, guaranteeing them a 

chance at future employment. 

The great thing about CTSOs is that the 

state department is working with schools 

to make them co-curricular rather than 

just extra-curricular, meaning students 

will be exposed to these programs right 

in the classroom instead of having to seek 

out these opportunities on their own. 

This is already being done in some 

spaces. For example, in the ag program at 

Central DeWitt, students in the freshman 

AFNR (Agriculture, Food, and Natural 

Resources) class receive instruction 

about FFA during their first semester of 

enrollment and start working on their 

own Supervised Agricultural Experience 

projects or SAEs. 

Iowa is leading the way when it comes 

to giving students exposure to opportunities 

outside of the traditional classroom 

setting, and they have plans to do even 

more in the future. Learning is no longer 

just a pen and a notebook, it is building or 

renovating homes, running a food truck 

business, and operating equipment and 

computer systems inside local companies. 

However the students in this graduating 

class choose to answer questions about 

their futures, parents can be assured that 

they have more exposure to career and 

technical education pathways than ever 

before and that area school districts will 

continue to build on these programs in the 

coming years. n 


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Bayer is a member of Excellence Through Stewardship® (ETS). Bayer products are commercialized in accordance with ETS Product Launch Stewardship Guidance, and in compliance with Bayer’s Policy for Commercialization of Biotechnology- 

Derived Plant Products in Commodity Crops. Commercialized products have been approved for import into key export markets with functioning regulatory systems. Any crop or material produced from this product can only be exported to, or 

used, processed or sold in countries where all necessary regulatory approvals have been granted. It is a violation of national and international law to move material containing biotech traits across boundaries into nations where import is not 

permitted. Growers should talk to their grain handler or product purchaser to confirm their buying position for this product. Excellence Through Stewardship® is a registered trademark of Excellence Through Stewardship. 

VT4PRO with RNAi Technology corn products are expected to be commercially available for the 2024 growing season. 

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products. The distribution, sale, or use of an unregistered pesticide is a violation of federal and/or state law and is strictly prohibited. Not all products are approved in all states. B.t. products may not yet be registered in all states. Check 

with your seed brand representative for the registration status in your state. Performance may vary, from location to location and from year to year, as local growing, soil and weather conditions may vary. Growers should evaluate data from 

multiple locations and years whenever possible and should consider the impacts of these conditions on the grower’s fields. IMPORTANT IRM INFORMATION: Certain products are sold as RIB Complete® corn blend products, and do not require 

the planting of a structured refuge except in the Cotton-Growing Area where corn earworm is a significant pest. Products sold without refuge in the bag (non-RIB Complete) require the planting of a structured refuge. See the IRM/Grower Guide 

for additional information. Always read and follow IRM requirements. Roundup Ready® 2 Technology contains genes that confer tolerance to glyphosate. Glyphosate will kill crops that are not tolerant to glyphosate. Insect control technology 

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Design® and Respect the Refuge® are registered trademarks of National Corn Growers Association. Acceleron®, Bayer, Bayer Cross, BioRise®, DEKALB and Design®, DEKALB®, RIB Complete®, Roundup Ready 2 Technology and Design® and 

VT4PRO are trademarks of Bayer Group. ©2023 Bayer Group. All Rights Reserved. 

CONTACT YOUR LOCAL DEKALB

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Bayer is a member of Excellence Through Stewardship ® (ETS). Bayer products are commercialized in accordance with ETS Product Launch Stewardship Guidance, and in compliance with Bayer’s Policy for Commercialization of 

Biotechnology-Derived Plant Products in Commodity Crops. Commercialized products have been approved for import into key export markets with functioning regulatory systems. Any crop or material produced from this product can 

only be exported to, or used, processed or sold in countries where all necessary regulatory approvals have been granted. It is a violation of national and international law to move material containing biotech traits across boundaries 

into nations where import is not permitted. Growers should talk to their grain handler or product purchaser to confirm their buying position for this product. Excellence Through Stewardship ® is a registered trademark of Excellence 

Through Stewardship. 

ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS. B.t. products may not yet be registered in all states. Check with your seed brand representative for the registration status in your state. 

IMPORTANT IRM INFORMATION: Certain products are sold as RIB Complete ® corn blend products, and do not require the planting of a structured refuge except in the Cotton-Growing Area where corn earworm is a significant pest. 

Products sold without refuge in the bag (non-RIB Complete) require the planting of a structured refuge. See the IRM/Grower Guide for additional information. Always read and follow IRM requirements. 

Roundup Ready ® 2 Technology contains genes that confer tolerance to glyphosate. Plants that are not tolerant to glyphosate may be damaged or killed if exposed to those herbicides. RIB Complete ® , Roundup Ready 2 Technology 

and Design ® , Roundup Ready ® and SmartStax ® are registered trademarks of Bayer Group. Herculex ® is a registered trademark of Dow AgroSciences LLC. Respect the Refuge and Corn Design ® and Respect the Refuge ® are 

registered trademarks of National Corn Growers Association. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ©2024 Bayer Group. All rights reserved. 

AND ASGROW REPRESENTATIVE

for 

generations 

to come 


LASTING 

CONTRIBUTIONS 

The men and women who built the farming community in Eastern Iowa worked hard 

to achieve their dreams and give the next generation a strong foundation for success. 

Planting seeds of hope 

Jerry Naylor lived a life of adventure, philanthropy and 

entrepreneurship that impacted people in Eastern Iowa and beyond 

BY JANE SCHMIDT 


To have known Jerry Naylor is to have 

known a man who lived life to the fullest. 

He drove a race car, piloted airplanes, 

and helped revolutionize the seed corn 

industry. But it was not his hobbies or 

career that defined him to those who knew him best. 

It was his generous spirit and volunteerism, and, 

specifically, his efforts to help children stricken with 

cancer.

LASTING CONTRIBUTIONS 

Jerry 

Naylor 

Center Junction 

Jerry Naylor shakes hands 

with Francis Henry, who is 

hauling brome grass from 

Kansas. Naylor touched 

many lives in the farming 

community and beyond. 

His family still owns and 

operates Naylor Seed Co. 

in Scotch Grove. 


PHOTO / CONTRIBUTED 

Naylor served as a board member for 

Camp Courageous, a camp for people 

with disabilities. As a pilot for Shriners, 

he flew children from around the country 

to their treatments. 

“Jerry was an amazing, adventurous 

man with a heart of gold for everything 

in which he was involved,” said Charlie 

Becker, Naylor’s longtime friend and 

chief executive officer of Camp Courageous. 

“Jerry got energy from helping 

others, and everything he did gave him 

great satisfaction.” 

Naylor, who died in 2017 at 90, is one 

of many area farmers who left a legacy 

that will continue to improve the lives of 

others in Eastern Iowa into the future. 

Born on Nov. 14, 1926, in Center 

Junction, Iowa, Naylor graduated from 

Monticello High School, attended Iowa 

State University, and later served his 

country in the United States Air Force. He 

married Betty McDonald on May 3, 1952, 

and they enjoyed 65 years of marriage 

and raised four children. 

Possessing an abundance of energy, 



Jerry was a long-time member of 

the Camp Courageous Board (a 

camp serving campers with special 

needs), AOPA (Aircraft Owners 

and Pilots Association), Shriners (a 

philanthropic service club), president 

of the Monticello Rotary Club, 

member of the Iowa Seed Association 

and Iowa Crop Improvement 

Association. 

Naylor served as vice-president 

of Naylor Seed Company, a family-owned 

and operated business 

in Scotch Grove. In 1948, he took 

over the company from his father, 

Ray Naylor. Jerry eventually 

owned and operated the company 

with his son, David, who currently 

operates the business. 

According to his family, Naylor 

was a living example of the Bible 

verse Acts 20:35, which says “it 

is more blessed to give than to 

receive.” 

David Naylor described his father 

as a person who lived to give. 

“When I saw just how much he 

was giving away, he told me that he 

never missed anything he had ever 

given away,” David said. 

Naylor not only contributed 

monetarily but gave of his time, 

serving others with a huge heart, 

according to Kelli Naylor, David’s 

wife, who knew Jerry before she 

met and married his son. She spoke 

fondly of how Jerry shared his 3 

T’s of “Time, talent, and treasure.” 

The couple described Naylor as 

“the first to offer, first to be there, 

and first to serve.” 

Naylor drove widowed women 

to Mother’s Day meals, a tradition 

he started with his mother and 

mother-in-law, and it expanded to 

14 widowed women he took all 

over Eastern Iowa for Mother’s 

Day. 

Becker described Naylor as “a 

character in every sense of the 

EASTERN IOWA FARMER PHOTO / CONTRIBUTED 

Jerry Naylor was known to his friends and family as a hard 

working, generous volunteer. Above, well into his later years, 

Naylor flashes the smile of an optimistic man. 

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On July 13, 1993, Jerry, 

Betty, and two of their 

grandsons flew out to Colorado. 

When landing at the airport, 

a worker came up to them and 

asked, “Are you the Naylors 

from Iowa?” When they said 

yes, he told them, “I have good 

news and bad news for you. The 

bad news is a tornado took your 

home, businesses, and farms but 

the good news was no one was 

killed.” 

That day David Naylor was 

in the construction trailer that 

was strapped down on a cement 

pad. He heard the horrific noise 

of the tornado. He ran for the 

door, knowing he needed to get 

out. Everything was flying by 

horizontally. David ran outside 

and laid flat on his back while 

the tornado scooted him across 

the ground. He hit a dock 

feet first and slid under the 

cleaning mill. He saw the north 

warehouse, his parent’s house, 

and his neighbor’s house gone. 

CNN called David “a human 

hockey puck “as he was carried 

perpendicular from office to 

warehouse. He could only say, 

“I was carried to safety by the 

hand of God.” 

word. He always had a spark 

of energy.” 

Naylor became a member 

of the Shriners, who believe in 

fun and philanthropy, and his 

family said it was a perfect fit. 

A lifelong love of flying led 

Naylor to become a founding 

member of the El Kahir Shriner 

Flying Fez unit. During 

his 30 years as a Flying Fez, 

he flew hundreds of children 

from all over the United States 

for treatment at various Shriners 

Hospitals. David earned 

his pilot’s license at the age 

of 17, eventually becoming 

a Shriner as a Flying Fez, so 

he and his father could fly 

together. 

Becker said Naylor had a 

big sense of humor and was a 

great storyteller. He enjoyed 

racing stock cars, skydiving, 

fishing in Canada, and snow 

skiing in Colorado. 

“He was someone you could 

visit with forever. He would 

tell stories about landing on 

the side of a mountain in Mexico 

and other great adventures, 

and, although they seemed farfetched, 

they were all true,” 

Becker said. 

Not only was Naylor devoted 

to making a greater difference, 

but his resilience was 

also to be admired, according 

to those who remember him. 

In the early 1990s, he and his 

wife, Betty, lost their home 

and businesses in a tornado, 

but he remained focused on 

helping others. 

Naylor made his final 

landing on July 21, 2017. At 

the age of 90, Naylor was still 

living in the style he grew 

accustomed to – out of the 

ordinary, living life to the 

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fullest, and actively engaged in whatever 

he was doing. 

On that fateful day, he was flying a 

light sport aircraft. The plane was new, 

and Naylor was doing touch and goes 

at the Monticello airport with his dog, 

Jasmine, who frequently flew with him. 

When the dog had difficulty walking, 

Naylor got a ramp to get her into the 

airplane. 

On his final flight with Jasmine, Naylor 

was coming in for a landing when 

the planed flipped and crashed. Officials 

could only guess the dog moved and unsettled 

the plane. The dog walked away 

from the crash, but Naylor did not. 

Naylor’s family said he died the way 

he lived – active, energetic, and filled 

with an adventurous spirit, leaving a 

lasting contribution to the seed industry, 

to the families involved with Camp Courageous, 

and the many families he flew to 

hospitals around the country. 

“My dad was not a large man,” David 

said, “but his shoes are definitely too big 

to fill.” n 

Investing in the 

community’s future 

Scholarship established by family of DeWitt 

farmer provides support for local high school 

graduates to continue their education. 



Tom McConohy and Chas Cahill 

ventured into the world 

after graduating from Central 

DeWitt High School in 

2009 and 2011, respectively, 

carrying a legacy from their hometown 

shared with 40 other graduates to date. 

They all have received a Donald 

G. Henricksen scholarship, an award 

established in the memory of a DeWitt 

man who was a devoted husband, father 

and farmer. While Henricksen died in 

a farming accident in 1981, he continues 

to help build a strong rural Clinton 

County through the annually awarded 

scholarship. 

For Cahill, who is now a lawyer, the 

Our contribution began 

WITH YOU IN MIND... 

Cascade Lumber has always been determined to keep up with the needs 

of the agriculture community. Starting with the ease of convenience 

to buy all supplies in one store, to offering turn-key products in the ’70s 

to making sure we’re stocked every day with the supplies you need — big or 

small. This is our founders’ lasting contribution to our rural communities. 

AS WE SAY: BUILD YOUR FUTURE WITH US! 

SERVING YOU FOR OVER 

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Cascade 

Lumber Co. 

BUILDING WITH YOU SINCE 1953 

1000 1ST AVE E CASCADE, IA • 563-852-3232 


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Chas Cahill 

award represented the community’s 

investment in his future. Growing up, 

he benefitted from local mentors as he 

participated in FFA and 4-H. 

“Those things 

played a big part 

in my background 

and in moving 

forward with my 

education and 

career,” said the 

2011 Central De- 

Witt graduate who 

went to the University 

of Iowa 

for his bachelor’s 

degree in political 

science and 

environmental 

policy and Drake 

University for his law degree. 

And being involved in those things 

led to being a scholarship recipient. 

While higher education wasn’t quite 

Donald G. 

Henricksen 

DeWitt 

Farmer Donald Henricksen 

stands with his sons Bill, 

John and Tom. A scholarship 

in the name of Donald and 

John, who died in 1981 and 

2023, respectively, is awarded 

annually by the LincolnWay 

Foundation for Central DeWitt 

graduates planning to study 

agriculture or business. 


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as expensive in 2011 as it is now, he 

noted, the scholarship helped set him 

up for his first year in college. After 

spending some time with a West Des 

Moines law firm and then with the Iowa 

Department of Transportation working on 

environmental compliance, he became an 

assistant city attorney for the city of Des 

Moines where he works in real estate, 

planning and zoning. 

“This type of work stems from my involvement 

in the DeWitt community,” he 

said. Opportunities to volunteer and serve 

in leadership roles in organizations while 

growing up made an impact. 

“I’d love to get back that way (to 

DeWitt) and be able to give back to that 

community. It’s a goal of mine,” he said. 

McConohy, who attended Iowa State 

University and graduated with a degree 

in agricultural engineering, said that 

growing up on a farm, he always had a 

passion for agriculture. The scholarship 

was one piece of his success in being 

able to pursue that dream. 

Tom McConohy 

“It helped relieve some of the financial 

burden of going to college and allowed 

me to focus more on school and my studies,” 

said McConohy, who has returned 

to his family farm near DeWitt where 

he, his parents and brothers raise beef 

cattle, corn and soybeans. He also is 

a field test engineer for John Deere 

Harvester Works. 

