LETS STAY CONNECTED.

farrowing and the nursery, as well as the production recordkeeping and farm bookkeeping. Previously, she worked at Demco in Boyden as a secretary and bookkeeper after graduating from a secretarial accounting program at Northwest Iowa Community College.

A twist in their tale was the advent of pseudorabies. She said, “After many times of working through blood testing with pseudorabies, we’d get ourselves clean and then it would come back again. We parted ways with KleenLeen then, but we still sold to some Purina dealers for several years because they liked our stock.” The farm’s success was built on premiums earned on the breeding stock, but they left the breeding business in the late 1990s.

Scott Has Always Been A Farmer

Mary said their son, Scott, has “always been a farmer. He always liked machinery and being outside and in the garden with me. So it wasn't a surprise when he decided to farm. It’s what he always wanted to do.”

Scott attended Southwest Technical College in Pipestone, Minnesota, for crop and livestock management. When the program shut down in spring 1995, he returned to the farm for a life of raising corn, soybeans and hogs. “I've been here since. We were still farrowing pigs at the time. We were self-sufficient, milling our own feed, hauling our own manure and raising our own breeding stock.”

Fifteen years ago, Scott began buying his parents’ shares of the family corporation, a process he completed about 1½ years ago. In 2010, they quit farrowing and began custom finishing for Center Feed Store of Sioux Center. Scott said, “We actually got a little bit of a life after we quit farrowing. Farrowto-finish is not as bad as a dairy producer as far as being tied down, but it'd be the next one in line.” They still do their own power washing and manure hauling with help from a part-time employee.

Mary said the generational transition was smooth. “One thing we can be thankful for is that Elmer was very willing to give up the leadership role or the controlling role. Some dads are good at that and some dads aren’t. He loves working for Scott and just saying, ‘Okay, what do you want me to do today?’ I think they have a really good working relationship.” Elmer agreed: “He's a better boss than I ever was. The best part is he’s got the headaches now and I don’t.” The couple enjoys January through March in Mesa, Arizona, spending time with a community of mostly Midwestern friends in an RV park.

Scott knows his own strengths and weaknesses. “I definitely don’t know it all, so I surround myself with experts, whether it’s somebody in agronomy, banking, taxes, feed or grain marketing. I just tie them all together.”

FARMING, FIRES AND CAMPUS MINISTRY

Scott is the youngest of Elmer and Mary’s four children. Their daughter, Sheila, and her husband, Mark Uittenbogaard, farm between Sheldon and Sanborn and have three sons. Daughter, Sherry, and her husband, Dave Tiedemann, farm north of Hull and have two children. She works for Natural Beauty greenhouses. Son, Steve, and his wife, Jill, work for Campus Crusade for Christ. They have two children and live in Minneapolis. Elmer and Mary have 12 grandchildren and two great grandchildren with one on the way.

Scott and Rebecca were married four years ago after meeting at a divorce care ministry at Sunnybrook Community Church in Sioux City. Rebecca is a native of Sioux City. She has an associates degree in business administration and worked in banking for 20 years, moving up from teller to branch manager.

In Sioux City, she volunteered with children at church and with Big Brothers Big Sisters. After she and Scott were married, that background made for a natural transition to a new career as a paraeducator at Sheldon Public Schools.

CONNECT

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HOME & OPERATION TO FIBER TODAY

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“I love education and working with children. It’s what I’m meant to do. We have a really good team at East Elementary. My co-workers are amazing and then it works great for our family life that I'm off by 3:15. We can do those afternoon sports and running errands that need to be done. Summers off work out great.”

Rebecca’s daughter, Karlee, 11, will be in sixth grade this fall. She loves animals, especially her cats. Karlee likes the wide open spaces and being able to get dirty on the farm. She plays basketball and enjoys creative arts and craft projects in 4-H. She also plays the oboe and is an avid collector of stuffed animals called “Squishmallows.”

Scott has three daughters. The oldest is Abby, who is married to Lane Te Slaa. They live at Inwood. Abby is an ER nurse at Sanford Sioux Falls and Lane is an applicator for Cooperative Farmers Elevator in Doon.

Ashley, 18, will be a freshman this fall at the University of Northern Iowa, majoring in elementary education. She graduated from Sheldon High School where she was an FFA officer; played on the varsity soccer team; and was a football and wrestling cheerleader. Her SAE for FFA was becoming a student fire fighter. She served in a student role for 1½ years and, when she turned 18 in October, she became a fullfledged volunteer fire fighter with the Sheldon crew. Her favorite part is “the adrenaline rush and riding in the fire trucks.”

Alyssa, 14, isn’t fighting fires, but gets her adrenaline rush in the sport of Taekwondo. She’s earned her black belt, surpassing both her older sisters. Alyssa will be an eighth grader at Sheldon Christian and will go to Western Christian for high school. When she’s not at Taekwondo practice, she’s mowing grass at the farm or playing volleyball, basketball, soccer or softball. She also plays percussion in band.

Faith Keeps It All Together

Elmer and Mary are charter members of Immanuel Christian Reformed Church in Sheldon, where Elmer served as both an elder and a deacon. He was also on the board of Rural Water System #1 and the Avenue of Flags committee in Sheldon. Although he is no longer on the committee, he and Mary still volunteer to help put up over 700 flags each national holiday in the summer.

Scott also has been a church deacon, plus serves on the board at Sheldon Christian School. He is on the board of directors of Bless You Inc. The multi-denominational volunteer group helps families in need, especially after a natural disaster or other traumatic event. Bless You Inc. owns travel trailers/ campers which are stocked with bedding, toiletries, food and water, and other necessities. The trailers are driven to disaster-stricken areas, where the organization works with local churches and civic organizations to identify people who have been left homeless. The campers provide transitional housing for up to a year while affected families rebuild their homes and lives. Elmer and Mary have supported the ministry by delivering the trailers to many locations in the Midwest. Bless You Inc. has helped families as far away as California and Florida.

While kids, grandkids and hogs are at the center of daily activities and conversation, Elmer said, “Faith in God keeps it all together.”