August 2021 | www.AgeMedia.pub
Faith / Family / Friends / Farming
Meet the
HAWKINS Family Andrea, J.J., and Ryan Hawkins; Jaydn and Jorden Berkenpas. Story on page 18.
of Sioux County
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The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | August 2021
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The right care. The right place. The right time.
of Sioux County PUBLISHERS Garrett and Mindy Gross, AGE Media EDITOR & IOWA MANAGER Bob Fitch, AGE Media Direct advertising inquiries, story submissions and other correspondence to: 712-551-4123 bob@agemedia.pub © The Farming Families, Age Media & Promotion The Farming Families is distributed free exclusively to the farmers, ranchers and producers in rural Sioux, Plymouth and Lyon Counties. All rights reserved. Content in this magazine should not be copied in any way without the written permission of the publisher. The Farming Families assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs. Content in articles, editorial and advertisements are not necessarily endorsed by The Farming Families and Age Media & Promotion.
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PLYMOUTH COUNTY FAMILY
BE HAPPY WITH THE CHOICES YOU’VE MADE By Bob Fitch
Bill Loutsch used to tell his sons it’s okay to air your differences, but then leave the disagreements at the table and move on. Dad’s advice must have worked because his sons – Billy, Mark and Jerry Loutsch – are still working together several decades down the road at the family farm near Oyens.
The Loutsch family with their 1919 Waterloo Boy tractor. Front: Mark, Lori, Vonnie and Bill. Back: Jerry and Tracy. Waterloo Boy produced tractors from 1913-1923. Deere & Co. purchased the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Co. in 1918. 6
The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | August 2021
The Mark and Lori Loutsch family: Brooke, Adam, Lori, Mark, Jack, Samantha, Nick, Melissa holding Kennedy, and Justin.
“Yes, we have disagreements, but you get over it and move forward,” said Mark. “Just like a marriage, a family partnership has its tough spots, but there’s no use bailing out because there’s a lot of good that comes with the bad. There’s times when we’ve been at each other’s throats, but we’ve never finished a day mad at each other.” Bill said, “When we have a disagreement, we might chase each other around the truck (just once, though, until we get tired). But you just walk away from it and start over again the next day.”
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The brothers finish iso-wean pigs, feed cattle and lamb out ewes. Mark said, “We never had a lot of acres, so we needed livestock to keep us busy. We’re pretty diversified. At one time I thought I might even want to milk cows when my neighbor was getting out of it. Thank God his daughter came home – although I would have given it a whirl if given the opportunity.” Their grandparents moved to the farm in the 1930s and their dad was born in the house where Mark lives now. “We’ve always had hogs on this farm except one time when cholera wiped them out and then when we eradicated pseudorabies,” Mark said. Bill said, “Dad didn’t care how many sows we had, but he got the first 50 litters every time. We had sows in every little barn around – 10 crates here, eight crates there.”
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Bill is in charge of the hogs; Mark takes care of the cattle and sheep; and Jerry keeps the equipment in good repair. The brothers built a shop to work on their own equipment,
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but they also do a fair share of repair for others. “We work on a lot of (John Deere) 4020’s,” Jerry said. “We even restore the engines on some red ones. We fix engines, but we don’t do the paint work. In a lot of cases, we’re fixing tractors that belonged to their dad.” In the shop right now is a 1932 Farmall F20. “He was just going to have us do a patch-it job by putting a different engine in it. But from the serial numbers, we found out it was the thirty-seventh F20 ever built. So he said, ‘I’ll guess you’ll have to fix it then.’” Even since he was little, Jerry has been fixing farm equipment – although he didn’t get off to a very auspicious start. “One day when I was in second grade, there was a hole in the feed auger. To keep the feed from running out, I tried to patch it with a cow turd. The auger was running and it took the finger right off my glove.” Mark laughed at the memory: “I saw him going to do it, but I couldn’t holler fast enough to get him to stop. Then we ran through the deepest cow manure there was in the yard to get up to the house.” Jerry said, “I’ve still got a scar on my finger, but I’m lucky I’ve still got the finger.”