The scholarship was started 42 

years ago by Don’s wife, Patricia 

McDonald Henricksen, and sons 

William, Thomas and John through 

the LincolnWay Foundation for 

Central DeWitt graduates planning 

to study agriculture or business. 

Al Tubbs, chairman of Ohnward 

Bancshares Inc., knew 

Henricksen when he was early in 

his farming career and starting a 

family. 

“He was an up and coming 

young farmer,” said Tubbs, 

who was the president of First 

Central Bank in DeWitt at the 

time. “He was an incredibly 

hard worker, and he built a good farm 

operation as he extended his land base. 

He was really on his way.” 

Donald Nissen 

1927-2016 

Chris Nissen 

Dedicated 

for decades 

When it comes to protecting 

what’s important to your livelihood, 

trust the agency that’s been serving 

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Tubbs said Henricksen, 

who grew up in DeWitt, 

was on the cutting edge 

with farming practices and 

equipment. 

“He was quite successful 

and other farmers followed 

his lead. He was expansion-minded,” 

Tubbs said. 

At the time of his death, his 

operation included 1,600 acres 

in Clinton, Jackson and Scott 

counties. 

The scholarship given in his 

name is just one piece of his 

legacy, Tubbs said. 

“Even with him gone, he left 

the importance of a very strong 

work ethic on his family,” Tubbs 

said. 

Pat, who raised her sons in 

DeWitt, worked for the Central 

DeWitt Community Schools in 

special education, with at-risk 

youth and as an assistant principal. 

She also was involved in the Lincoln- 

Way Community Foundation since it was 

established in 1988. 

Her family turned tragedy into something 

positive once again when Pat and 

Don’s son John died unexpectedly at age 

48 on Feb. 2, 2023, as the result of a medical 

condition he suffered after a routine 

workout. Just as it happened with his own 

dad, John’s children had an abbreviated 

amount of time to get to know him. 

That prompted some of his friends to 

get together and work with Pat to create 

an event – the John Henricksen Memorial 

golf outing – to raise money for what is 

now known as the Donald and John Henricksen 

Memorial Scholarship. 

John was a 1993 graduate of Central 

DeWitt High School and lived in Arizona 

with his wife, Lisa, and their sons, Jake 

and Ben. 

The golf outing raised $42,000 for 

scholarships, and an additional $42,000 

was donated to John’s sons for a 529 savings 

account for their future education. n 

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Cornelius ‘was 

everybody’s friend’… 

… as well as a Master Farm Homemaker, a dedicated partner and mother, 

a businesswoman, and a passionate volunteer 

Wanda 

Cornelius 

Andrew 

Wanda Cornelius was known 

for sharing smiles — and 

often a knowing wink — 

throughout Jackson County 

as she shared her time and 

talents with numerous boards 

and committees. She also 

volunteered for numerous 

organizations and could be seen 

at events across the area. 


BROOKE TILL 

BY KELLY GERLACH 


Her helping hands assisted 

dozens of boards, committees, 

and organizations across 

Jackson County and the state, 

sometimes stirring the pot for 

change. 

Wanda Cornelius was a mainstay in the 

Eastern Iowa agriculture community until 

her death on June 16, 2021 at 86 in her 

rural Andrew home. 

She and her husband, Gerald “Jerry” 

Cornelius, were farmers, business operators, 

community volunteers and civic 

participants. 

Until their deaths (his in 1995), the couple 

lived on the Cornelius Family Heritage 

Farm, meaning it has been in the family for 

more than 150 years. 

Wanda was known to breeze into a room 

with a perfectly coordinated ensemble, 

coiffured hair, and a smile or wink for 

everyone. 

Friends and family in the community 

praised her friendship, work ethic, and 

volunteerism. 

‘She cared’ a common theme 

Wanda Lea Burmahl was born near 

Spragueville Jan. 20, 1935, and graduated 

from Maquoketa High School in 1952. She 

decided to teach and graduated from Iowa 

State Teacher’s College in 1954. 

She taught kindergarten in DeWitt for 

two years and then in Maquoketa for two 

years. She married Jerry June 1, 1958. 

Having three children — Nancy, Charles 

and Julie — Wanda became active in their 

everyday care. This included a large presence 

in the Jackson County 4-H program, 

according to Ohnward Bancshares Chairman 

Al Tubbs. 

“Her heart has always been about helping. 

Her passion to support youth, especially 

through 4-H, shined,” recalled Tubbs, 

who knew both Wanda and Jerry. 

Wanda served on the Maquoketa State 




The Iowa Master Farm Homemakers from Jackson County received special recognition during a fundraiser event a few years ago. Wanda 

Cornelius was one of those women, being honored in 1982. “Wallaces Farmer” sponsors the Master Farm Homemaker program every year, 

honoring women for their work with their families, homes and community service. Shown crouched in front is Marji Guyler-Alaniz, who founded 

FarmHer to update the image of agriculture to include the integral roles women play in it. Surrounding her are, from left, Chris Cornelius, honored 

in 2015; Jeanette Lane, 1987; Linda Lane, 2010; Judy Tonderum, 2012; Lavonne Peters, 1990; Cornelius; Mary Lou Johnson, 2016; Nancy 

Johnson, 2015; Jenni Peters, 2016; and Mary Ann Kunde, 2018. Not shown is Lucille Deppe, who was honored in 1995. 

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“Her heart has 

always been about 

helping. Her passion 

to support youth, 

especially through 

4-H, shined.” 

— AL TUBBS 

Bank Board of Directors for 26 

years, taking over the seat her 

husband held. 

As a 4-H member, she 

learned the importance of 

animal care and how to bake 

homemade bread, 4-H officials 

recalled in 2007, when Wanda 

was inducted into the Iowa 4-H 

Hall of Fame. After her three 

children became old enough to 

join the organization, Wanda 

became a leader for the 

Andrew Future Farmerettes 

— at a time when many 4-H 

groups were separated based 

on gender. 

She also led the Andrew 

Achievers 4-H Club and was a 

member of the Jackson County 

Endowment Committee. She 

served as a member of the 4-H 

Girls Committee, which later 

became the 4-H Youth Committee, 

coordinated 4-H indoor 

exhibits, and served on the 

committee to build Boyer Hall 

on the Jackson County Fairgrounds. 

She also judged many 

4-H shows in other counties. 

The envelope 

She asserted her role as a 

businesswoman, the co-owner 

of both Cornelius Seed Corn 

Co. and the Cornelius Land and 

Cattle farming operation. Jerry 

purchased his grandfather Charlie’s 

company shares, becoming 

the third generation to join the 

family business in 1956. Wanda 

became an important part of the 

company’s growth. 

She was willing to state what 

was on her mind, according 

to Jackson County Supervisor 

Mike Steines. 

“Wanda always had a smile 

and was very supportive of 

the community,” Steines said, 

noting that he and wife Jane 

enjoyed running into Wanda 

just about everywhere. “If she 

had something on her mind she 

was to the point, but she did it 

with a lot of class.” 

Wanda was inducted as a 

Master Farm Homemaker in 

1982 and was a past president. 

Over the years, hundreds of 

area youths underwent a Midwest 

rite of passage by detasseling 

corn for the rural Andrew 

seed corn company, and Wanda 

ensured the workers had what 

they needed while serving as 

their worksite “mom,” her children 

wrote in her obituary. 

Longtime Jackson County 

journalist Lowell Carlson covered 

many events in which Cornelius 

participated. He called 

Wanda “a benevolent supporter 

of her church in Andrew, all 

things concerning rural life and 

youth.” 

She served on numerous 

boards, including those of 

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Maquoketa State Bank, Jackson County 

Fair, Jackson County Historical Society, 

Iowa 4-H Foundation, her church, Jackson 

County Senior Citizens Center and Jackson 

County Regional Health Center Auxiliary. 

Over the years, Wanda also served many 

roles as a member of Salem Lutheran 

Church in Andrew. She taught Sunday 

School and was a Bible School teacher, 

hearkening back to her roots in education. 

With all those group commitments, 

she had to be organized. That’s where her 

constant companion — a business-sized 

envelope — came in, recalled her longtime 

friends Jack and Marilyn Willey. 

“She always had an envelope in her 

car with a list of everything she had to do 

while she was in town,” the Willeys said. 

“If she couldn’t find that envelope, she’d 

get all flustered.” 

‘That’s just Wanda’ 

Jack Willey, who styled Cornelius’ hair 

for decades, said his former client was a 

great baker and loved to share her culinary 

skills. 

“She had some kind of mashed potato 

casserole, and if someone was sick or had 

surgery or there was a death in the family, 

she’d take one to them so all they had to do 

was warm it up,” recalled Willey, who also 

shared recipes with her. 

Food played a large role in Wanda’s 

life, including feeding salesmen and others 

around her. It came naturally as a homemaker 

and businesswoman. 

“When the salesmen came for field day 

or meetings, she always worried about 

what she was going to serve them and if 

she had enough,” Willey recalled. “Everything 

had to be perfect. That’s just Wanda. 

Everyone felt welcome and everyone had 

to have enough to eat.” 

Longtime friend Judy Tonderum worked 

with Wanda through Jackson County 4-H, 

the Together We Build Committee and both 

were Iowa Master Farm Homemakers. 

“She was everybody’s friend,” said 

Tonderum, who knew Wanda for about 30 

years. “She was just so cordial and warm. 

She was the individual that you immediately 

feel close to when you see her.” 

Carlson also knew her personally. 

“I have a lot of memories of Wanda,” 

Carlson said. “She was the person who 

pushed me to take the neighbor girl out on 

a date — the woman I have been married 

to for 50 years this coming November. … 

It was the best advice I ever received.” 

They shared a spirited relationship. “Our 

politics couldn’t have been more different, 

but Wanda didn’t make that the centerpiece 

of a relationship,” Carlson said. 

She was a member of the Andrew Petal 

Pals Garden Club and served as the superintendent 

of the Jackson County Fair Open 

Show. 

Wanda also showed a passion for 

politics. Not only did she support Jerry 

in his run for the Iowa House of Representatives, 

but she served on the Jackson 

County Republican Central Committee 

while promoting and supporting the party’s 

causes. 

Many in her social and work circles 

agreed that Cornelius was proud of her 

family — from her three children to her 

grandchildren and great-grandchildren. n 

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A good name 

lives on 

Farmer, umpire, father, husband, cattleman and more, Paul 

Keitel believed in paying it forward, even while fighting cancer 

BY JANE SCHMIDT 


A 

farmer and umpire, Paul Keitel 

made a difference in Eastern 

Iowa, as well as across the 

state. 

Keitel passed in January 

2022 of Large B Cell Lymphoma at the age 

of 62 after living 54 years on his farm south 

of DeWitt. 

He is among the Eastern Iowa farmers 

who have provided lasting contributions 

to the community through their life work, 

giving the next generation a strong foundation 

for success. 

Born Jan. 13, 1960, Keitel grew up on 

the farm purchased by his parents in 1950. 

His dad passed away shortly before his twin 

siblings were born, leaving 11 children to 

be cared for by his mother. Six years later, 

his mother married a widower with no 

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children, attracted to him through a mutual 

love of dancing at Fairyland Ballroom. The 

family moved to Lost Nation and Keitel 

lived there for six years — the only time 

Keitel lived away from his beloved farm 

south of DeWitt. 

When he graduated from high school, 

Keitel moved to a trailer on the farm while 

the family living there finished raising their 

15 children. When that family moved to 

town, Keitel moved back into the farmhouse 

and began building his farming 

legacy. 

A mutual friend introduced Terri (Paul’s 

future wife) to Keitel with the words, 

“Meet the nicest girl in here.” 

He was refereeing basketball in Muscatine, 

where Terri grew up. Keitel liked to 

say, “Terri chose me.” 

After years of Terri’s grandmother praying 

that she would meet a nice boy, they 

met in January, were engaged in April, and 

married in September 1992. 

Terri, who was born in New York, said, 

“I should have known what I was in for 

when his first gift to me was a pair of black 

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Paul 

Keitel 

DeWitt 

Paul Keitel watches from 

the passenger seat of a 

pickup truck in October 

2021 as his friends and 

neighbors harvest corn 

from his fields. Keitel was 

battling cancer and was 

too ill to work at the time. 

He dedicated his life to 

serving the farm and youth 

communities. 


PHOTO / BROOKE TILL 

rubber boots to wear in the cattle yard.” 

She reminisced about being six months 

pregnant dressed in Carharts that she could 

not zip up. Keitel placed her in the lane by the 

house to help him move cattle. 

“I was to stand and wave my arms to keep 

them from running down the lane, but when 

a 1,500-pound bull came at me, I could only 

step out of the way and let him go,” with an 

angry Keitel not far behind. 

Together they served more than 25 years 

with the Clinton County Cattlemen, holding 

various officer positions, and were instrumental 

in preparing Cattlemen’s beef for people in 

the area. 

“Paul’s favorite jobs annually were to provide 

burgers at Central DeWitt High School 

and grill at the Clinton Lumber Kings,” Terri 

said. 

Keitel always had time for young people 

and when serving as a bus driver for Central 

DeWitt, he would strike up conversations with 

students, always knowing something about 

them. 

An avid baseball fan, he was well-known 

across the state as an umpire and referee. He 

served as president of the Iowa High School 

Baseball Coaches Association and was inducted 

into the Iowa High School Association Hall 

of Fame. He even has his own Topps baseball 

card honoring his work. Since his passing, his 

umpire partner has delivered one of the baseballs 

from the annual state tournament to his 

grave. Terri keeps each one in a glass case. 

Keitel was a regular at the state baseball 

tournaments. When Keitel was fighting 

against lymphoma, umpires wore black armbands 

with PK initialed on them at the state 

baseball tournament. They also wore green 

wrist bands to show their support in the fight 

against cancer. 

Terri and Paul provide annual scholarships 

at Central DeWitt and the Iowa High School 

Baseball Coaches Association. These are 

awarded, as Terri put it, “to good kids that 

love playing baseball.” As one recipient wrote 

in a thank you note, “I hope one day I am able 

to pay it forward in order to continue my love 

for baseball like Paul did.” 

Another recipient wrote, “Not only was 

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WORDS WRITTEN BY KEITEL’S 

DAUGHTER, ALLISON HARRINGTON: 

Who was Paul Keitel? My dad was 

a man full of life. When looking back 

on his life, all you can see is his smile. 

All you can hear is his laugh. All you 

can feel is the love and support he 

so effortlessly gave. My dad was a 

simple man who did not need much in 

life to be happy but yet worked hard 

to give his family an extraordinary 

life. A simple man who only needed 

his faith, family, and friends. 

When you hear stories about him, 

it’s hard to believe that he was just 

one man. How can someone accomplish 

so much in life? How could 

someone be so selfless that they would 

have given you the shirt off their 

back? My dad never asked why, he 

would ask when and where. While he 

may sound perfect, he did have flaws 

but those flaws were so outweighed by 

the good things that now looking past 

the grief of losing him, there’s nothing 

but pride. The pride to have been able 

to know my dad, Paul Keitel. 

