July 2021 | www.AgeMedia.pub
Faith / Family / Friends / Farming
Meet the
DENFamily HERDER
The Gary and Deanne Den Herder family. Seated: Dana, Amanda holding Rylee, Daisy, Luke, Tara, and Courtney holding Rees. Standing: Brad, Deanne, Gary, Jordan and Jacob. Family photos by Ashley D Photography. Story on page 18.
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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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July 2021 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine
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LYON COUNTY FAMILY
Kelsey and Dylan McCarty with their children, Weston and Raelyn; Dylan’s grandparents, Jerry and Lavonne Snyders; and Brooklyn McCarty, Dylan’s sister.
HAPPY TO LIVE ‘OUT WEST’ By Bob Fitch
As she went down for a nap on a recent day, two-year-old Raelyn McCarty asked, “Wake up and go farm?” Raelyn and her four-month-old brother, Weston, live with their parents, Dylan and Kelsey, high on a hill overlooking the pastures and farm fields just southwest of Granite. Raelyn loves the farm and doesn’t want anyone to do her jobs. Kelsey said, “Yesterday, she asked ‘Daddy feeding the chickens and the kitties?’ I told her I was sure Daddy was saving that job for her.” Dylan added, “She loves to see the cows and ride the ‘wheeler.’” Dylan has taken over running the farm from his maternal grandparents, Jerry and Lavonne Snyders. “We run a 100-head cow-calf operation,” said Dylan. “My grandpa had three daughters, so I started Carlee standing in front out helping him real young.” Dylan’s of Mark; Jake in back; and Carrie holding Brooke. 6
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parents, Don and Jackie, also farmed, but Don died in a car accident on his way home from work in Sioux Falls when Dylan was only five years old. “I definitely love the farm. I can’t ever foresee myself doing anything else. I’m just thankful to be able to do it. It’s very nice to be your own boss and have this lifestyle. There’s something different every day.” When he was little, his Grandpa Snyders worked in town as a carpenter and laying carpet. “So Grandma took care of the farm for
the most part. She did the chores, did the tillage and took care of the animals. I remember falling asleep in the tractor with Grandma.” In addition to the cow-calf herd, he grows corn and soybeans and has some alfalfa. “I also sell a decent amount of grass hay. I’d like to get a few more cows and not cut quite as much grass. But the hay has been a pretty good market.” He backgrounds the calves and typically sells them at 750-850 pounds. “Calving was pretty calm this year, it was pretty nice weather.”
Raelyn and Weston – the family’s next generation – are ready to head out for their afternoon chores – feeding the kitties and chickens.
He took over the cow herd from his grandfather in 2016. And he feels fortunate that neighbor Darrel Hansen asked him to farm his crop land. “Darrel’s kind of been like an extra grandpa to me. Every Thursday, Grandpa would golf and I’d go down to Granite to help Darrel mow.” The family also attends Grandview Covenant Church with the Hansen family. A year after starting on Darrel’s land, Tom Miller (former owner of Miller Loaders in Granite) asked Dylan to start farming his land. “He told me he wouldn’t want anyone else to do it. So that’s always a good thing. It’s nice having the Millers as neighbors. They’ll weld me up anything.” He also rents farm land belonging to Alan Enger across the Big Sioux River in South Dakota. “It’s nice, everything is pretty close. Even the South Dakota piece isn’t too far away.” His sister, Brooklyn, is an operations manager for Verizon in Sioux Falls, but also owns some cows and helps her brother with the cows in the spring. Their grandfather helps truck the corn and beans in fall. “Otherwise, I do pretty much all the tillage and planting and spraying,” Dylan said. Wife Kelsey is a NICU nurse at Avera, working three 12-hour shifts per week, rotating between days and nights. Kelsey is originally from Kirkland in northern Illinois. “My dad farms, so I grew up in a farming household, too. Kirkland is a small town, so it’s pretty similar here to what I grew up in. It wasn’t some crazy transition. It is hard to be away from my family. But we usually see them once a month so we’re very fortunate,” she said.
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Although they’re both from the Midwest, Dylan and Kelsey’s story actually begins off the eastern coast of the Yucatan peninsula. “We met in Cozumel, Mexico, when we were both on family vacations,” said Kelsey, who is the daughter of Paul and Lisa Dreska. “We dated long distance for a year. Then I moved out here because the farm can’t move.” “Even though her dad
wanted me to move out there to work with him,” Dylan said. “Kelse helps me run around from place to place. It’s nice on her days off I get her to help. I try to plan jobs accordingly.” The couple met in January 2013, Kelsey moved out here a year later, and they were married in August 2016. Kelsey said, “When we were dating long distance, I worked every other weekend. So, pretty consistently, every other weekend, one of us was always driving. That took dedication. “Then I moved and we were happy not to have to drive all the time anymore. But now with the kids we still travel there a lot,” she said. “Dylan and Dad get along so well. Dylan definitely talks to my dad more than I do. It’s worked out nice for both of them with Dylan’s dad dying so young and now my dad getting the son he always wanted. Hopefully my parents will move here some time. Right now, we see them about once a month.” Dylan has appreciated the input and advice he receives from his father-in-law. “He’s been farming for so many years, it’s definitely nice to have someone to call.” Kelsey appreciates the Snyders-McCarty weekly family meals. “We have a family supper every Sunday. That’s kind of fun. It’s almost always at his grandpa and grandma’s house. When we have more people, if my folks are in town, then we’ll go to Dylan’s aunt’s house.” She also enjoys the atmosphere in northwest Iowa and southeast South Dakota. “People are nicer out here than in Illinois. Everyone waves when you drive by. People aren’t in such a hurry,” Kelsey said. “In the hospital where I worked in Illinois, a doctor would never just talk to you to say hi. When I started working here, the first time a doctor said hi and asked me how I was doing, I looked around and thought ‘Who’s he talking to?’ They actually care about me enough to make conversation.”