Courtney, Jake, Tracy and Jerry Loutsch.
Growing up, it was kind of a family ritual to tinker with the tractors on Sunday. Many years, later, the tinkering tradition led to bigger and better things.
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After their maternal grandparents died, their mom, Rosie, wanted to have all of her family out to the farm on the 4th of July. “We were putz’n away on the tractors, driving them around, and Dad said ‘Let’s take them to town.’ We’ve been doing it ever since,” Mark said. “When we were driving through town, people weren’t expecting a parade of tractors, but they would come out and wave.” His wife, Lori, added, “Now the streets are full of people.” In fact, it’s been 28 years since the first parade. “In Oyens’ little city hall, there’s kind of a collage on the wall which includes pictures of the church, the elevator, the post office, and a picture of my sister-in-law driving a tractor all decked out for the parade. Whoever made that collage felt that our parade was an important part of the town,” Mark said.
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The Loutsch collection includes more than 100 John Deere tractors. “Dad used to farm with a 50 John Deere and a 70. In the early 1980s, we thought it would be kind of neat to have the whole line of 40, 50, 60, 70, and 80 tractors, so we started looking for them. We had about 50 tractors in the collection before we even added the 60 model,” Mark said.
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For the annual parade, “Whoever shows up and is capable of driving, we let them drive,” he said. “We don’t go very fast – there’s rules for everyone to follow. We used to have enough
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drivers for all the tractors, but now many people drive their own tractors in the parade.” They run through about 500 gallons of fuel on Independence Day. Ironically, their repair shop picks up some business when friends bring their antique tractors over for a tune-up prior to the parade. Jerry said, “Even the repair guy in Remsen said we have to keep up the parade because it’s good for business.” Jerry’s wife, Tracy, used to work as a paraprofessional at MMRCU schools. Their daughter, Courtney, is a trauma surgical registered nurse at Sanford in Fargo. Son Jake works at Hawke & Co. in Alton, farms on shares with a neighbor, and helps out on the Loutsch farm. Bill is married to Vonnie, who is retired, and they three children. Daughter Becky is a social studies teacher at Gayville-Volin Schools near Yankton. Daughter Megan teaches sophomore English at Lincoln High School in Sioux Falls. Megan’s three sons are Nik, Tony and Zach. Bill and Vonnie’s son James works at 3M in Brookings. He and his wife, Trish, have two daughters, Riley and Harper. Bill said his grandson Tony, 11, is planning to take over the farm some day. In fact, Bill said Tony is already trying to make things happen. “We bought a new feed wagon for the cattle, but it’s been sitting there in the shed unused for about four years now. Tony said ‘You better get that going before I take over.’” Mark’s wife, Lori, is a hair stylist, operating out of their home for 38 years. She also runs for parts and helps on the farm where needed. They have five children. The oldest is Adam, who works at AgriVision in LeMars, does repair work in the shop at the farm, and also farms with his dad and uncles. Mark and Lori’s oldest daughter, Melissa, is married to Justin
Firme and they live in Alexandria, Minn. Justin works at the Douglas County Courthouse and Melissa is the dean of students and a counselor at Alexandria public schools. Melissa and Justin have a 3½-yearold daughter named Kennedy. Lori said: “Kennedy is a character, she’s a little spitfire.” Mark added, “Poppa and Grandma just need to find more time to go see her. But it’s hard to leave the farm – there’s always something to do.”
The Loutsch siblings: front – Maggie, Jeannette, Liz; back row – Mark, Matt, Bill, Mike, Jerry.