Paul a great umpire but a wonderful man 

who enjoyed baseball. He has inspired me to 

start my own journey umping baseball.” 

Both the DeWitt and North Scott communities 

provided support for the Keitel family 

during their battle with cancer. 

“The support cannot be described, from a 

Go Fund Me page to contributions from gate 

fees when DeWitt played North Scott,” Terri 

said. 

The community came out to harvest his 

land during his last months on the farm as 

he watched with tears of gratitude from his 

pickup truck. Medical bills totaled in the 

millions with community support paying the 

deductible. 

Numerous times the doctors wanted to 

send Keitel home with hospice but he refused 

saying, “No, I want to fight, I don’t want 

anyone thinking I did not fight.” 

Dr. Sabarish Ayapan in Iowa City recognized 

that fight in Keitel and did everything 

he could to save him, Terri said. They were 

sent home on a Friday in September 2021, 

with Keitel being given three days to live. 

Their daughter Allison moved up her wedding 

to that Saturday on the farm so her dad 

could walk her down the aisle and dance one 

last dance. 

The following Monday, he was given an 

experimental drug that could give him six 

more months to live. Five months later he 

died. 

Shortly before passing, he took one last 

ride on his tractor, having read Philippians 

4:6-7: “Do not be anxious about anything, 

but in everything by prayer and supplication 

with thanksgiving let your requests be made 

known to God. And the peace of God, which 

surpasses all understanding, will guard your 

hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” 

A picture of that last ride and that last 

verse he read are inscribed on the tombstone 

at his gravesite. 

Keitel’s legacy lives on. Each of their children 

— Jennifer, Allision, and Christopher 

— have tattooed on their arms the saying 

their dad taught them, instilled by his parents 

to Keitel and then to his children, “The only 

thing you take with you to the grave is your 

good name.” n 

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‘Do it for the kids’ 

Carrying on a work ethic learned from his parents, Dick Keeney gave 

his all to work, local schools and the farming community 



Kelly Keeney had just gotten out 

of the service. He had experience 

welding from growing up on a 

farm, so when a work space became 

available in Miles, he decided to 

open up shop. That was in 1953. 

His wife and partner, Luella, toiled alongside 

him, keeping the books, placing orders and putting 

molds away. 

Dick Keeney, his son, started helping out when 

he was five years old 

“Dick has been born into this business from 

the word go,” Kelly said in a video about the 

business made several years ago. 

“My wife, she was the head bookkeeper. And 

she worked. Everybody worked,” Kelly said. 

That work ethic is a family hallmark. Dick 

and his wife, Ann, eventually took over shop 

operations, and their four children – who are now 

grown – spent time helping out as well. 

And while Keeney Welding was a place 

farmers went to get things fixed, it always felt 

like more than that, family members said. It was 

a small-town business where people would stop 

by to talk about things – their lives and families, 

their hopes for the town and more. 

The Keeney family and the community felt 

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Representing three generations of the 

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his wife, Luella, began Keeney Welding, 

which later was operated by their son, 

Dick, and his wife, Ann. Dick and Ann’s 

four children had a front row seat to learn 

the value of hard work and giving back to 

the community. 

EASTERN IOWA FARMER PHOTO / BROOKE TILL 

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a deep loss when Dick died unexpectedly at 69 of a 

heart attack in February 2023. He left behind many 

good deeds and meaningful contributions to his 

family, his clients, local schools, local farmers, and 

his community. 

“Do it for the kids” was the anthem of his life, 

family members said. 

He served on the Easton Valley School Board since 

its inception in 2013 and as president for five years. 

He also spent many years coaching various teams. 

He served on the Miles City Council and also as the 

mayor. 

His life, his son Taylor said, can be described by 

some important advice he gave to his children, which 

also include Tanner, Regan and Ryleigh. 

“If you’re going to do something, you do it 100%. 

You don’t do anything part way. You do it the right 

way.” 

Dick learned the trade from Kelly, and together 

they built a solid business on which people knew 

they could count. That included making house calls 

to unfreeze pipes in bitter winter cold. They also had 

a portable welder they could take on the road if a 

farmer was broke down in a field. 

EASTERN IOWA FARMER PHOTO / ERICA MOHR 

Josh Ellis, left, is pictured with Dick Keeney at the shop. Ellis said he learned a lot 

from Keeney in the short time he worked with him. Dick died unexpectedly in early 

2023, and his family was happy to sell the more than 70-year-old Keeney Welding to 

Ellis and have it remain in the community. 

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When Dick died, the family was clear about 

wanting the business to continue. They wanted to 

pay tribute to Dick’s ability to fix things, to work 

with his hands, to be a businessman, an engineer 

and welder, all in one. They did not want to sell 

the business for parts. 

Luckily, Josh Ellis had come to work for Dick 

about a year before his death. 

Ellis, who grew up in Camanche, learned a lot 

from Dick in the short time he worked with him. 

When they got to work, they didn’t talk much but 

accomplished a lot. 

“We flowed together very well,” Ellis said. 

Dick was generous with his knowledge, giving 

Ellis tips on how to do things without being 

overbearing. 

“He was one of the best men I’ve ever been 

around and worked for,” Ellis said. 

The shop celebrated its 70-year anniversary, 

and Ellis is appreciative of the loyal customers 

from over the years continuing to do business 

there. 

“I’m very thankful people are still coming in,” 

said Ellis, who recently moved to the Miles area 

with his wife, Ashley, and kids, Braelynn and 

Waylon, to be closer to the business. 


The Keeneys are 

happy to see it thriving. 

They have many 

memories, with three 

generations spending 

hour upon hour at the 

business. 

Taylor and Tanner 

remember sweeping 

floors, putting away 

steel, making parts for 

fence posts, painting, 

cleaning, sorting nuts and 

bolts, or running errands 

for him. For Ann, it felt 

like a home away from 

home. 

Dick’s legacy will live 

on in his children and 

grandchildren and Keeney Welding. 

His words in the video sum up his 

commitment. 

“The reason we come down here 

to work is to make a better life for 

them, and they’re doing it for the 

next generation,” he said. n 

Kelly and Luella (Durkop) 

Keeney celebrated their 

70th wedding anniversary 

Aug. 6, 2022. They began 

Keeney Welding in 1953, 

working together to build 

the Miles business that 

has served the local 

farming community. Dick 

Keeney, their son, started 

helping out when he was 

five years old. 

Relax, Refresh, 

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Keeney 

Welding 

SINCE 1953 

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MIlES, Ia 563-682-7699 

River Ridge Trails covers miles 

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A farmer 

before his time 

Bellevue producer Albert “Bud” Knake didn’t 

have to catch up to the trends; he embraced 

change and helped shape the future 



Albert “Bud” 

Knake was a man 

before his time in 

many respects. 

He had already 

begun implementing relatively 

unknown conservation efforts 

on the Bellevue farm he and 

his wife, Lillian, operated 

when he was honored in 1962 

with the Jackson County Soil 

Conservation Achievement 

Award. 

“He was one of the first 

ones to start strip cropping and 

(Above) Bud Knake at his 

desk at his Bellevue home 

was most often found 

working on the farm and 

later coaching youth sports. 

(Left) Lillian and Bud farmed 

together for almost 70 

years, sharing chores and 

responsibilities. They were 

married on Oct. 27, 1951. 



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Bud 

Knake 

Bellevue 

When he died in June 

2022 at age 91, Albert 

“Bud” Knake left a legacy 

that included being a 

farmer, husband, father, 

grandfather and tireless 

community volunteer. 

He and his wife, Lillian, 

raised five children. Lillian 

died in June 2021. 



terracing. He was one of the first to put 

in ponds. He was one of the first ones 

to do no-till,” said his son Pat Knake, 

who farms now with his brother, Mike, 

and son, Chet. 

“The funniest part is cover crops 

came out when he was 80 years old, 

and he’s the one who pushed us to do 

that. He was always on the cutting 

edge,” Pat said. “He was doing things 

nobody else was doing.” 

When he died in June 2022 at age 

91, he left a legacy that included being 

a farmer, husband, father, grandfather 

and tireless community volunteer. He 

and Lillian farmed together for almost 

70 years and raised five children. Lillian 

died in June 2021. 

Like many farmers in Eastern Iowa, 

they managed to combine the relentless 

schedule of caring for livestock, 

keeping equipment repaired, planting 

and harvesting with giving back to 

their community. 

Since 1972, the Breedens 

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17047 167th Ave. 

Maquoketa, Iowa 52060 



Bud is most well-known in the community 

for “Bud Ball,” basketball teams for 

grade school kids that he started, financed 

and coached, said his oldest daughter 

Donna Mueller, who sat with Pat at the 

kitchen counter of the home where they 

grew up with three other siblings – Dan 

Knake, who is deceased, Mike Knake and 

Penny Medinger. 

“One of his biggest impacts is all the 

youth sports feeder programs he started 

30 years ago when sons were old enough 

to handle the farm,” Pat said. “That’s 

what he enjoyed.” 

He had the opportunity to coach most 

of his grandchildren, Donna said, including 

three granddaughters who made it to 

the state tournament. 

“After every game they always wanted 

to ask him how they did,” she said, noting 

that he offered wise and constructive 

advice to young athletes. 

The Dubuque Youth League honored 

him as basketball coach of the year in 


Lillian and Bud were blessed with many grandchildren and great grandchildren. Bud is 

well-known for starting “Bud Ball,” basketball teams for grade school kids that he started, 

financed and coached. He also coached women’s softball and Little League baseball, and he 

had the opportunity to coach most of his grandchildren. 

Home 

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“The funniest part is 

cover crops came out 

when he was 80 years 

old, and he’s the one 

who pushed us to do 

that. He was always 

on the cutting edge. 

He was doing things 

nobody else was doing.” 

— PAT KNAKE 

1994. He also coached women’s softball 

teams and Little League baseball teams. 

Bud and Lillian instilled a strong work 

ethic in their children. They were a team. 

Lillian grew up on a farm and was a farmer 

long before Bud, who started out as a blacksmith. 

She did most of the milking when 

they had dairy cows, drove a tractor, baled 

hay and helped with chores well into her 80s. 

“Everybody worked,” Pat said. 

Donna handled cooking and other household 

tasks, while Bud, Lillian and other kids 

did farm chores. 

“I remember holding the school bus for 

them all the time because they were late 

from doing chores,” Donna said of her 

siblings. 

They reminisced about their one vacation 

day a year – a trip to Chicago to watch Bud’s 

beloved Cubs play. 

“You’d get up and milk the cows at 4 in 

the morning and you’d be back by 10 at 

night to milk them again,” Donna said. 

Bud was born on July 20, 1930, to Louis 

and Molly Knake. Lillian was born April 27, 

1929, to Anthony and Rosella Kilburg. They 

married on Oct. 27, 1951. 

The list of Bud’s community and agriculture 

contributions and achievements is as 

long as he was humble, his children say. 

Among them are founding member of the 

Iowa Cattleman’s Association, 1973; Jackson 

County Master Farmer, 1983; Wallace Farmer 

Magazine Master Farmer, 1984; Bellevue 

Community School Board, 1972-1988; Bellevue 

Township Trustee Chair, 1972-1988. 

He helped start the Andrew Jackson 

demonstration farm, was chairman of the 

Jackson County Board of Adjustments, an 

officer for the Jackson County Farm Bureau, 

on the board of C&J Farm Service Co-op, 

Land O’Lakes, and the Jackson County Cattleman’s 

Association. 

A voracious reader who could fix anything 

and often helped other farmers and 

family members out with welding projects, 

he touched countless lives. Despite farming 

until he died, he always found the time to get 

involved in the community. 

“He was a born leader. He was,” Pat said. 

“He liked to give back, and he thought that 

was one of the best ways to do it.” n 

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Growing up in ag 

teaches lessons 

that last a lifetime 

BY DELANEY BARBER 


Growing up in or around agriculture 

sets kids apart from 

their peers and shapes their 

character in ways they carry 

with them the rest of their 

lives. 

From waking up early in the morning to 

feed cows before school to even just being 

around livestock in various venues has 

taught me many different things that many 

kids my age are not taught until later in 

life or even at all. These lessons carry over 

into school, sports, and even daily habits. 

Being a kid in agriculture opens doors and 

provides a wide array of opportunities. 

One of the biggest door openers is the 

livestock show industry. This industry 

teaches kids all about what it feels like to 

win, but it also teaches losing. Not everyone 

can place first in the class, just like 

not everyone is going to place last. Either 

way, you still need to be proud of the work 

that you put in to get you to the ring that 

day. So much extra time, effort, dedication, 

and sacrifice goes into it. While it may 

feel more rewarding when your hard work 

pays off and you win your class, you must 

realize everyone else worked hard to get to 

that place and deserves to feel their success 

rewarded. 

My personal experiences showing dairy 

cattle and in other areas of agriculture have 

shaped me into the person I am today; 

especially in sports and in school. You’re 

not going to win every time, but if you 

continue to put in the work, you also won’t 

lose every time. 

Most of the sports that I am involved in 

are individual sports. Going into competitions, 

I know I may want to win every race 

or match, but I also know that if I consistently 

work hard, I won’t lose every time 

either. 

You call. We Haul. 

➤ Septic tank pumping/service 

➤ New system installs 

➤ Iowa Time of Transfer licensed inspector 

➤ Still offering trucking, excavations and dozing 

➤ In business 23 years 

➤ Serving Jackson and surrounding counties 

Shearer 

Septic Service 

563-349-9451 | Maquoketa,Iowa 

Pictured: Ben, Mia, 

Evan, and Sara Shearer 


LIFETIME LESSONS 

This is something I feel a lot 

of kids struggle with these days. 

Once they fail at something or 

don’t see the results they were 

hoping for, they give up and 

quit. Livestock showing puts 

this into perspective. You can’t 

just quit because those animals 

still require care. Even if you 

are mad at your heifer for the 

way she acted in the ring, you 

don’t get to simply walk away. 

I’ve also learned a lot about 

time management and how to 

prioritize my time to ensure 

everything I need to get done 

gets done, and then I can go do 

what I want to do. 

Before going to bed, I have 

to plan ahead for when I need 

to set my alarm to make sure I 

have enough time to get all the 

heifers fed and still have time 

to come inside and get ready 

before leaving for school. It’s 

helped me a lot in school with 

being able to plan ahead to get 

all of my work done and turned 

in on time while still having 

time to go out and do the other 

activities I want to do during 

the week. 

I also know that sometimes I 

need to choose between hanging 

out with my friends and 

working with my heifers. Having 

to work all summer on your 

animals can be a challenge, 

especially when your friends 

and classmates are out having 

fun or going on vacation, but 

it is rewarding in the end when 

everything comes together and 

you perform how you want to at 

shows. Making those sacrifices 

is what sets you apart from the 

rest. 

Whether it is time management 

or winning and losing, 

everything that you learn on the 

farm carries with you everywhere 

you go and can benefit 

you throughout your life. 

Choose to give thanks in the 

good and the bad times and celebrate 

the wins and losses. Be 

patient. Be kind. Help others, 

and do what is right. Take in 

everything you learn, and ,most 

importantly, take advantage 

Pictured: Owner Duane Stickley 

of the opportunities in front of 

you. It will serve you well even 

if life takes you off the farm. n 

Delaney Barber is a junior 

at Central DeWitt Community 

High School and a member of 

the CAC Media Team. 

