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GENERATION AFTER GENERATION, ELLENSOHN FAMILY MEETS THE CHALLENGES OF FARMING
By Bob Fitch
Getting a start in farming has never been easy.
Eugene Ellensohn immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1922. He had a job lined up on a farm east of Le Mars that paid him $1 a day. Later he worked in North Dakota’s potato fields and at a Chicago packing plant. He returned to Plymouth County and married a local girl in 1928. They started farming in 1929.
Eugene’s grandson, Gary Ellensohn, said when the farm economy collapsed his grandparents owned 10 pigs. “They sold those pigs to pay the rent. All they had left was chickens. So they ate eggs every day for an entire winter. As an immigrant, Grandpa couldn't borrow any money. If you didn't have the cash to buy something, you were out of luck. They wouldn’t loan an immigrant a nickel.”
There was a different problem for beginning farmers 50 years later. In the early days of Gary’s farming career, the banks would loan him money – at an interest rate of 21 percent. “When I started farming in 1979, I rented a quarter section of ground and had two sows. That's how I started and worked up from there to about 150 sows when we were in the breeding stock business.” He switched to custom feeding hogs in 1994. Complications after knee surgery pushed him out of livestock at the end of 2019. He’s also been selling federal crop insurance since 1999.
Gary married Mary Reuter of Le Mars in 1980 and they moved onto the home place in 1983. They purchased their first 40 acres in 1985. “The first piece of ground I bought was $1,100 an acre. That was right after the big crash when land had been up to $3,000 an acre.”
He remembers his grandfather telling him that, from World War II until around 1977, land prices didn’t fluctuate much more than $50 an acre. “The fall before Dad moved here in 1964, Grandpa bought an 80 and Dad bought an 80 and they gave $550 an acre for it.”
Working On And Off The Farm
It’s a long ways from $550 an acre back then to today’s going rate in the neighborhood of $20,000 an acre. The scale of that investment is the challenge for young farmers such as Gary’s son, Todd, and his wife, Lori. Mary said, “Almost the only way you're going to be able to farm today is to start with your parents.” Gary said, “Somebody has to have an off-farm job, and maybe both of them do to make it work. It’s a tough game. I don't care if you’re in livestock or just have a grain farm, it's a tough go. Without supplemental income, it's just tough to make it work.”
Todd has been with Syngenta Crop Protection as a chemical sales representative for northwest Iowa for 10 years, after starting as a retail agronomist at Remsen Farmers Coop. Lori got her start in the feed division at Remsen Coop. Now she’s worked for livestock nutrition company Furst McNess for eight years. She started in sales support and technical service and was promoted to be the company’s marketing manager last year. In May, Gary and Mary moved to a new home in Le Mars, while Todd, Lori and their four children moved to the Ellensohn home place. According to Todd, “Since we both grew up on farms, we wanted our kids to have the same sort of experience.” Lori grew up on a diversified grain and livestock farm at Knoxville in south central Iowa. The couple met when they were both students at Iowa State University. Todd majored in agronomy with a minor in international studies. Lori majored in animal science.
from there to about 150 sows when we were in the breeding stock business.” He switched to custom feeding hogs in 1994. Complications after knee surgery pushed him out of livestock at the end of 2019. He’s also been selling federal crop insurance since 1999.
Lori said, “Our first date was moving hogs.” Todd said, “And our second date was power washing.” Gary joked, “He wouldn't power wash two feet or load one pig for me, but he’d go down there and help her.” The couple got married in 2011.
Moving back to this area allowed Todd to play a role on the farm, with the hope that someday he can take the reins of the corn and soybean operation.
Fifth Generation at Gehlen Schools
Todd and Lori’s children are Hadley, 11; Marcus, 9; McKenna, 7; and Damien, 5. They’re active in various sports and their parents help out coaching. They are also fans of Outlaw Series racing.
This was Hadley’s first year in 4-H, but all four have experience showing hogs in open shows.
McKenna made sure to inform this writer that she placed higher at this summer’s Iowa State Fair than Marcus did. Todd and Lori raised show pigs for the first 10 years of their marriage, but their kids are showing purchased 4-H pigs now.
Hadley, Marcus, McKenna and Damien attend Gehlen Catholic School where their dad is president of the school board. They are the fifth generation of the family enrolled at Gehlen, which was originally known as St. Joseph’s Catholic School. According to Gary, “When my grandma went to St. Joe's in the early 1900s, they actually boarded at the school in the attic upstairs for the entire week and only went home on the weekends.”
Gary (class of ’76) and Mary (class of ’78) met at Gehlen. All four of their kids attended the school. Their other children are:
• Son Aaron lives in Gilbert, Iowa, and works for the state of Iowa’s Weight & Measures Bureau. He and his wife, Jessica, have five children.
• Son Kyle lives in Urbandale and is a chiropractor. He and his wife, Katrina, have two children.
• Daughter Krista lives in Chicago where she is the manager of training operations at Hubbard Street Dance Studio, plus belongs to a professional hip hop dance company called Boom Crack.
Aaron and Kyle often come home to help during harvest. Mary said she’s the grain cart driver “of last resort.” But Gary and Todd wouldn’t let her underplay her role on the farm. In addition to driving grain cart, she goes after seed and parts in the spring, brings water for the sprayer, helps move equipment from field to field and brings the crew lunch during planting and harvest.