Daughter Samantha got married last fall to Nick Eberly, who works at Wilson Trailer. Samantha teaches chemistry, biology and physics at Winnebago schools in northeast Nebraska. Lori said, “She loves working there, she never wants to leave.” Son Jack is going into his fourth year at Iowa State University where he majors in both Spanish and biological systems engineering. Finally, daughter Brooke will be a sophomore at the University of South Dakota where she majors in psychology. Lori said their girls learned a lot life skills in 4-H. When they were showing lambs at the fair, “It was always a very hard lesson to accept and understand when they knew a dad was actually taking care of the sheep, yet the girl would walk into the ring with the sheep. Our girls really took care of their own lambs. They raised them from babies.” Years later, their daughters came home from college and said “I get it now. Those dads weren’t doing their kids any favors. We learned more.” Mark believes another valuable lesson from 4-H competition is to learn from losing. “It makes a better person out of you; it makes you try harder. There’s always room for improvement no matter where you’re at or what you’re doing,” he said. Mark has lived by example in his civic endeavors. He served
The Bill and Vonnie Loutsch family: front – Becky, Trish, Harper, James; middle – Megan, Toy, Rylie; on the hub is Zac; back – Nik, Bill and Vonnie.
several years on the Plymouth County Farm Bureau board and then served for 12 years as a Plymouth County supervisor. He officially retired as a supervisor on Jan. 1, but they recruited him to serve in an ex officio capacity to help smooth the transition of a new multi-county mental health cooperative. In addition, he’s winding down his time on the Oyens Ambulance Squad and has been recruited to be on the St. Mary’s Parish Church Finance Council. In the Loutsch family, Lori said life is a success when you have “happy, healthy kids, doing better than how we did at that age.” Mark said the bottom line in life is to be happy with the choices you’ve made. “Work always gets you somewhere. You can’t count on someone else to take care of you. All I ask for is another chance. Every time I harvest a crop, I just hope I have a chance to do it again.”
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Scenes from this year’s 4th of July parade of tractors through Oyens, an informal event originated and still spearheaded by the Loutsch family.
The late Bill Loutsch – father of Billy, Jerry and Mark Loutsch
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KEEPING LOCAL HISTORY ALIVE
The railroad depot at Alvord in 1910. Historic Iowa Postcard Collection, Special Collections and Archives, Grinnell College Libraries.
EARLY DAYS IN ALVORD:
‘THE BEST AGE THE WORLD HAS THUS FAR KNOWN’ W.B. Park, a real estate dealer from Rock Rapids, platted the town of Alvord on April 18, 1890, after he had learned of the railroad’s intention to build through the area. The town was originally named Park, but the postal service said the name “park” caused confusion with other towns. So Mr. Park re-named the town Alvord in honor of his brother-in-law. Less than a year later, Alvord already had a population of about 200. Businesses included a depot, blacksmith shop, agricultural implement shop, butcher shop, furniture store, two general stores, a hardware store, coal and lumber yards, bank, drug store, 12
photography gallery, undertaker, harness maker and a barber. Not long after, the town also boasted two weekly newspapers, a livery barn, a flour mill, two carpenters and even a cigar factory. The roller mills was one of the most important enterprises in town. It had a capacity of 75 barrels of flour per day and manufactured several different grades of flour, and also graham, bran and different kinds of feed for horses, hogs and cattle. Around 1900, Alvord had as many as four grain elevators at one time. In the fall of 1891, the Alvord Bank was established with what was purported to be paid-up capital of $25,000. The bank was sold twice in
The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | August 2021
the 1890s, and re-organized in 1894 as Alvord Savings Bank. In 1904, the bank reported deposits of $80,000; loans of $73,000; and a reserve of $20,000. The combined deposits of the 13 banks in Lyon County in 1904 were $1,441,000; loans and discounts of $1,674,000, and reserve of $325,000. Exports from Alvord included cattle, hogs, horses, hay, wheat, corn, oats, barley, flax, potatoes, cheese, eggs and poultry. “It is doubtful if there is a town in western Iowa of this size where better prices are paid than in Alvord. The town has every reason to congratulate itself upon the fact that it has a set of active, enterprising grain and stock dealers.” 2
The west side of Main Street downtown Alvord looking south. Photo from “Alvord, Iowa: A Century of Memories … and a Dream for the Future.”