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AS THE sun rises ON 

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MAKING A FENCE 

SETTING 

BOUNDARIES 

From docile cattle to cantankerous goats, 

there’s a creative fencing solution out there 

that will keep your animals where they belong 



Amanda Hoerschelman 

stood outside a five-strand, 

electro-net fence last 

fall watching three goats 

inside an enclosure frolic 

around a large birch tree branch. 

“These ladies were bottle babes,” she 

said of the trio that initially lived in the 

garage when they arrived at the family’s 

rural Maquoketa farm in February 2023. 

And while Ginger, Georgia and 

Mocha seemed mild-mannered on a 

sunny morning, looks are apparently 

deceiving. 

“Oh they’re naughty. They’re so 


The Hoerschelman family, which includes Amanda and daughters Ava and Autumn, pictured here, and also husband, Chris, and daughters Emma 

and Elly, raise goats, stock cows, hair sheep and chickens. 



Believe 

in Better? 

Ava Hoerschelman watches a few of her family’s goats from 

her perch on a fence. The goats are very creative escape 

artists, so making sure fences are effective and in good repair 

are ongoing tasks for the Hoerschelman family. 


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naughty,” Hoerschelman said, 

shaking her head and laughing 

when asked if it is easy 

to keep the goats contained. 

“They can jump. They laugh 

at this fence. Ginger is the 

worst. She has figured out that 

she can climb this fence and 

jump right over it.” 

Making sure fences are 

effective and in good repair 

are ongoing tasks for the 

Hoerschelman family, which 

includes Amanda; husband, 



Chris; and daughters Ava, 12; Autumn, 11; 

Emma, 8; and Elly, 6. In addition to goats, they 

also raise stock cows, hair sheep, and chickens. 

For farmers in Eastern Iowa who graze 

livestock, fencing is essential and a necessary 

expense. 

“Each farm is an ecosystem. Everything 

works together,” said Brad Ketchum, an animal 

fencing expert from Gallagher who presented 

a program at a recent Iowa State Extension 

fencing and grazing seminar. 

Among the considerations farmers weigh are 

available acres, proximity to water and a power 

source, other geographical limitations, the 

types of animals and how they behave, and the 

need for permanency (pasture) versus movability 

(paddock). 

Hoerschelman said she did more of a deep 

dive into fencing as she and Chris added livestock 

to their operation, learning about the best 

materials and ways to keep costs down. 

“Initially when we started farming, my husband 

was crop farming,” Hoerschelman said. 

“With four kids, we decided we would venture 

into animals. We have a lot of pasture ground 

that’s not able to be crop farmed, so we use that 

for the cows. Cows are pretty big. For the girls 

and I to be involved with the farm, and that’s 

what we want, we needed to get some smaller 

animals.” 

“For the girls and I 

to be involved with 

the farm, and that’s 

what we want, we 

needed to get some 

smaller animals.” 

— AMANDA HOERSCHELMAN 

Dwaine Kunde, Owner 

Specializing in all types of ag construction including: 

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• Silo Demo 

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• Tree Removal 

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• Site Prep for Livestock Facilities 

• Site Prep for Residential 

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Spragueville, IA 52074 • Phone: 563 593-3142 | 563-689-4921 



WHEN YOUR SUCCESS IS 

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Amanda Hoerschelman said she did more of a deep dive into fencing 

as she and Chris, her husband, added livestock to their operation, 

learning about the best materials and ways to keep costs down. 

JASON SPAIN 

jason.spain@plantpioneer.com 

563.212.3345 | Welton, Iowa | www.spainag.com 

She moves the sheep – and 

the fencing – every six or 

seven days. 

“We got these used from another 

guy who raised sheep,” 

she said, pointing to a hard 

plastic step-in post that has 

clips to hold different types of 

wire. 

“We put a bunch of them 

in the back of the van, and 

Emma will sit in the back of 

the van and toss them out, and 

the big girls will go along and 

stick them in the ground,” she 

said. She handles stringing the 

wire. 

At night, she brings the 

sheep up to a hickory grove 

and closes them in to protect 

against predators. That enclosure 

she made using some 

cattle panels they had in the 

barn and other used materials. 

She and her daughters put 

up the fencing around a pen 

where the sheep go at night 

using cattle panels and other 

recycled materials. 

She’s also learned the optimal 

way to use electric wires. 

“With cows, you can use 

only just one wire, as long as 

you put it at their eye level,” 

she said. 

“Sheep will maybe test it 

once, and then they run away 

and they all follow each other.” 

She usually has two electric 

wires on their enclosure. 

While the goats are much 

more persistent, she has found 

that the electro-net is really 

efficient for keeping them 

corralled. 

“It’s one of the best ways to 

keep the goats in,” she said. n 


Pictured: Steve 

Brandenburg 

(left) and Joe 

Brandenburg. 

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COMMUNITY TAPESTRY 

Organization weaves tapestry of 

FOOD, FARMING 

and COMMUNITY 

Clinton County native 

learned the value 

of hard work and 

the importance of 

compassion from her 

parents while growing 

up on the family farm. 



Ann McGlynn grew up on a 

small family farm in central 

Clinton County, where her 

parents, Frank and Chris, 

still live and grow corn and 

soybeans. 

“My mom and dad are very hard workers,” 

she said, recalling the example they 

set for her and her two siblings during 

their youth when the operation included 

cattle and pigs in addition to crops on the 

farm that is south of Charlotte/northeast 

of DeWitt. 

“My dad still works seven days a week 

as a farmer. It’s who he is. My mom also 

has this tremendous work ethic. They 

are devoted to family,” she said. In 2022, 

they received a Century Farm award. 

The farmers McGlynn works with today 

as the executive director of Tapestry 

Farms – a Quad Cities-based nonprofit 

that grows food and hires refugees – are 

much newer to Eastern Iowa but also 

come from backgrounds deeply rooted in 

family and agriculture. 

“A lot of the people we work with are 

refugees. They have been forced to leave 

their home country because of violence 

or poverty,” McGlynn said, adding that 

some of them have lived in a refugee 

camp for a decade or more after fleeing 

such countries as Democratic Republic of 

Congo, Burundi and Rwanda. 

“Many bring a farming background 


Ann McGlynn displays some bounty from a 

garden cared for by Tapestry Farms, a Quad 

Cities-based nonprofit that grows food and 

hires refugees. 



with them. They arrive here and 

live in an apartment where they 

don’t have land to tend, but they 

bring farming skills with them. 

That’s how they have lived their 

whole life. It’s how they’ve eaten,” 

she said, adding that they 

often go to work in factories or 

other non-agriculture settings. 

“Meanwhile there’s food 

insecurity that happens in our 

community. We pair that need 

with the skill set of growing 

food,” said McGlynn, who 

founded the nonprofit in 2017 

after more than 20 years of 

working as a journalist and 

communications director. 

During those two decades, 

she wrote stories about people 

who came from different countries. 

She wrote about community 

systems and how they 

worked. Later, she worked for 

the Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa 

and Western Illinois and St. 

Paul Lutheran Church in Davenport. 

Those experiences got 

her thinking more about how to 

change the world for the better 

and what it takes to do that. 

“I learned about caring for 

others and how to do that in a 

way that’s respectful and compassionate 

at the same time,” 

she said. 

Her idea to create urban 

farms from under-utilized land 

took shape. Today Tapestry 

Farms has about 300 volunteers 

and provides more than 6,000 

pounds of produce to food pantries 

through River Bend Food 

Bank. Last year, eight different 

types of vegetables were delivered 

either the day of harvest, 

or very shortly after, throughout 

the growing season. 

Refugees are hired seasonally 

to plant, tend and harvest 

the crops, and they need little 

training, McGlynn said. 

“They just know what to do. 

They know how to tend a plot 

of land. They bring that knowledge 

and skill,” she said. 

Anthony and Lillian McCoy purchased the farm on 

Feb. 24, 1920. Anthony and Lillian were the parents 

of Mary Beatrice (McCoy) McGlynn. She was their only 

child. Paul McGlynn and Bea were married in 1942. 

When Anthony and Lillian retired in 1945, Paul 

and Bea moved from Boone to rural DeWitt to begin 

farming the land. Ownership transferred to them in 

1963. They raised their family of four children (Joe, 

Joan, Jean, and Frank) on the farm. 

Frank has lived there for his entire 73 years. When 

The rural Clinton County farm of Frank 

and Chris McGlynn, at the top of the stairs, 

earned a Century Farm distinction in 2022. 

Here, they pose with their three children, 

their spouses, and their seven grandchildren. 


ABOUT THE MCGLYNN FARM 

Frank and Chris were married in 1971, they bought 

a 12-foot by 60-foot mobile home and set it up just 

north of the machine shed and two corn cribs. Chris, a 

city girl, said it took her awhile to become accustomed 

to all the sounds – pigs clanking the feeders and smell. 

She and Frank bought the farm on April 1, 1980. 

“We have been fortunate to raise our three children 

- Ann (Sean), Pete (Estelle), and Patrick (Missy) and 

enjoy seven grandchildren (Nick, Nate, Frankie, Chloe, 

PJ, Madisyn, Maisyn) on the farm,” she said. 


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Chris and Frank McGlynn married in 1971 and have worked together 

on Frank’s family farm for decades. They bought the farm in 1980 and 

raised three children there. 

They grow peppers, potatoes, 

tomatoes, cucumbers, 

intoryi (an African eggplant), 

zucchini, and green beans at 

eight locations, including six 

in Davenport and one each in 

Rock Island and Bettendorf. 

An important aspect of site 

selection is the availability 

of water, whether it’s yard 

hydrants, large tanks perched 

on hills, or spigots on the sides 

of buildings. 

“We try to grow in neighborhoods 

that are food deserts,” 

she said, where access 

to fresh produce and healthy 

proteins are more limited. 

A new development is a 

hydroponics location that can 

grow up to six tons of produce 

annually and will double or 

triple the nonprofit’s production 

capacity. 

A John Deere Foundation 

grant funded the 320-squarefoot 

unit, the infrastructure 

and a year of operating costs 

for a Freight Farms vertical 

growing unit – essentially a 

shipping container – located 

in the Quad City Botanical 

Center parking lot. Producing 

butterhead lettuce and other 

leafy greens initially, it will 

allow Tapestry to grow something 

year-round. 

An important component of 

Tapestry Farms is making sure 

people have healthy lives and 

access to education, mental 

and physical health care, 

transportation and more. As 

McGlynn said, “we’re building 

a community.” 

And there are opportunities 

for the community to get 

involved in the farming and 

other aspects. 

“We have work days, and 

we always welcome anyone to 

come to them. Vegetable farmers 

who have leftover crops 

they want to donate, we are 

happy to get those crops into 

the hands of people who could 

really use it,” she said. 

McGlynn feels that with 

Tapestry Farms, she’s come 

full-circle from growing up 

on a farm and seeing great 

examples of hard work and 

compassion. 

“I can’t imagine doing 

anything else. Everything I’ve 

experienced or done in my 

life has led to this,” McGlynn 

said. n 

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21931 Bellevue-Cascade Rd 

LaMotte, IA 52054 

Mobile: 

(563) 543-1376

INNOVATION 

Planting the 

SEEDS OF 

INNOVATION 

Students tackle project for 

John Deere to develop 

technology that promotes 

sustainability and 

boosting crop yield during 

summer internship 



Abby Bierman and Blake Reuter 

had a problem to solve last 

summer. 

The question the Easton 

Valley juniors tackled for agriculture 

giant John Deere: How can farmers use 

technology to promote sustainability 

while increasing crop yield? 

In six weeks, they, along with Andy 

Tang from Pleasant Valley High School, 

conducted research and interviews with 

farmers and honed the information into a 

plan for a user-friendly mobile app called 

AgroSampl. 

They presented the concept to Deere 

executives just before school got back 

into swing. 

Bierman and Reuter were among 16 

high school students who worked on 

pressing issues identified by Fortune 500 

companies during a paid internship with 

Innovate 120 in Maquoketa. The program 

is sponsored by Ohnward Bancshares Inc. 

“The project appeared very challenging 

at first,” Reuter said. But his team broke 

down the issues and worked with mentors 

to address it in a methodical way. 

“I gained confidence in strategic thinking, 

collaborative work, and communication 

skills,” said Reuter, who plans 

to pursue a degree in computer science 

when he graduates. 

The local students – who either attend 

or recently graduated from Bellevue 

CHICKENS | DUCKS | EGGS | TURKEYS | GEESE 

We raise our own flocks of birds to make 

sure that you get the best of all birds. 

Stop by to see our new addition! 

Pictured: Owner Etta Culver 

and Marie Forret in the 

new customer entryway 

at Schlecht Hatchery. 

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OUR STUFF 

FOR 55 YEARS! 

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schlechthatchery.com 

Hatchery Hours: Monday - Friday 7:30-4:30 

Saturday by appointment only, Closed Sundays 

PH. 563-682-7865 

9749 500TH AVENUE, MILES, IOWA 52064 


INNOVATION 


Blake Reuter, Andy Tang and Abby Bierman formed the team 

that worked on developing an app for John Deere. 

Marquette, Central DeWitt, 

Easton Valley, Maquoketa and 

Pleasant Valley high schools 

– worked on projects with 

five different corporations. 

They made final presentations 

to their clients the last week 

of July. The internships put 

students in direct contact with 

high-level executives, giving 

them “board room” experience 

and a chance to sharpen their 

critical thinking. 

“We hit the ground running. 

It’s a steep curve,” said program 

founder Robert Abbott 

of the six-week window for 

the students to gel as a team, 

research their topic, conduct 

interviews and develop a professional 

presentation. They 

worked in a state-of-the-art 

building, 120 S. Main St. in 

downtown Maquoketa, which 

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INNOVATION 

was previously a US Bank location. 

Innovate 120 is a resource for entrepreneurs 

and start-ups, a business incubator 

site for Jackson County and a coworking 

space. 

The other clients included GAF, a 

multinational roofing manufacturing 

company based in New Jersey; Google; 

Scotts Miracle-Gro; and a global telemedicine 

company. 

Abbott, a Maquoketa native, developed 

the internship program in 2021 in 

response to a call from state officials to 

introduce high school students to career 

paths they might not otherwise know 

about. UX (or user-experience) Design 

is one of those. 

UX is the front end in the process of 

developing mobile apps and other technology. 

It is the planning process that 

addresses whatever problem needs to be 

solved, said Abbott, who has decades in 

the user-experience design business with 

Context Design LLC, which he founded. 

For example, AgroSampl introduces a 

more efficient way to glean information 

from soil and fine-tune farming practices 

based on that data. 

The app would give farmers soil sampling 

information in real time and allow 

them to adjust the application of nutrients 

efficiently. The app would include 

such things as low nutrient warnings and 

measures of magnesium, sulfur, nitrogen 

and other organic matter in soil. 

“It would help increase sustainability 

by reducing soil compaction, improving 

soil management, maximizing yield and 

optimizing fertilizer application,” the 

students said in their presentation. 

