Nutritional Ag

Ryan and Andrew Hawkins.

Jaydn, J.J. and Jorden at the 2019 Plymouth County Fair.

Farming Soil Microbes & Carbon Management Does available carbon = Yields?

ACPucks Capture the power of Nitrogen with up to 40 units more N per acre of manure. Also controlling other gasses and crusting

Nu Force Water Units Making water hydrate! Quality water without salt.

Verlyn Sneller: 712-441-6359 | Kevin Flammang: 712-441-2334 Dennis von Arb: 712-540-2439

Nutritional Ag | 3839 490th Street | Alton, Iowa 51003

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. 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.” 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.