Alvord Public School. Historic Iowa Postcard Collection, Special Collections and Archives, Grinnell College Libraries.
The east side of Main Street in Alvord looking north. Photo from “Alvord, Iowa: A Century of Memories … and a Dream for the Future.”
Early Alvord farmers William Stoltenberg and his son. Fred. Photo from “Alvord, Iowa: A Century of Memories … and a Dream for the Future.”
The first school building was one moved to town from a rural site in 1890. The Alvord independent school district was founded in 1892; one of 29 districts and over 100 school houses in Lyon County at the time. Enrollment was 74 students. Three church denominations were represented in the early days: Roman Catholic, Congregational and German Lutheran. The first was Sacred Heart Catholic Church, established in 1891 – when the interior of its building had no plastered walls and the only seats were planks set on nail kegs. Mass was only held every fourth week because the priest also served Doon, Larchwood and Rock Rapids. The church’s square block of ground was described as “the finest church property in the Sioux City Diocese.” 1 The Congregational Church started in 1892. It later welcomed Rev. Mrs. Blandford - probably the first ordained woman to serve a church in Lyon County. She served as pastor from 1917-1921.
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Lutherans from the Schleswig-Holstein area of Germany started meeting in the area south and west of Alvord in the 1880s. The church’s first business meeting in Alvord was held in June 1893. In December 1900, four local farmers - Henry Jensen, Frank Dunnelly, L.D. Faver and U. Albertus - had telephones placed in their homes and were connected with each other and with a phone in town. The line used a barb wire fence circuit.2
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20-21 WINNER
By 1904, four towns within Lyon County provided rural free delivery of mail, with lines diverging from Rock Rapids, Alvord, Inwood and George. “No one appreciates this wonderful change in mail services as well as does he, or she, who lived here from 1870 to 1880, during which period mail only came a few times a week, at best, from Le Mars, by stage, or teamsters. Now the daily papers of Sioux Falls, Sioux City, Des Moines, Chicago and St. Paul are placed in the mail boxes, in front of a majority of the farmers’ homes in the county. Truly we are living in the best age the world has thus far known.” 1
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The Alvord Opera House was built in 1908. It was home to plays, dances and meetings. Shares were sold to the public at $10 each. With the proceeds, a large building was erected with a stage, auditorium, ticket office and a projection room for movies. The basement was later used as a bowling alley. The Opera House was later known as the town hall. Additional entertainment was provided by the Alvord town band from 1914 until the early 1940s when it disbanded. Concerts were held at 8:00 on Saturday nights in the summer. Sources:
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1) History, Reminiscence and Biography of Lyon County, Iowa. Published in 1905 by Geo. A. Ogle & Co. under the auspices of the Pioneer Association of Lyon County.
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2) Alvord, Iowa: A Century of Memories … and a Dream for the Future. Published in 1993 by the Alvord Betterment Community Club.
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OVER, UNDER, AROUND OR THROUGH YOUR OBSTACLES? PHOTO BY BRETT DAVELAAR, BD PHOTOGRAPHY.
August 2021 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine
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SIOUX COUNTY FAMILY
Ryan, Jorden, Andrea, Jaydn and J.J.
NO BETTER WAY TO RAISE A FAMILY by Bob Fitch
Every family member contributes and every contribution is essential to success on the Hawkins farm south of Maurice. Ryan and Andrea Hawkins custom feed cattle and grow corn and soybeans with their children, Jorden and Jaydn Berkenpas and J.J. Hawkins. In addition to the farm work, Ryan does custom excavating and some trucking work on the side.