The app provides useful data on nutrient 

levels, seed coating, soil fertility 

and overall health and stores the data for 

future use. 

“If a mobile app works really well, 

that’s because somebody designed it to 

meet your needs in that specific task,” 

Abbott said. 

That’s the goal students have worked 

toward since the program began, and a 

new group will do the same this summer. 

n 

Local farmer Joe Heinrich was one 

of the resources students used to 

research their topic as part of a summer 

internship with Innovate 120 last year. 


CONTRIBUTED 

Representative Steve 

Bradley’s dedication 

to the Iowa farmer is 

unparalleled. He has 

supported many bills 

as a member of the 

Iowa Legislature. He is 

dedicated to Agriculture, 

Education and 

Healthcare. Helping 

to assure the Iowa 

farm is well taken care 

of in the future. 

PAID FOR BY COMMITTEE TO ELECT BRADLEY FOR IOWA HOUSE 


INNOVATION 

ATTENTION HIGH 

SCHOOL STUDENTS: 

Looking for an innovative 

experience this summer? 

Innovate 120 is accepting applications 

for its 2024 UX Design High School 

Internship this summer. This is a 

paid position and an educational 

experience that not only teaches the 

principles of creating an optimal digital 

user experience, but also connects 

high school students with leaders in 

UX design and clients who have a 

worldwide business presence. 

Participants will gain a basic 

understanding of UX design, and 

greater confidence in strategic thinking, 

collaborative work, and communication 

skills. Interested applicants are invited 

to visit www.innovate120.org/uxdesign-internship 

for more information. 


Rural 

The 

Pocket-sized and 

portable second 

opinions for 

weed, insect 

and other farm 

challenges 

There’s advice, and then 

there is good advice – in 

other words, information 

based on science and 

research when it comes to 

the technical side of farming. 

This edition of “The Rural Reader” 

is going to focus on some titles you 

can put in your coat pocket, throw on 

the dashboard of the pickup, or tuck 

in the storage compartment in the 

tractor or combine cab. 

Midwest university cooperative 

extension publishing has taken a page 

from the private sector in design and 

marketing research-based publications. 

If you’re old enough to remember 

the old farmer’s bulletins of the 

USDA and similar state extension 

publications, these new books are 

BY LOWELL CARSLON 

EASTERN IOWA FARMER COLUMNIST 

nothing like them whatsoever. Good 

photos and graphics, sturdily bound – 

they will be used. 

They’re quite often handy, 

durable and reasonably 

priced 

and 


Reader 

can provide you with a second opinion, 

make positive identification of weed 

infestations, identify an insect problem, or 

confirm the cause of crop problems. 

ISU Extension and the Iowa Beef 

Center, among other grazing interests, 

have published an excellent “how to” 

manual for experienced and first timers 

interested in more intensive grazing 

systems. Pasture Management Guide for 

Livestock Producers (ISU Extension, 167 

pages, 2018, $10) is a keeper for the farm 

library. It’s all there: pasture mix recommendations, 

fencing technology, stocking 

density worksheets, troubleshooting the 

details of rotational grazing, and sources 

to contact for even more information. It’s 

money well spent. 

Whole Farm Conservation Best Practices 

Manual (ISU Extension, 80 pages, 

2022. Free with downloadable version as 

well). Solid recommendations on a range 

of projects that protect soil, water, and 

wildlife for Iowa farms while continuing 

to produce at a profit. 

The manual should increase confidence 

in selection of practices with its best 

practices approach from years of 

actual application. 

For the farm and 

backyard gardener, 

University 

of Illinois Extension has published 

a science-based, research-tested 

gardening book for the gardening 

enthusiast. Vegetable Gardening in 

the Midwest (Illinois Extension, 208 

pages, 2018, $30). Varieties, garden 

preparation, insect and disease, 

harvest, storage and preservation and 

preparation – it’s all covered extensively. 

Well-illustrated, the title is as 

useful on this side of the Mississippi as 

in Illinois. 

Pocket Guide to Crop Development 

(ISU Extension, $2.25) is a handy 

reference for growers as they monitor 

corn, sorghum, soybeans and wheat. 

The heavily illustrated guide to the 

stages of growth is printed on water 

and tear resistant paper so it’s able 

to stand up to wading into a growing 

crop. 

Corn and Soybean Field 

Guide (Purdue, 2023, 316 pages, 

$11) is an information-packed 

pocket guide that has become 

something of a classic. Loaded 

with virtually everything you 

ever wondered about the two 

crops, from planting to harvest, 

fertilization, weed and 

insect protection, handy farm 


RURAL READER 

measurements, sources for 

additional information, this 

packed little guide satisfies a 

lot of needs. 

Have a city cousin who 

wants to know about crop 

production, a new farm 

employee or even a school 

student interested in a career 

in agriculture? Field Crop 

Production Handbook (ISU 

Extension, 144 pages, 2020, 

$12) is an excellent introduction. 

Cropping systems, planting, 

cultivation, harvest all in 

the context of Iowa agricultural 

techniques that represent 

the latest trends in production. 

This book is for readers who 

may not be involved in agriculture 

but want to learn more 

about the process. 

You can go online to order 

these titles from the Iowa 

and Illinois extension. You’re 

not likely to find them in any 

bookstore locally, which is a 

pity. Farmers aren’t normally 

able to make the case for their 

livelihood as eloquently as 

some of the authors in this 

issue’s batch of books for the 

“Rural Reader.” n 

Your Legacy 

Begins Now. 

In Jones County, $3.3 billion is expected to transfer 

from one generation to the next through 2049. 

If we each commit to investing just 5% of our estates 

in a community endowment, $7 million could be 

available annually for community projects and 

nonprofits.* That’s a contribution that lasts forever. 





Doug Edel 

Executive Director, Jones County Community Foundation 

319.481.9182 | jccf@dbqfoundation.org | dbqfoundation.org/jccf 


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The land 

will endure 

BY DALE KILBURG 


I 

grew up just south of Maquoketa. 

In l946 my parents had moved 

from the hill country around 

Slabtown, southeast of Springbrook, 

to what we called the “level,” 

that very different flat prairie land 

that ran south into Clinton County. 

We often visited the hills, however, 

and my mother often warned my 

brother and me to watch out for snakes, 

rattlesnakes in particular. We actually 

saw very few, but we grew up with lots 

of stories. 

Yes, even back then rattlesnake stories 

had a longer shelf life than actual 

rattlesnakes. Shorty and Johnny Crowley, 

two bachelor brothers who lived in 

Slabtown, once gave me a set of three 

snake rattles, and told of waking up 

once to find a rattlesnake curled up on 

their front porch in the early morning 

sunshine. 

My father, Albert, once rented the 

Crowley pasture, and as he walked it on 

a very hot day just before a rain he ran 

across a whole host of different kinds 

of snakes. On the way back he stepped 

over a log with a rattlesnake on the 

other side. Albert and Bob Meyer once 

helped make hay on the August Schroeder 

place at the other end of Hell’s 

Hollow, a mile-long hollow that ran 

toward the Maquoketa River bottom. 

In those days the hay loaders would 

pick up snakes along with the hay in 

the windrows and they would go into 

the barn along with the hay, and the 

snakes of every variety would crawl out 

and hang from barn beams and rafters. 

When Albert and Bob made hay there 

after a rain on the Schroeder place 

and worked together to spread out the 

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THE LAND 

loose hay in the barn loft, 

every load had a snake in it. 

Huey Hayes later lived on 

that farm where his dog was 

bitten by two or three rattlers 

and even though he swelled 

up, the dog lived. 

My uncle, Mike Portz, 

on the home place south of 

Springbrook, was plowing 

corn in the river bottom 

when he heard his dog 

bark and found the dog had 

cornered a (non-venomous) 

blowing viper up against the 

bluffs, the snake with his 

head up and hissing. One of 

the family’s dogs would kill 

rattlesnakes and sometimes 

was bitten. They would put 

the dog in the cellar and give 

it sweet milk to draw out the 

poison. Hayes speculated 

that a dog could maybe stand 

a lot of poison, like hogs that 

would kill rattlers in a frenzy 

in spite of being bitten. 

The snakes Huey Hayes 

saw probably wintered on 

a ridge in the Hollow just 

above the Schroeder place. 

Andy Daniels went up there 

one fall to kill snakes, and 

snakes began coming from 

all around as their dying 

compatriots were rattling. 

Andy departed, lickety-split. 

It is something to consider 

now whether or not 

Native Americans engaged 

in such attempts to exterminate 

rattlesnakes from the 

environment. At the very 

least, I think native people 

would have regarded such an 

idea, that anyone would want 

to eradicate a creature with 

its protecting spirit from a 

landscape alive with spiritual 

power, as a malevolent phantasm 

of a deranged mind. 

In 1979, on our honeymoon, 

Nancy and I visited 

some archaeologist friends 

who were living and working 

in a rather sketchy neighborhood 

of East St. Louis, not 

far from Cahokia’s Monks 

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was the epicenter of a Native 

American urban civilization 

of at least 10,000-20,000 

people, with more in outlying 

villages, based upon an 

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Cody Matthiesen, Chuck Matthiesen, Sandra Matthiesen, and Mackenzie Roberts 

Lester Marshall, resident, and Jim Steines, 

Maintenance, both share a great fondness 

for the mighty Mississippi River. Both 

fellas love to fish, water ski and enjoy 

a beverage while boating on the river. 

Jack Marlowe, resident 

and Sally Davies, Community 

Relations Coordinator, both have a deep 

rooted love of community and enjoy 

watching the kids in their sporting events. 

Arlene Shannahan, resident, and Angie Kash, 

Life Engagement Coordinator, share a love of shopping, 

getting nails done, being outdoors and puppies. 

Where Beautiful Lives Blossom! 

www.CloverRidgePlace.net • (319) 469-8653 • 205 Ehlers Lane, Maquoketa 


FALL 2024 SALES DATES 

FOR... 

MARCH: 

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK: 

Maquoketa Livestock Exchange 

➢ Fri., March 1..................Hay Sale 

➢ Sat., March 2..................Special Bred Cow/Heifer Sale 

➢ Wed., March 6..................Cattle Sale 




➢ Sat., March 16..................Special Feeder Sale 



➢ Wed.,March 27..................Cattle Sale 


APRIL: 

➢ Wed., April 3..................Cattle Sale 

➢ Fri., April 5..................Hay Sale 





➢ Sat., April 20..................Special Feeder Sale 



MAY: 

➢ Wed., May 1..................Cattle Sale 

➢ Fri., May 3..................Hay Sale 









Kevin Kilburg - 563-543-4459 

Barn Phone- 563-652-5674 

Bill Kilburg 563-357-0605 

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THE LAND 

extensive corn agriculture. or lambsquarter), all now 

Later that same fall, I regarded as little more than 

believe, the crew excavated 

a red stone figurine of The Grandmother sym- 

weeds infesting farm fields. 

a kneeling woman with a bol remained important in 

cat-headed snake curling later Siouan belief (both our 

around her legs and feet. The native Ioway people and 

woman’s hand rests on the their closely related cousins, 

snake’s neck while with the the Ho-Chunk or Winnebago 

were Siouan), especially 

other hand holding a hoe she 

is stroking the snake’s back. among the farming tribes of 

The snake’s tail splits into the Missouri River Valley, 

two squash vines that curl up the Mandan and Hidatsa, 

the woman’s back. The archaeological 

crew evidently 

who believe that the Old 

Woman returns each spring 

was digging in a ceremonial 

with the geese from the 

precinct and later found four 

south. 

additional figurines, all with 

As our modern technological 

agriculture grows more 

varying symbolism, close by. 

An excellent book for anyone 

interested in indigenous 

and more removed from 

the world of nature there is 

agriculture is Gayle J. Fritz’s 

something therapeutic in 

“Feeding Cahokia: Early Agriculture 

in the North American 

Heartland” (University 

seeing these ancient figurines 

created by a people who 

of Alabama Press, 2019). 

saw agriculture as a natural 

She identifies the figure as 

organic growth from a long 

the Grandmother or the Old- tradition of hunting and gathering 

from the earth’s natural 

Woman-Who-Never-Dies, 

the guardian of all vegetation, 

married to Grandfather It is easy to feel the beauty 

bounty. 

Snake, symbols of the earth of the native account of 

and all its bounty. It is important 

to know that before side roads in August past 

farming when we drive the 

corn came to the Midwest the ripening corn seemingly 

sprung up out of the 

from Mexico, Native people 

had already domesticated luxuriant roadside tangle of 

many native crops, gourds goldenrod, grapevines and 

and squashes, marshelder, milkweed. The land, with its 

maygrass, knotweed, and exuberant drive for life, will 

Chenopodium (goosefoot endure. n 

Schlecht’s 

LUNCH WAGON 

(563) 

682-7865 

Miles, IA 

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AUCTIONS! 


Left to right: Kirk Dosland, Tim Swamberger, Kale Petersen, Aaron Trenkamp, Zach Bangert, Dylan Meyer, 

Brayden Frazier, Katelyn Koberg, Chris Green, Jesse Asmussen, Taylor Bensenberg, Matt VanSloten 

From one season to the next, River 

Valley Cooperative is there for our 

member-owners and the communities 

we call home. Like you, we combine 

the latest technologies and insights 

with roll-up-your-sleeves hard work. 

www.rivervalleycoop.com | 1-866-962-7820 

@RiverValleyCoop 

@RVCooperative 

@River_Valley_Cooperative 


By KRISTINE A. TIDGREN 

Staff Attorney 

Center for Agricultural Law & Taxation 



In early 2022, the Iowa Legislature 

passed HF 2317, which reduced individual 

and corporate income tax rates, provided 

exemptions for most forms of retirement 

income – including retired farmer rental 

income – and scaled back the Iowa capital gain 

deduction. 

Iowa institutes 

new tax laws for 

retired farmers 

Most changes went into effect during the 2023 

tax year. Last fall, the Iowa Department of Revenue 

(IDOR) finalized deduction rules for retired 

farmer rental income and Iowa capital gain. 

Because they may need to make elections to 

take advantage of these new provisions, retired 

farmers and others must understand these rules 

when filing 2023 returns. This column gives 

an overview of some key changes. A more 

detailed document with additional information 

is at calt.iastate.edu/blogpost/understanding-iowas-new-tax-rules-retired-farmers. 

About CALT: 

n The Center for 

Agricultural Law and 

Taxation (CALT) at 


was created in 2006. It 

provides timely, critically 

objective information to 

producers, professionals 

and agribusinesses 

concerning the application 

of important developments 

in agricultural law and 

taxation (federal and state 

legal opinions of relevance, 

as well as critical legislative 

developments) and 

is a primary source of 

professional educational 

training in agricultural law 

and taxation. 

Contact CALT: 


2321 N. Loop, 

Suite 200 

Ames, IA 50010 

Phone: 

(515) 294-5217 

Fax: (515) 294-0700 

www.calt.iastate.edu 

YOUR LAST ROOF 

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TAX LAWS 

Farm tenancy income 

exclusion 

Beginning in 2023, certain “retirement 

income” for those disabled or 55 

or older is excluded from Iowa taxable 

income. The law exempts retirement 

income received by surviving spouses. 

