Farm Credit Services of America

THE SCHLESSER FAMILY

Plymouth County, September 2022

Chris O’Hare Schlesser is happy his parents gave him the middle name O’Hare because it represents the ancestral family who homesteaded the land where he lives and farms today. Chris and his wife, Lindsey, built their house in 2017-18 on the exact spot where the O’Hare family had lived and where his father grew up.

His brother, Ben, and his wife, Kris, live on the other side of Iowa, but are partners with Chris and Lindsey in a Red Angus herd of cows. Kris is a large animal veterinarian who AI’s the cows and does embryo transfers. Most of the stock is registered and bulls are sold in a cooperator program.

Off the farm, Chris is a territory manager for Landoll Corp., a manufacturer of equipment such as field cultivators. Lindsey is VP of human resources at Primebank. The couple shares a love for Iowa State University athletics, especially football. While Lindsey went to UNI, she grew up in a strong ISU family and Chris graduated from ISU with a degree in Ag Systems Technology.

Lindsey and Chris Schlesser with their daughters, Elizabeth and Margo.

IOWA FAMILIES - 2022

THE McKENNEY FAMILY

Lyon County, September 2022

A lot of young farmers keep adding irons to the fire: More equipment, more land, more livestock. Of course, too many irons in the fire and you risk flaming out. For Ethan and Angela McKenney, a long absence last year helped them decide to pull a few irons out this year.

Angela was deployed to southwest Asia last year with the Air National Guard. That left Ethan home with a farm and trucking company to run, cows to wrangle, cattle to feed, custom baling, custom chopping – and, most importantly, 3 young children to care for. Irons he’s pulled out of the fire right now are the custom baling and his small cow-calf and cattle feeding operations.

Ethan started his trucking business about 5 years ago, hauling grain, bean meal, distiller’s ingredients plus hogs and cattle. Converting his old barn into a shop made trucking easier. “I’ve got space now to work on the trucks. And in the wintertime I can bring all three trucks inside pretty easily.”

The McKenney family: Ethan and Angela with their children, Macy, Jaden and Brody

The Kellen family. Adults: Gwen, Rick, Tony, Gina, Ciara and Lucas. Kids: Jack, Oliva, Kody, Masie, and Caroline.

THE KELLEN FAMILY

Sioux County, September 2022

Tony and Gina Kellen and Rick and Gwen Kellen farm near Alton. Together they grow corn and soybeans plus feed hogs and cattle. In addition, alfalfa is a significant crop for them.

“We just like hay. It’s a fun crop to harvest and put up. It's challenging. It's a good cash crop and it's good for the soil,” said Tony. Their hay customers include dairies, horse farms and feedlots. Beginning about 20 years ago, they took their expertise in hay further by custom seeding alfalfa and by custom mowing and baling.

One thing led to another very quickly. “We were one of the first custom guys around here with net wrap,” Rick said. They started selling it the next year when many producers were upgrading to balers with net wrap. The resulting business was The Fine Twine Co. which the family operates on the east edge of Alton. Tony said, “We sell product into about 15-16 states. We buy product from about seven different countries throughout the world.”