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“It takes all of us,” Andrea said. “Everybody’s got their part – and each one is an important part.” Ryan added, “Everybody pitches in. I still don’t think you could find a better way to raise a family.” Ryan is a fourth generation farmer, living now on the same farm site where he grew up. Almost a century ago, his great grandfather homesteaded two miles east. “When I was growing up, we fed a lot of Holstein bull calves – we would get them from the dairy, start them on the bottle and take them to finish,” Ryan said. “Dad and Grand-
The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | August 2021
dad fed cattle until the early 1980s when they moved more to hogs. My uncle had the farrowing side and we had the finishing side. Then we moved into custom feeding hogs.” The family custom fed hogs for a number of years before transitioning into custom finishing cattle in the mid-2000s. “We bottle fed the calves and square baled a lot of hay as kids. Dad said the kids always had to have chores,” said Ryan. “My brother and I used to have bale stacking contests in the barn to see who could throw the bales the
highest. That would make my dad upset because we were using too much energy – and that’s why I go to the chiropractor once a week now,” he joked. Ryan graduated from MOC-Floyd Valley High School in 1997. After graduation, he custom cut and baled hay, helped various farmers chop silage, drove truck for Stan Eisma, and helped on the family farm, before becoming a formal part of the operation in 2001. His parents, Roy and Roxanne Hawkins, moved from the farm to Orange City in 2002. Roxanne used to run Hawk’s Café and R&G Country Store in Maurice. She now works in the kitchen at Prairie Ridge Nursing Home in Orange City. Roy fully retired a year ago, closing down his Hawarden-based business, R&R Metal Design. In addition to farming with his brother for many years, Roy had also been partners with Ryan’s brother, Devin, in D&R Welding on Highway 10.
Age Media Qtr Page Color 1-8-20.pdf 1 1/8/2020 11:21:34 AM
The Ryan and Andrea Hawkins farm sits along Highway 75 in southern Sioux County.
“We always did a lot of work in the shop, overhauling motors and trucks. Great Grandpa, Grandpa and Dad did a lot of blacksmithing repair on the side for neighbors,” Ryan said. “We always had something to tinker on, building go-carts or things to pull behind the 4-wheelers which would give our mother gray hair.” (“You still do that,” Jaydn added.)
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Ryan and Andrea didn’t go to school together, nor did they meet through friends. Ryan said, “We met at WalMart, proving you can find anything at WalMart.” Jaydn joked: “In the clearance aisle.” And J.J. added, “Now you’ll be known as the WalMart couple.” The couple met in 2010 and married in 2013. Andrea grew up south and west of nearby Struble, on a farm operated by her parents. Her dad also drove truck. “Ryan and I grew up seven miles apart, but never knew each other because we went to different schools.” Her parent’s farm was strictly crops versus the Hawkins’ livestock operation where there’s something always happening and there are chores every day. “But she started hands-on and has made a difference here,” Ryan said. Andrea stays home on the farm so she gets all the fill-in work when an extra hand is needed, plus runs for parts and makes sure everyone gets fed. Jorden graduated this spring from Le Mars High School where he was active in both 4-H and FFA. “I’ve worked with livestock all my life. My biological dad had livestock near Le Mars, so it wasn’t really a change to be here. I’ve been driving tractor almost since I was born. I was always outside and getting into something,” he said.
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In addition to his efforts on the Hawkins farm, Jorden works several days a week at Sioux Feed’s cattle confinement, plus also does a lot of work for other area farmers. “I do pretty much anything and everything … load hogs, power wash, square bale. You name it, I’ve probably done it.” What about the future? “I’m going to stay right here and keep going,” Jorden said. Ryan and Andrew Hawkins.
Jorden, Jaydn and J.J. have all shown livestock at the Plymouth County Fair, although Jaydn is the only one in competition this year. She’ll be showing two Red Angus steers plus goats. Ryan said, “It doesn’t matter which kid it is or what animal is involved, they do the work. When fair time comes, they get to see the results of the time and work they put into it. We’re here for moral support and transportation.” Jaydn added, “You guys just stand there and look pretty.” The family attends St. John’s Lutheran, a country church east of Ireton. “Our faith gets us through a lot,” Andrea said. “After the seed goes into the ground, it’s not up to us anymore. It’s up to a higher power how well that crop does.”
Jaydn, J.J. and Jorden at the 2019 Plymouth County Fair.