Prior law exempted retirement 

income only up to $6,000 for singles, 

and $12,000 for those who are married 

filing jointly. 

Exempted income includes income 

from qualified retirement accounts, annuities, 

individual retirement accounts, 

plans maintained or contributed to by 

an employer, or maintained or contributed 

to by a self-employed person as an 

employer, and deferred compensation 

plans or any earnings attributable to the 

deferred compensation plans. 

Recognizing land is a retirement fund 

for many farmers, lawmakers created 

a provision allowing an eligible retired 

farmer-lessor to elect to exclude from 

Iowa income taxation the net income 

received under a written farm lease 

covering real property. 

This applies only to income from 

farm tenancy agreements – cash leases 

and crop share, flex and livestock share 

leases. A farm tenancy agreement is 

a written agreement outlining the rights 

and obligations of an owner-lessor and 

a tenant-lessee where latter has a farm 

tenancy, which is a leasehold interest 

in land held by a person who produces 

crops or provides for the care and feeding 

of livestock on the land. 

The law doesn’t apply to rental income 

received as an owner of an entity 

taxed as a partnership, an S corporation, 

or a trust or estate, even if net income 

passes through to the eligible individual. 

The election to exclude income from 

a farm tenancy agreement has tradeoffs. 

Individuals making this election 

may not apply the Iowa capital gain 

deduction in current or succeeding tax 

years. Likewise, they are not eligible 

for the beginning farmer tax credit in 

current or future years. 

IDOR created Iowa Form 125 (2023 

IA 125) to allow retired farmers to 

make a lifetime election to exclude net 

income from a farm tenancy agreement 

covering real property. Taxpayers must 

detail their qualification for the election. 

The farm tenancy income exclusion 

election is irrevocable once made. 

Iowa capital gain deduction 

Before 2023, the Iowa capital gain 

deduction was available to taxpayers 

who sold farming and non-farming 

business assets and breeding or dairy 

livestock. The deduction has changed 

to apply only to the sale of real property 

used in a farming business and the 

sale of some draft, dairy, and breeding 

livestock by retired farmers liquidating 

their businesses. Installment agreements 

signed before 2023 are subject 

to the pre-2023 law. The deduction will 

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TAX LAWS 

continue to apply to non-farm businesses 

for payments received under these 

installment agreements in 2023 and 

beyond. 

A retired farmer may make a single 

lifetime election on Iowa Form 100G 

(2023 IA 100G) to exclude all qualifying 

capital gain from the sale of real 

property used in a farming business and 

the sale of certain livestock. 

Retired farmers who elect to exclude 

gain pursuant to this lifetime election 

may not claim the Iowa beginning 

farmer tax credit in the current or subsequent 

years. They are also ineligible to 

exclude farm rental income from Iowa 

taxation in current or subsequent tax 

years. The election is irrevocable once 

made. 

“Material Participation” in a 

“Farming Business” 

Both the farm lease income exclusion 

and the Iowa capital gain exclusion 

require material participation in a farming 

business (for all but the sale of real 

property used in a farming business to a 

relative). To take the farm lease income 

exclusion, the individual must have 

materially participated in a “farming 

business” for 10 years or more in the 

past, but they may no longer be materially 

participating in a farming business 

when the election is made. The same 

applies to retired farmers who make an 

election to exclude the gain from real 

property used in a farming business. Retired 

farmers electing to claim a capital 

gain deduction for the sale of livestock 

must have materially participated in the 

livestock business for five of the eight 

years preceding retirement or disability. 

Material participation requirements 

are specific to participation in a “farming 

business,” defined as “the production, 

care, growing, harvesting, preservation, 

handling, or storage of crops or 

forest or fruit trees; the production, care, 

feeding, management, and housing of 

livestock; or horticulture, all intended 

for profit.” 

Rules for Surviving Spouses 

A surviving spouse of a deceased 

retired farmer may make a lifetime 

election on behalf of the deceased 

retired farmer that the retired farmer 

would have been eligible to make prior 

to death. It must be made by the due 

date, including extensions, for the tax 

year immediately following the tax year 

of the retired farmer’s death. No one 

was eligible to make an election prior 

to 2023. 

If a retired farmer made an election 

prior to death, the surviving spouse may 

exclude the qualifying income pursuant 

to the election made by the farmer. 

A surviving spouse cannot change 

an election the deceased retired farmer 

made. Any election made by the retired 

farmer prior to death is binding on all 

real property used in a farming business 

owned by the retired farmer at the 

time of death, but only as applied to the 

retired farmer and the surviving spouse. 

A surviving spouse may disclaim an 

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TAX LAWS 

Jody, Laurie, Mckenna and Mckayla Martens 

election made by the retired 

farmer. If they make this disclaimer, 

the surviving spouse 

is not eligible to deduct qualifying 

income pursuant to an 

election made by the retired 

farmer prior to death. 

Because no elections were 

made during the 2023 calendar 

year, there will be no 

disclaimers filed for the 2023 

calendar tax year. 

Elections on 2023 

Returns 

When filing 2023 returns, 

retired farmers who rent real 

property or sold qualifying 

livestock or real property 

used in a farming business 

have to decide whether they 

want to make a single lifetime 

election to exclude the 

rental income or the capital 

gain. They may choose to 

make no election, reserving 

the right to do so in future 

years. If a retired farmer 

doesn’t make an election, 

they must include the capital 

gain or rental income in their 

2023 Iowa taxable income. 

Once a retired farmer 

makes an election, it can’t be 

changed. A retired farmer excluding 

farm rental income 

from Iowa taxation can’t 

ever take the Iowa capital 

gain deduction. Conversely, 

a retired farmer electing to 

exclude capital gain may not 

ever exclude income from a 

farm tenancy agreement. 

If either election is made, 

the retired farmer may not 

take the beginning farmer 

tax credit in the current or 

subsequent tax years. Retired 

farmers should discuss this 

election with a trusted tax 

professional. n 

Martens 

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“Agriculture is the most healthful, most useful and most 

noble employment of man.” George Washington 


Used Tractors 

and Parts 

Used Combines 

and Parts 

Back in 1976, a used tractor salvage yard began. 

When Mike's Farmall M broke down and needed 

to be fixed, he made 1 out of 2. Neighbors heard 

that he had this Farmall M for parts, and then 

it snow balled from there. He was getting calls 

every day that someone had a tractor for sale. 

And that is still true to this day. 

We have over 1200 parts tractors, which include: 

AC, CASE, C-IH, 

FORD, IH, JD, MF, OLIVER 

JUST TO NAME A FEW! 

And Numerous tractor parts in sheds. 

Since the salvage startup, we have grown into 

selling used combines & combine parts! We offer 

a variety of makes & models of combines along 

with new aftermarket parts, which include: 

IH, C-IH, JD, 

MASSEY FERGUSON & 

MISC COMBiNES 

STOP OUT AND TAKE A LOOK! 

EST. 1976 

We have over 300 salvage 

combines for parts 

Call us for all your 

combine part needs! 

563-673-6631

TYM 

Tractors 

We started Selling TYM Tractors in 2007. 

We have opened an office on HWY 64 in 

Monmouth, Iowa to better serve our customers. 

Fair prices and honesty have 

been our trademark since 1976. 

FRANZEN FAMILY 

TRACTORS & PARTS, LLC 

563-673-6631 

Auction Yard Location: 

5498 Highway 64, Baldwin, Iowa 

CONTACT US TODAY 

Highway 64 Phone: 563-673-6400 

Mike Franzen: 563-673-6631 

Scott Franzen: 319-480-3604 

Sheri Dosland: 563-212-0453 

2024 AUCTION SCHEDULE: 

• SATURDAY MARCH 23 

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• SATURDAY AUGUST 24 

• FRIDAY DECEMBER 6 

Call Chuck today to test drive 

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ONLINE ONLY 

• SUNDAY MARCH 24 • 8:00 AM 

• SUNDAY JUNE 9 • 8:00 AM 

• SUNDAY AUGUST 25 • 8:00 AM 

• SUNDAY DECEMBER 7 • 8:00 AM

PASTURE CARE 

Pasture improvement 

has its rewards 

Eastern Iowa cattlemen can add grazing capacity 

without always expanding acres 

BY LOWELL CARLSON 


There is something about an 

expanse of grassland. Spring 

pastures with that deep green 

color that comes with the first 

new growth of the grazing season. Here 

in Eastern Iowa, livestock producers face 

the pressure of row crop production and 

dwindling pasture acreage. The result 

is even more pressure on the grazing acreage 

a farm can support. 

As idyllic as the above description of 

pasture might be, it has been a challenge 

in recent years as regional drought conditions 

stress pastures. 

Eastern Iowa pasture acres are silently 

disappearing, converted to row crops. In 

1945 Iowa had nearly 7 million acres of 

permanent pasture. A recent ag census 

indicated that category had dwindled to 

2.1 million acres. Once converted from 

livestock to crop acres, pasture seldom 

returns in the scheme of land use. 

Jackson County is far and away the 

Eastern Iowa region with the largest stock 

cow numbers, around 90,000 head. If 

Iowa were a range state, say Wyoming, it 

would be called ranch country with these 

cattle numbers. 

Part art, part science, pasture management 

is a mostly untapped part of 

many farm enterprises. From turnout in 

the spring through the hot, dry heat of 

late summer, pastures are under constant 

stress – from fickle weather, insects, and 

weeds, not to mention wear and tear from 

stock concentration and compaction. 

Because most livestock have the 

potential to obtain a large portion of their 

feed from grazing, pastures and field crop 

residue need to be more than an open area 

of underperforming biomass of doubtful 

quality. 

Rotational grazing, moving livestock 

through a series of fenced paddocks, was 

made popular by livestock producers in 

Europe and especially in New Zealand. 

It can produce more forage per acre than 

conventional open pasture grazing. 

Farmers may be able to stock at a higher 

rate once established and make better 

use of available forage. It’s adjusting 

FOR ALL YOUR REAL ESTATE NEEDS 

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it as stress free as possible. 

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125 S. 2ND ST., MAQUOKETA, IA | (563) 652-0000 

eastiowaland.com 

amy.daehler@yahoo.com 

563-349-5899 


PASTURE CARE 

to a new regimen. Advances to fencing 

technology, improved grazing varieties of 

grasses and legumes are available tools. 

Rotational grazing impacts a farm 

enterprise and demands time. That is 

why Denise Schwab, ISU Extension beef 

specialist and a cattle woman in her own 

right, emphasizes that the design of a 

grazing system for your farm should be 

seen through the lens of terrain, water 

source, and convenience in moving 

animals. There are a lot of moving parts 

in rotational grazing, but the potential for 

increased capacity is there. 

At a well-attended ISU Extension Fencing 

and Pasture Clinic held last fall on the 

David Burmahl farm northwest of Maquoketa, 

Schwab and Iowa Beef Center 

staff taught participants what amounted to 

a crash course and master class in pasture 

management. 

The Burmahl rotational pasture operation 

as seen in an aerial view is a virtual 

mosaic of odd shapes and sizes. Matched 

EASTERN IOWA FARMER PHOTO / LOWELL CARLSON 

David Burmahl is shown with some of the farm’s large cow herd. Burmahl uses rotational 

grazing techniques on owned and leased land in the Emeline community. The hilly topography of 

Jackson County calls for creative paddock design to provide stock cows with adequate forage. 

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18195 Hwy 64 West, Maquoketa, IA 52060 

(563) 652-4387 

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PASTURE CARE 

GET THE BOOK 


Extension has a 2018 

publication entitled Pasture 

Management Guide for 

Livestock Producers ($10, 

167 pages, spiral bound). 

Everything about grazing 

systems, seeding and 

fertilization, it’s in this 

book. Well worth owning 

no matter what system of 

grazing you adopt. 

to ground conditions though, they make sense. 

The hilly terrain, isolated timber tracts and need 

for water all work against each other – thus the 

gerrymandered fence lines. 

Burmahl, a conservation proponent, farms 

land that doesn’t lend itself to neat paddocks. He 

uses temporary fencing for some of his needs, 

row crop fields after harvest is completed. The 

farm’s sizable cow herd is divided into manageable 

groups, and it’s not a cattle drive for long 

as they get used to moving to fresh forage. 

Higher utilization of forages and even certain 

weeds, if caught at the right stage (lambs quarter, 

for example), rivals alfalfa for protein for a 

brief time. 

Last summer was a bear because of the heat 

and drought in eastern Iowa. Continuously 

grazed pastures looked terrible, burned out. 

Improving a pasture by using a combination 

of practices won’t guarantee more forage and 

higher carrying numbers, but the elements are 

there to take advantage when weather and moisture 

do cooperate. 

Schwab encourages careful paddock design. 

Top priorities include: 

-Assess the farm’s resources including soil 

type, slope, fences, water sources, and forage 

currently grown. 

-Flexibility of current fencing in developing 

adequate grazing. Fencelines are a good indicator 

of acres that belong as a unit or are capable 

of division. 

-Availability of water should be within 800 

feet of the grazing site to fully utilize forage 

through the season. 

-Keep paddocks divided as equally as possible 

to allow paddocks to recover after grazing 

and to not have to shift animals to a different 

group. 

Schwab notes there are concerns that cannot 

be dismissed in an intensive grazing system 

once it’s in operation. Worm and parasite 

pressure, weed infestation, plant density and 

maintaining grass and legume species all are 

magnified in importance in an open-pasture/ 

continuous-grazing approach. 

Burmahl relies on this grazing system to get 

the land’s annual annuity because cattle are an 

efficient way to utilize crop residue on land too 

problematic to farm with a tractor. 

He has found the higher the level of management 

the greater the number of cattle. n 

Your Legacy 

Begins Now. 

In Clinton County, $9.3 billion is expected to transfer from one 

generation to the next through 2049. 

If we each commit to investing just 5% of our estates in a 

community endowment, $19 million could be available annually 

for community projects and nonprofits.* That’s a contribution 

that lasts forever. 





Amanda Willimack 

Executive Director, LincolnWay Community Foundation 

563.212.2812 | lwcf@dbqfoundation.org | dbqfoundation.org/lwcf 


A JAR OF 

HEALTHY 

GOODNESS 

On a cold winter’s night, visions 

of veggies danced in my head 

BY TREVIS MAYFIELD 


By the time you 

read this, hopefully, 

the snow will 

be gone. Today is 

Sunday, January 

14, and it is the third day my 

wife Nancy and I have been 

unable to leave our rural Iowa 

home, courtesy of Mother 

Nature’s winter wrath. 

But as winds outside 

continue to sculpt the 4-foot 

snow drifts that have closed 

our gravel road, we are warm 

inside and have full bellies, 

thanks largely to a larder full 

of jarred food harvested mostly 

from our 8-acre homestead 

here in eastern Iowa. 

The colorful contents of 

those jars, on this coldest of 

days, have planted in my mind 

a summertime vision of green 


Nancy and Trevis Mayfield display the tools of the trade 

for making 8-acre vegetable soup. Counter space is at a 

premium during the process, which uses tomatoes, green 

beans, frozen sweet corn, onions, seasonings and more. 

EASTERN IOWA FARMER PHOTO / BROOKE TILL

FROM THE FARMSTEAD 

rows in my garden. I can see the green 

foliage of beans, carrots, sweetcorn, tomatoes, 

cabbage, hot peppers, beets, and 

onions in neat rows along with tangles of 

red raspberries, asparagus, and all kinds 

of herbs. 

Nothing on our shelves, however, 

stands out more in my mind than our 

8-Acre Vegetable Soup – a healthy mix 

of veggies and venison, all of which, 

in accordance to our family-mandated 

branding rules, must originate from our 

own property. The only ingredient not 

from our little plot is the salt. 

While my garden produces a variety 

of edible and can-able crops, the planning 

process, which begins in January 

each year, is focused on a couple specific 

goals, one of which is always the soup. 

Pickles, pickled beets, sweetcorn, and 

various kinds of herb pesto are produced 

and preserved most years. Sometimes 

we make dilly beans. Fermented hot 

sauce, because it lasts a long time, is an 

every-other-year thing. But a core focus 

is always the soup, so here I sit, penciling 

out how much seed we’ll need, taking 

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inventory of the seed stash in my freezer 

and trying to decide if I will want to start 

my own tomatoes, cabbage, and peppers, 

or buy plants. 

Some years, if I think I’ll have time to 

take care of them, I’ll grow my own starts 

in the house. Other years, I buy them 

ready to plant. 

Planting will begin in April for cabbage, 

carrots, and beets. Everything else 

will go into the ground in May, followed 

by a couple months of tilling and weeding. 

When harvest begins in late July, the 

weeds start getting a free pass, but by 

then, my plants have a good head start. 

That’s also when the real work begins. 

From then on, until archery season for 

deer begins in October, at least one day 

EASTERN IOWA FARMER PHOTOS / TREVIS MAYFIELD 

most weekends will be dedicated to one 

of the soup vegetables, canning as many 

of them as we can manage on a Saturday 

or Sunday. 

Sometimes my day will start sitting 

on a stool picking green beans until I 

have enough for about three canners, 

which is equal to 21 quarts. Before this 

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task is complete, my back 

will stiffen and I’ll begin 

to question my sanity, but 

after a few good stretches, 

I’ll finish the job and tote my 

buckets to the house. 

That’s when Nancy and 

I – and whoever else I can 

sucker into it – go to work in 

the kitchen, breaking beans, 

blanching them, jarring them, 

adding a teaspoon of salt, 

and then putting them under 

10 pounds of pressure for 25 

minutes in the canner. 

Because they are faster to 

pick and can, sometimes we’ll 

pack a canner of tomatoes on a weeknight. 

(Yes, Nancy and I live exciting 

lives!) 

The carrots, cabbage, and sweetcorn 

we freeze, and the onions we keep in a 

dry, dark place until we need them, usually 

in early October when I kill my first 

deer of the season with my bow. 

That’s when it all comes together. 

EASTERN IOWA FARMER PHOTOS / TREVIS MAYFIELD 

(Above left) Trevis Mayfield displays some carrots pulled fresh from his garden. They are just 

one of the ingredients for vegetable soup he grows each summer. (Above right) Nancy Mayfield 

keeps an eye on the temperature gauge on the pressure cooker to make sure it stays at a 

constant 10 pounds. 

Killing that first deer on a Friday 

evening is always best, leaving two days 

available for processing the meat and 

roasting about 20 pounds of it. Using our 

oven and two electric roasters late into the 

evening, the venison will be cooked and 

ready to use the next morning. 

The next step is to pull bags of 

sweetcorn, carrots, and cabbage from 

the freezer to thaw. Then we open jars of 

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Pictured: Current owners John Eberhart, Nina Hoffman, and Charlie Eberhart 

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Maquoketa 563-652-5332 

Family owned for 39 years! 



tomatoes, the base of our soup, along with 

copious amounts of jarred green beans. 

This is the time when all the planning, 

planting, weeding, picking, canning, and 

hunting come together in a giant stockpot 

on our stove. Sometimes a second 

one will do its work over a butane flame 

outside. 

Once the soup is cooked to taste, the 

jars that were emptied earlier get filled 

again – after being sanitized, of course – 

with the beautiful, multi-colored vegetable 

soup that is a staple at our house 

throughout the year. 

Back into the canner the jars will begin 

to go, and over the next several hours, 

almost like magic, as many as 65 quarts 

of ready-to-eat soup will be sitting on our 

counter. 

On this wintriest of days, it’s just a 

vision, but that is how most good plans 

start. So, here’s to warmer days, green 

rows, yummy vegetables, and a bowl of 

hot soup. n 

And if vegetable soup isn’t your thing, 

here are a few other favorite garden recipes 

to consider: 

We often have salads, sandwiches or 

other crunchy snacks along with our soup. 

Here are a couple of our favorites. 

Dilly Beans 

2 pounds green beans 

1/4 cup canning salt 

2 1/2 cups vinegar 

2 1/2 cups water 

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, divided 

4 cloves garlic, divided 

4 heads dill, divided 

Trim ends off green beans. Combine salt, 

vinegar and water in a large saucepot. 

Bring to a boil. Pack beans lengthwise 

into hot jars, leaving1/4-inch headspace. 

Add1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1 

clove garlic and 1 head dill to each pint. 

Add1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, 2 

cloves garlic and 2 heads of dill to each 

quart. Ladle hot liquid over beans, leaving 

¼ inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. 

Adjust two-piece caps. Process pints 

and quarts 10 minutes in a boiling water 

canner. Yield: about 4 pints or 2 quarts. 

Mom H. Bread & Butter 

Pickles 

1 gallon cucumber slices (don’t peel) 

2 small onions, sliced 

2 bell peppers – red or green, sliced 

1/2 cup salt 



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Put cucumbers, onions and 

peppers in large roaster pan 

and pour on salt. Put ice cubes 

over the top and let stand for 

three hours. 

Sterilize pint jars 

Make syrup: 

5 cups sugar 

11/2 teaspoon turmeric 

2 Tablespoons mustard seed 

1 teaspoon celery seed 

3 cups vinegar 

1 cup water 

Pickle crisp 

Drain cucumbers WELL. Mix 

the above ingredients and 

bring to a boil. Put cucumbers 

in and bring to a boil again. 

Put cucumbers and syrup in 

jars. Add 1/8 teaspoon pickle 

crisp per pint and1/4 teaspoon 

per quart. Seal and process 

10 minutes in a boiling water 

canner. Makes about 8 pints. 

Giardiniera 

Most recipes include celery, 

carrots, onion, bell pepper 

and garlic as the base. 

Cauliflower can be substituted 

with zucchini, and you can 

add banana peppers, olives, 

mushrooms or other favorites 

in whatever combination you 

prefer. Just chop into small 

pieces. I include jalapeno in 

mine because I like a lot of 

heat. 

1/2 head cauliflower, chopped 

into small florets 

10 ribs of salary, diced 

5 medium carrots, diced 

2 large red bell peppers, 

seeded and chopped 

3 medium onions sliced 

1-3 cloves garlic minced 

In EACH pint jar, put: 

1/2 teaspoon oregano 

1/2 teaspoon basil 

1/4 teaspoon coriander seeds 

1/4 teaspoon yellow mustard 

seeds 

1/4 teaspoon black 

peppercorns 

1/4 teaspoon chili flakes 

4 cups white vinegar 

4 cups water 

2 Tablespoons kosher salt 

Prepare vegetables and put 

in a non-reactive bowl. Cover 

with ¼ cup kosher salt and 

enough water to cover. Let 

them soak at least four hours 

or overnight. To prepare the 

brine, bring the water, vinegar 

and salt to boil. Put spices 

into each of the jars. Rinse 

vegetables before dividing 

them up into the jars. Pack 

tightly and pour brine over. 

Process 20 minutes in a 

boiling water canner. When 

using, add some olive oil to the 

mix before serving. Makes 5 to 

6 pints. 


Homemade giardiniera with some heat and crispy sweet pickles are 

two tasty condiments that go well with soup and sandwiches. 


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PICUTRED: OWNER, MARSHALL DRISCOLL 

custom beef and pork processing 

LOCKER SLOTS OPEN NOW! 

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we can help you this spring. 

121 W Farley St., Preston IA | 7AM – 4PM | 563.689.5611

Ag Bytes 

Lori Schnoor, 

Natural Resources 

Conservation 

Jackson County tops 

state in conservation 

Jackson County led the state in a key 

conservation program with more than 

$960,000 going to local landowners in 

2023 to improve the environmental quality 

of their ground. 

The Natural Resources Conservation 

Service (NRCS) obligated a record $85.8 

million in conservation practice funding 

to Iowa farmers last year. The various 

programs will help treat natural resource 

concerns such as soil erosion and water 

quality on 386,736 acres across the state. 

The Jackson County NRCS office led 

the state in the number of contracts, funding 

and acres covered under the Conservation 

Stewardship Program (CPS), with 

33 CRP contracts totaling $961,870 and 

covering 13,443 acres. Those projects 

included nutrient management, integrated 

pest management, cover crops, and notill, 

among others. 

“Our goal is to 

work with landowners 

to help identify 

their natural resources 

issues 

on their land and 

solve those issues 

with conservation 

practices,” said 

Lori Schnoor, 

Jackson County’s 

NRCS district 

conservationist. 

“We want to get 

the word out that 

we would welcome 

the opportunity to come to your farm and 

discuss your challenges. The Maquoketa 

staff show they care about our farmers 

and landowners, and they really do try to 

help. I believe our numbers reflect that in 

the amount of voluntary conservation our 

county implements.” 

Throughout the year, the staff, some 

of whom work for the Iowa Department 

of Ag and Land Stewardship, host field 

days and does onsite consultations with 

landowners to see what practices make 

sense. 

Many of the programs are done through 

cost share, in which landowners and agricultural 

producers can access financial 

and technical assistance to put structural 

and management conservation practices 

in place. The landowner pays a certain 

amount for the project, and the NRCS program 

pays a certain amount. 

For more information: 

In Clinton County – Chris Hiher, DeWitt 

Service Center, 1212 17th Ave., DeWitt, IA 

52742; (563) 659-3456; or chris.hiher@ 

usda.gov. 

Jackson County: Lori Schnoor, Maquoketa 

Service Center, 603 E. Platt St., 

Maquoketa, IA 52060; (563) 652-2337; or 

lori.schnoor@usda.gov. 

Jones County: Addie Manternach, 


Farmer 


Be a part of the Eastern Iowa Farmer experience! 

Advertise with us. Share your story ideas. Join our mailing list. 

Share your photos from around the farm! 

Contact us: 

Phone: 563-652-2441 

Email: eifarmer@sycamoremedia.net 

Web: eifarmer.com 


Ag Bytes 

Anamosa Service Center, 300 Chamber 

Dr., Anamosa, IA 52205; or addie.maternach@usda.gov. 


Nic Reemtsma and his dad, Phil, share a moment after he won grand champion with his market 

heifer at the Iowa State Fair. Phil points to the sky, in acknowledgement to his wife and Nic’s 

mom, Angie, who died five years ago. 

DeWitt senior wins 

big at Iowa State Fair 

Nic Reemtsma and his market heifer, 

Becky, won big at the Iowa State Fair last 

summer. 

Reemtsma, a Central DeWitt Community 

High School senior, won his class and 

grand champion overall. A member of the 

DeWitt Hustler’s 4-H club, Reemtsma has 

been around cattle his whole life. He and 

his dad care for an 80-head herd just outside 

of DeWitt, and he has been showing 

since he started 4-H eight years ago. 

He bought his market heifer, affectionately 

named Becky, from the Miller family 

in Wyoming. Becky showed in just two 

shows before the Iowa State Fair, winning 

Champion Market Heifer in both rings at 

the Badger Brawl in Wisconsin in December 

2022 and placing 2nd in her class at 

the Iowa Beef Expo. 

Winning this year meant a lot to Reemtsma, 

who said both sides of his family 

were there to cheer him on. 

“Everyone went crazy and was yelling 


Ag Bytes 

when I won. Right after I walked out of 

the ring, my dad met me and gave me a 

huge hug. It was an incredible moment,” 

he said. 

The state fair experience was a dream 

of his mom Angie, who passed away 

about five years ago from complications of 

Type I diabetes. 

At the Sale of Champions, an event 

that recognizes the grand and reserve 

market animals in each species, Reemtsma 

broke the all-time record for a market 

heifer at $90,000. Participants in the Sale 

of Champions work with local community 

partners to raise money for the sale of 

their animals. The money raised is then 

matched by the buyer of the animal, in 

this case, Boviteq USA IVF Lab was the 

one that purchased her. Individuals who 

helped raise money locally included Dave 

Delaney, Bill and Angie Clark, and Matt 

Olson. 

Twenty-five percent of that money 

remains with the Iowa Foundation for 

Agricultural Advancement to support their 

scholarship program and cover expenses 

associated with the sale. Reemtsma 

earned the rest of the money, which he 

will put towards his college expenses next 

fall. He is planning on going to vet school 

and taking over his dad’s business after 

he graduates. 

“Looking back, it is hard to believe 

it happened. I know I could not have 

reached my goals without people behind 

me. I am so lucky to live in a place 

like Clinton County where people are 

incredibly generous and supportive.,” he 

said. “Community members, friends, and 

teachers, everyone was excited and congratulated 

me and the support at the sale 

was awesome. I could not have asked for 

a better start to my senior year.” 

Cal-Wheat FFA wins 

supreme crops title 

The Calamus-Wheatland FFA Chapter 

competed against 24 other chapters from 

across Iowa in Farm Crops and Horticulture 

at the Iowa State Fair last summer in Des 


Wheatland Farm Crops Team members (front, 

from left) Kody Schroeder and Olevia Olson; 

(back) Lauren Schroeder, Dakota Rohwedder, 

Natalie Schroeder and Ellen Olson. Not 

pictured was Cooper and Kyle VanderHeiden 

and Isaac Wilhelm. The Chapter was named 

Supreme Chapter by earning first place at the 

Iowa State Fair. 

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Ag Bytes 


The Calamus-Wheatland FFA Horticulture Team (from 

left) Kody Schroeder, Lauren Schroeder, Natalie 

Schroeder, Ellen Olson and Olevia Olson, earned 

fourth place honors at the Iowa State Fair. 

Moines. The Warriors earned first place 

honors in Farm Crops and was named 

Iowa’s Supreme Farm Crops Chapter. 

Individuals on the team include 

Dakota Rohwedder and Kyle VanderHeiden 

(Alumni), Isaac Wilhelm 

(junior), Lauren Schroeder and Cooper 

VanderHeiden (sophomores), Ellen Olson 

and Natalie Schroeder (freshmen), 

and Olevia Olson and Kody Schroeder 

(junior high members). 

Crops that placed first through third 

in a class remain on display the entire 

Iowa State Fair. Cal-Wheat had over 20 

entries in this showcase. The Warriors 

won over the second-place team by 

over 100 points. Farm Crops individual 

honors include: Olevia Olson, sixth 

overall individual; Ellen Olson, Reserve 

Champion Small Grain with her early 

oats, First Overall Individual; Dakota 

Rohwedder, Grand and Reserve 

Champion smooth grown grass sheath 

and rye sheath, Reserve Champion 

Premier Exhibitor and second overall. 