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Their prayers were answered in June after J.J. was significantly injured in a farm accident. While working with the cattle, he got jarred, knocked to the ground and fractured his skull. They rushed him to Orange City Area Health System, where bleeding on his brain was discovered. He was flown to Sanford Health in Sioux Falls. The doctors are confident he’s going to be ok but, right now, J.J. is taking it easy, keeping a low profile on the farm work to ensure no additional trauma occurs. Not only does he usually help with the livestock, but he’s also the farm’s head groundskeeper. Ryan said, “J.J. is tough. Besides the cracked skull, he didn’t break any other bones.” Andrea added, “We were lucky Jorden was here to take care of things when we suddenly had to be racing after J.J. in the hospital and being worried about him.” “Taking care of things” is, of course, another way of saying chores have to be done. Living adjacent to Highway 75 reminds the family of the extra dedication necessary when caring for livestock is your primary occupation. Every weekend on the highway, they see a parade of campers and boats passing by the farm. Ryan said, “The devil in our type of operation is we can’t go somewhere every weekend. We can’t just drop and go – we’ve got chores every day, seven days a week. The livestock comes first.” But, Ryan continued, “When we do take a break, we try to make a big deal of it.” The family enjoys going to the Black Hills, riding side-by-sides deep into the forest. “You spend half the day getting lost in the hills; then spend the rest of the day figuring the route to get back out,” he said. When they do make it out of the woods and get back to the farm, there doesn’t seem to be any regret from family members about the hard work. “I was too little to remember much before we lived here. Now I’m hands-on and I like it,” said Jaydn, reflecting the family’s love of farm life.
August 2021 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine
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LYON COUNTY FAMILY
Holly and Caleb Moser with their daughters, Jaycee and Hattie. Photo by Amanda Fritz Photography.
SHORTAGE OF SHEEP SHEARERS SURELY PROVIDES JOB SECURITY by Bob Fitch
What’s the objective measurement of achievement for commercial sheep shearing? “We get most of the wool off and leave most of the skin on,” said Alex Moser. “Most our customers are pretty happy with our work.” 22
The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | August 2021
Alex and his brother, Caleb (who typically goes by his nickname Billy), have both bought into the farm of their parents, Wes and Esther Moser. The operation is located on the west edge of Lester where they have both ewes to lamb out and lambs they feed to finish. “However, Caleb and I both shear sheep as our primary occupation. That’s what pays the bills,” said Alex. A majority of their shearing is done within two hours of Lester but, about once a month, they travel to jobs in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois or Wisconsin. The brothers and Alex’s wife, Katherine, stay busy shearing about 10 months out of the year. During lambing season, they rotate who stays home and who goes out with a crew. “Normally, we shear once a year for our customers, but some do it twice. We shear ewes normally before lambing. And we do lambs a couple of months before market to help them keep cool and help with their gains. We
Left: Mary Moser, daughter of Alex and Katherine, with a lamb newly shorn by her mom. Photo by Katherine Moser. Right: Alex and Katherine Moser after competing at the Indiana State Fair.
get most of our jobs done in one day. We do a clean, efficient job,” Caleb said. Alex said, “Collectively, we probably shear about 100,000 head per year. I buy the wool and we bring it home with us, and then an Illinois company comes and picks it up 40,000 pounds at a time.” Caleb said the profit for sheep producers is in the meat, not the wool. Depending upon the time of the year, the Moser’s bring in extra help from Royal, Iowa, or from out of state. Alex coordinates the work, but said, “The only reason I’m kind of in charge is no one will take my phone.” Partially because shearing is such physically demanding work, there isn’t a lot of competition in the business. At the same time, tomorrow is never promised. “Our backs aren’t going to last forever,” Caleb said. “Our long-term goal would probably be to cut back on shearing and spend more time here on the farm. But you never know. The tricky part is there are no other shearers. There’s surely a sheep shearer shortage.” Alex added, “Ideally, we’d find a few people who would shear and we’d be in charge of it and send them out.” Alex continued, “One of the older shearers we work with quit shearing for about five years. Then he had his knees, hips, and shoulders all replaced and was eventually back shearing again. Why not? His body was brand new. When he returned, he was just going to shear some of the good jobs, little sheep. But after a couple of years, he was shearing everything again, just like always.”
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Alex has demonstrated his expertise in both national and international competitions. He was the U.S. sheep shearing champion in 2018 and runner-up in 2019. He’s regularly been one of two American representatives to the World Shearing & Woolhandling Championships. He’s represented the U.S. at the competition in Australia, Ireland, France and New Zealand (twice). There are 30-35 countries who participate at the international competition. Alex placed 24th at the last world competition in 2019. Katherine has taken part in some competitions as well, although she’s quick to point out she’s only at an intermediate level, while Alex competes at the highest professional level. The couple is also part of a group of instructors who go to colleges to teach shearing. The colleges handle the logistics of getting the students and the sheep there. “We help set up the equipment and then work with the students on shearing,” she said. Katherine had the honor of leading the instruction for students who gathered at the Dawson Family Ranch in Oregon two years ago.
Wes and Esther Moser.
Hattie and Jaycee Moser, daughters of Caleb and Holly. Photo by Holly Moser.
She grew up on a sheep farm in Oregon. She was planning to move to Maryland, live with her sister there, and work with a friend in the shearing business. But the friend suggested she call Alex. “I called him and asked him if I could
work with him and I guess we ended up getting along pretty well,” Katherine said with a laugh. She helps in the lambing barn at the farm, as does Caleb’s wife, Holly, who works part-time as a dental hygienist when she isn’t home taking care of their daughters, Hattie, 4, and Jaycee, 2. Alex and Katherine have one daughter, Mary, 5. Katherine said Mary has shown some curiosity for the family shearing business: “I’ll hold her hand and help her shear a little one – sometimes she’s interested and sometimes she’s not. Mostly she wants to play with Hattie.” Alex and Caleb’s mom, Esther, can also be found helping in the lambing barn and in other ways around the farm. Katherine said, “Esther take cares of everyone. She makes phenomenal dinners. If she knows you’re going to be there working, she will have quite the dinner ready.” The brothers’ grandfather purchased the Lyon County farm in the mid-1950s, and Wes and Esther moved to the farm in 1983. Alex said, “Dad started raising sheep when he was in high school in the late 1970s. Grandpa had fed a few lambs before that, but he didn’t have any ewes. Dad also fed cattle up until 1993. But the bottom land here next to Mud Creek flooded 11 times and he didn’t have a crop to feed the cattle. The banker said he’d give him money
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doing it ever since. Caleb joked, “I learned from Alex – he’ll want me to say that. Some days he’s proud of me, some days he’s not.” Alex said the sheep market is fairly steady. “There aren’t as many people in it anymore. Some of the little ones are selling out. Those sticking with it are getting bigger, maybe going from 300 to 600 ewes. There used to be a lot more people with 20 head.”
Before and after: Katherine Moser providing instruction at a shearing school at North Dakota State University. Photos by Alex Moser.
for sheep, but no more for feeder cattle. It was the best thing that ever happened.” With limited acres and the expense of equipment, Wes chooses to hire out the field work, allowing the family to focus on sheep. Feed for the sheep typically all comes from their land, with Caleb and Alex in the field for the silage harvest.
Most finished sheep in this area are shipped out of Hawarden to the Superior Farms processing plant in Colorado. Some are shipped to Detroit and quite a few lambs go straight to the east coast to small butcher shops which directly serve ethnic markets.
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The Moser sheep herd is on an accelerated lambing program where the ewes have lambs in both the spring and the fall. This intensive reproductive management typically reduces maintenance costs of breeding stock per offspring reared and will often increase net return. Accelerated lambing systems usually require higher resource and management inputs and are used only when a producer can provide skilled management, as well as adequate nutrition for the ewe and the lamb.
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