Cal-Wheat’s Chapter Horticulture 

Team placed fourth at the Iowa 

State Fair. Entries placed top three in 

multiple classes including processing 

tomatoes, jumbo zucchini, squash, 

cabbage, red and yellow onions, and 

Jack-o-Lantern pumpkins. The individuals 

on the team were: L. Schroeder, E. 

Olson, N. Schroeder, O. Olson, and K. 

Schroeder. 

Horticulture individual honors include: 

Lauren Schroeder, 10th overall 

individual; and Natalie Schroeder, 

Reserve Champion table vegetables 

and sixth overall individual. 

E. Olson, Rohwedder and N. Schroeder 

were invited to participate in the 

Parade of Champions held on Saturday, 

Aug. 12, at the fairgrounds. The 

televised event highlighted a variety of 

champions throughout the Iowa State 

Fair. 

- By Natalie Schroeder Cal-Wheat 

FFA Reporter 

Helping You 

Help Yourself 

That’s what we do in Extension. We provide resources to help you 

make good decisions in both your personal and business lives. 

Insure with 

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We address a variety of topics including: 

- Money Management - Healthy Decisions 

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- Family Relationships - Agriculture Information 

This number is a completely 

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for Iowans in need of legal, 

finance, stress management, 

and crisis/disaster help. 

800-447-1985 

— call or text — 

www.extension.iastate.edu/clinton 

Clinton County | 563-659-5125 

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CELL: 

563-320-9883 

jleeins@hotmail.com 


Ag Bytes 

DeWitt Central FFA 

members attend 

district conference 

Each year, the Southeast district and Iowa FFA 

officers plan and facilitate Greenhand Fire Up Conferences 

for FFA members in the Southeast district. 

Cedar Rapids Prairie High School welcomed FFA 

chapters from all over the Southeast district Monday, 

Oct. 16, 2023. This year, eight DeWitt Central FFA 

members attended the conference. 

While at Cedar Rapids Prairie Oct. 16, district and 

state officers lead four interactive workshops for firstyear 

high school FFA members, also known as Greenhands, 

for the annual Greenhand Fire Up Conference. 

The workshops facilitated were leadership-focused 

with an emphasis on the experiences that occur in the 

lives of beginning high school students. 

Iowa FFA President Holly Schmitt stated, 

“Greenhand Fire Up provides a chance for firstyear 

high school members to get a sneak peek of the 


DeWitt Central FFA members who attended the Greenhand Fire Up Conferences 

for FFA members in the Southeast district were (from left) Molly Burken, Emily Sutton, 

Kamryn Keester, Dalani Beuthien, Taylor Houser, Mallory McMahon, Carlee Garrity and 

Kyle Deppe. 

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Sycamore Media 

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

You, too, can be part of the 

Eastern Iowa Farmer! 

Call 563-652-2441 today to reserve 

your space in our fall issue. 


Farmer 

AG 


CAREERS 

While growing crops and raising 

livestock are the lifeblood of the Eastern 

Iowa farm community, agriculture 

isn’t just for farmers. Many area folks 

pursue careers that support the 

industry in a variety of fields. 

Agricultural Heritage: Eastern Iowa has some 

hidden gems when it comes to historical barns that have 

been preserved, a few dating back to the mid-1800s. 

Innovating the Future: A Marquette 

Catholic student brainstorms a method to boost 

soybean health. 

Country Pie: A simple farm table treat, the 

sugar cream pie uses just a few ingredients and is 

a go-to when the cupboard is short on fruit or you 

just want a sweet treat. 

Transportation Tangle: Low 

levels on the Mississippi cause more 

anxiety than catastrophe. 


® 



The Eastern Iowa Fall 2023 

Farmer 


THE 

ENERGY 

ISSUE 

Eastern Iowa corn growers are fueling the 

expansion of ethanol as efforts to lower carbon 

emissions gain steam. Producers are also 

wrestling with questions surrounding land use 

involving wind, solar and pipeline proposals. 

Land Values: The price of farm ground has leveled 

off after three years of massive gains. 

Hobby Farms: From horses and goats to ducks and 

rabbits to more exotic species, hobby farms are a source 

of education and entertainment – in your own backyard. 

Savory Soups: When the temperatures start to cool, 

a warm bowl of hearty goodness keeps the chill at bay. 

Genetic Preservation: A Calamus couple 

works to preserve a variety of seeds and poultry at the 

Sandhill Preservation Center. 





® 

LASTING 

CONTRIBUTIONS 




Farm Bill: Dating back to 1933, 

the Farm Bill has grown a lot in size 

and scope. What’s at stake with the 

newest legislation? 






Genetic Preservation: A 

Calamus couple works to preserve 

a variety of seeds and poultry at the 

Sandhill Preservation Center. 

Soup’s on: Plan your spring 


need to make a hearty fall soup 

after harvest. 





Farmer 



VIEW THE ENTIRE MAGAZINE ONLINE 

eifarmer.com 

®

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION 

Ag Bytes 

opportunities that FFA holds, and is a conference 

for members to meet and interact with 

state and district officers.” 

The officers prepared and facilitated workshops 

of: authenticity, balancing priorities, 

communication and FFA opportunities – in order 

to provide the first-year FFA members with 

skills they would use both within and outside of 

FFA. The goal was to engage FFA members in 

learning about the tools that would allow them 

to be successful in anything they are part of 

through high school and beyond. 

Greenhand Fire Up is made possible with 

support from the Iowa FFA Foundation. 

Sunshine hosts fall 

farm feast featuring 

locally produced fare 

Sunshine Learning Center showcased 

what Iowa has to offer at a Farm-to-Table 

event last September. 

The fundraiser included a meal with 

EASTERN IOWA FARMER PHOTO / THE LOCKET (ERIN KIRCHHOFF) 

Food at the event came with information about its origin. Volunteers prepare for a local 

Farm-to-Table feast. Fresh local food is plated and ready for a diner. Kale and tomato salad 

was one of the locally sourced courses on the menu. 

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Ag Bytes 

foods grown and produced in Iowa, many 

of them in Jackson and surrounding 

counties. The event at Midnight Farm, just 

south of Maquoketa, featured appetizers, 

kale, tomatoes, cucumbers, beef Bolognese, 

green beans, pears, jelly rolls and 

butter. 

It was wrapped up with a homemade 

apple pie from Mackie (Moore) Duhme, 

the director of Sunshine, and homemade 

vanilla ice cream from the Iowa State 

Dairy Science club. 

The event is expected to be held again 

this fall. 

Crop production 

updates available 

CropsTV, powered by Iowa State University 

Extension and Outreach, returns 

for a fourth season this year. The educational 

program delivers crop production 

information directly to farmers and agricultural 

service providers anywhere there 

is an internet connection. All episodes are 

available for on-demand viewing, providing 

flexibility for busy viewers. 

Season Four features 35 episodes with 

a variety of crop, pest, nutrient, and soil 

and water management topics. While 

some topics will be familiar from other programs, 

most are exclusive to CropsTV. 

The episodes are available for viewing 


The camera rolls as ISU agronomist Bradley 

Miller discusses soil moisture levels during the 

Southeast Research Farm Field Day. 

through April 5. 

“We’re excited to bring back the same 

exciting online learning opportunity as 

last winter,” said Clarabell Probasco, field 

agronomist with ISU Extension and Out- 

Your Legacy 

Begins Now. 

In Clinton County, $9.3 billion is expected to transfer from 

one generation to the next through 2049. 

If we each commit to investing just 5% of our estates in 

a community endowment, $19 million could be available 

annually for community projects and nonprofits.* That’s a 

contribution that lasts forever. 



Alethea Cahoy 

Executive Director, River Bluff Community Foundation 

563.321.0317 | rbcf@dbqfoundation.org | dbqfoundation.org/rbcf 


Ag Bytes 

reach. “This season will be full of exclusive 

episodes only available via CropsTV, 

all with the same flexibility in selecting 

interesting topics to watch on a flexible 

schedule.” 

Registration for CropsTV is $100 and 

includes 35 pre-recorded episodes, up to 

25.5 CCA credits, and access to program 

and reference materials. For more information, 

visit www.aep.iastate.edu/cropstv. 

For questions, contact ANR Program Services 

at 515-294-9487, or email cropstv@ 

iastate.edu. 

Iowa’s crops strong 

despite drought 

Despite 2023 ending as the state’s 22nd 

driest year on record, with eight of the 12 

months registering below normal precipitation 

and persistent drought continuing for a 

record 184 consecutive weeks and counting, 

Iowa farmers produced a historically 

strong corn and soybean crop. 

At 201 bushels per acre and 2.52 billion 

bushels of production, last year’s Iowa 

corn crop ranked as the fourth highest yield 

and fifth largest production in state history 

and helped drive the national corn yield 

and production to all-time record levels. 

The state’s soybean crop came in at 58 

bushels per acre and 573 million bushels 

of production, the fourth highest yield and 

third highest production in Iowa history, 

contributing to the country’s fourth highest 

yield and seventh largest soybean crop 

ever. 

Those statistics were part of the 2023 

Iowa Crop Production Annual Summary 

released by the USDA National Agricultural 

Statistics Service. The national summary 

and state summaries are released in 

January each year. 

“Even with all the weather challenges 

last year, Iowa remained a production 

powerhouse and that’s a testament to the 

assistance of timely rains, the resiliency 

of Iowa farmers, and continuous improvements 

in genetics, traits, equipment, 

technology, production methods and many 

other innovations,” said Iowa Secretary of 

Agriculture Mike Naig. 

In the United States, corn production in 

2023 was estimated at a record high 15.3 

billion bushels, up 12 percent from the 

2022 estimate. The average yield in the 

United States was estimated at a record 

high 177.3 bushels per acre, 3.9 bushels 

above the 2022 yield of 173.4 bushels per 

acre. Area harvested for grain was estimated 

at 86.5 million acres, up 10 percent 

from the 2022 estimate. 

Soybean production in 2023 totaled 

4.16 billion bushels, down 2 percent from 

2022. The average yield per acre was 

estimated at 50.6 bushels, up 1.0 bushel 

from 2022. Harvested area, at 82.4 million 

acres, was down 4 percent from last year. 

The complete report can be found on 

the USDA NASS website at www.nass. 

usda.gov/Publications. 

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1 

1. Logan Green raking fields in 

preparation for the bale crew in 

Grand Mound. 

Submitted by Chris and 

Kimberly Green 

2. Kourtlynn gives her words of 

motivation to the fat cattle. 

Submitted by Ashley Kelting 

3. Trinity Tague and her little 

brother Isaac Tague watching 

the horses graze on a beautiful 

afternoon in July. 

Submitted by Lindsey Tague 

4 

4. Sitting in the big tractor tire 

during FFA Farm Safety Day 

in Maquoketa are, left to right, 

Penny Pape and Norah Scheper. 

Submitted by Joyce Ostert 

5. Brett Schoenherr checking 

on weaned calves, with his best 

partner having his back. 

Submitted by Halie Maier 

5 

6. Waiting out the storm taken 

by Jaymee Johnson in rural 

Jackson County. 

Submitted by Jaymee Johnson 

7. Lane helping dad, 

Jesse Asmussen, with some 

River Valley plot seed 

Submitted by Rebecca Asmussen 


2 

3 

6 

7 


1 

1. Tannen is always willing to lend 

an extra hand to help. 

Submitted by Ashley Kelting 

2. Legacy and Josie belly up the 

to the fence to say hello at the 

Tague Farm in Grand Mound. 

Submitted by Lindsey Tague 

3. Kenny Till and grandson, Luka, 

get to work stacking wood last fall 

in preparation for winter weather. 

Submitted by Brooke Till 

4. A little Julie is pictured in 

1988 with Grandpa Cleland 

Lund at the Lund Family Farm in 

Calamus, Iowa. 

Submitted by Julie Hipkins 

5. Lane and Owen Asmussen 

helping Grandpa Jim Asmussen 

sell some green machines at P&K 

Midwest. 

Submitted by Rebecca Asmussen 

6. Carter Johnson, 13, snapped 

this photo while helping with 

harvest on the family farm. 

Submitted by Jaymee Johnson 

7. Participants in the Pee Wee 

Swine Show at the Clinton 

County Fair help their animals put 

their best hooves forward. 

Photo by Ross Eberhart 

4 

5 

8. Moving cattle to greener 

pasture in early fall. 

Submitted by Halie Maier 

7 

8 


2 3 

6 


1 

1. Two-year-old Decker Spain, 

son of Bradley and Taylor Spain, 

Goose Lake is supervising 

very closely as they process 

cattle in the barn. Decker loves 

life on the farm! 

Submitted by Julene Spain 

2. Blake Trenkamp, Trevor, 

Cole and Logan Green picked 

hundreds of pumpkins at the 

Green’s farm in Grand Mound. 

Submitted by Chris and 

Kimberly Green 

3. Jasper Kutsch gets up close 

and personal with a miniature 

donkey on her grandpa Don 

Kutsch’s farm. Jasper is a good 

helper when it comes time for 

chores. 

Submitted by Don Kutsch 

4. These pigs aren’t afraid of a 

little winter weather. 

Submitted by Connie Beer 

5. Liam Gruhn (left) and Dylan 

Schroeder check out one of the 

static projects in the fairgrounds 

auditorium. 

Photo by Lauren Dema 

6. Penny Pape looking at 

chickens Sept. 28 during the 

FFA Farm Safety Day at the 

fairgrounds in Maquoketa. 

Submitted by Joyce Ostert 

7. Autumn Hoerschelman, Sydney 

Veach, Ava Hoerschelman and 

Caelyn Veach had their 

picture taken in 2022 in the 4-H 

building at the Iowa State Fair. 

Their picture appeared this year 

on the outside of the 4-H Building 

so we recreated the picture 

from a year ago. 

Submitted by Julie Veach 

4 5 


2 

3 

6 

7 


1 

1. In 2022, Dustin sits on the 

same Oliver tractor as Julie sat 

on back in 1988 with two of our 

sons on the Lund Family Farm. 

Submitted by Julie Hipkins 

2. Fairgoers crowd around to grab 

a piece of refreshing watermelon 

Friday at the 90th Clinton County 

Fair. 

Photo by Lauren Dema 

3. Henry Beer, at 10 months of 

age, takes a ride to check on the 

pigs on the farm. 

Submitted by Katie Beer 

4. Brush in hand, Shane Watters 

combs calf Popcorn after giving it 

a bath at the wash racks. 

Photo by Harv Hansen 

4 

5. Mckenna Martens kisses the 

forehead of her goat as she 

grooms it to show at the fair. 


6. Addie Johnson, foreground, 

helps Shealin Wiemann bathe 

her sheep before exhibition at the 

county fair. 


7. An attendee at an Iowa State 

University Extension fencing 

and grazing clinic hears about 

new innovations. 

Photo by Brooke Till 

6 

8. Ellie Selman pitches in at the 

cattle barn by forking used straw 

onto the manure pile. 



2 

3 

5 

8 

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