Dylan and Kelsey McCarty have a picture perfect spot on a rise overlooking pastures, fields and farm acreages in western Lyon County high above the village of Granite.
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A 2011 graduate of West Lyon High School and an avid outdoorsman and hunter, Dylan said, “We’re definitely happy to live ‘out west.’ I don’t need a lot more acres. It works pretty good where we’re at now – it keeps me pretty busy. But I suppose if another neighbor asks, I’d have to say yes. So far, they’ve come to me and asked me if I wanted to farm their ground. It’s nice to not have to be searching out land. I’m definitely blessed that way.”
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PLYMOUTH COUNTY FAMILY
‘IF THERE’S TIME TO GET THE WORK DONE, WE’LL DO IT. THAT’S WHY THEY PUT LIGHTS ON TRACTORS.’ by Bob Fitch
Paul Knapp; Tom, Graham and Brooke Huls. 10
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Jason Combs, Paul Knapp, Tom Huls, Heath Dumas and Merle Huls.
Tom Huls doesn’t sugarcoat his commitment to hard work and constant improvement. “I’m never happy with where I’m at. If you’re in the middle of the ocean treading water and you’re happy with where you’re at, you’re going to drown. You’d better be swimming somewhere.”
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Tom and Brooke Huls, and their son, Graham, farm east of Westfield. Along with their partners – Merle Huls, Paul Knapp, Jason Combs and Heath Dumas – they run a cow-calf operation plus grow corn, soybeans, alfalfa and grass hay. Tom grew up on the dairy farm of his parents, Merle and Sue Huls. “Farming is what I always wanted to do. The first time I ever drove a tractor, I was three years old. Mom and my brothers were gone to the lakes. Dad put me on the seat of the 3020, put twine through my belt loops and tied me to the tractor. He put the tractor in low, in first gear. He had me driving while he was on the rack behind the square baler. I still remember it because the lady who lived here then called the sheriff because she thought I was too young to be on the tractor.” Livestock was always his first love. “Going out to the pastures at the beginning or end of the day, that’s my favorite. I started milking my first cows when I was five. My mom and dad helped me buy the first cows of my own when I was a sophomore in high school.” He wrestled and played football for Akron-
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Westfield High School and received scholarship offers in the mail, “but I never opened them because I wanted to farm.” After high school graduation, he milked cows with his parents. “I also worked two part-time jobs. I worked for Highland Farms doing everything – processing pigs, working cattle, baling. Then I also worked for a plumber named Steve Carlson. He tried to teach me the ins and outs, but I was intimidated by it. I was more of a grunt and shovel guy.” In the spring of 1998, the owner of Highland Farms asked if he wanted to rent a substantial amount of pasture. “It took off and the cow herd expanded from there,” he said. Tom figured if a person is going to get up from a sound sleep to check 10 cows, he might as well make it worth the hassle and check 200 or 300 instead. Tom’s parents sold out of milk cows in 2001. “Mom went to town and started working at Walmart. Dad and I worked the cows and had other side jobs. We poured concrete and I worked for a welding and fabrication shop. I also worked welding for Masaba Mining Equipment for seven years. It was nice to have flexible people to work for who understood the need to put the crop in, take it out, and work the cows during calving season.”
Merle and Sue Huls with grandson, Graham.
Tom and Graham Huls. 12
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He has never had to seek out additional acres. “I'm proud that I’ve never asked anybody to rent their land – they’ve always asked me.” But he
recognizes that a good reputation and hard work alone doesn’t always means you’re going to succeed. “If God hadn’t taken my brother, there might not have been a place in farming for me,” he said, referring to his older brother, Todd, who died in a car accident just a few months after purchasing the acreage where Tom and Brooke make their home and farm headquarters today. “I’ve probably made some of the same mistakes of those guys who didn’t make it through the ‘80s. But I’ve been lucky. I’ve been at the right place at the right time.” Tom credited his parents for his work ethic. “I couldn’t have farmed, period, without mom and dad’s help. When I was growing up, my mom worked on the farm right beside us … milked the cows, ran the tractor, she did everything on the farm. At the time she left the farm when I was 22 years old, there was nothing I was doing that she couldn’t do.”
Brooke isn’t involved in the production side of farming at the same level her mother-in-law was, but Tom said his wife is his most important partner in life and farming. “My grandpa used to say ‘My wife made me.’ It’s the same way for me. Without Brooke by my side, farming and family life just wouldn’t work.” She helps care for the bucket calves, runs for parts, delivers meals to the field and helps wherever she’s needed. Most importantly, Tom said she’s “99 percent” in charge of raising six-year-old Graham. “There’s times I don’t see him much … depending upon the time of year, I might just talk to him on the phone to say good night.” On top of all of the farm and family work, Brooke, who is a native of Akron, has also worked full-time at Perspective Insurance for about 15 years. Tom hopes Graham keeps the family farming tradition going. “He’s a lot like I was. His interest in
livestock is crazy. He could spot a sick calf in the yard when he was four years old. My grandpa was a farmer, my dad was a farmer – I hope that Graham keeps that interest. I hope things grow enough that my partners will all grow with me. If there’s time to get the work done, we’ll do it. That’s why they put lights on tractors.” His partners have replaced the seasonal part-time help he used to hire. “We have some guys who have percentages and everybody’s got a stake in the game.” Paul Knapp started working with Tom when he was 14. “He’s a young buck. If somebody’s got to scoot up a bin to set the auger, I don’t have to ask him, he just does it.” The other two partners are Jason Combs, who is a mechanic by day at Siouxland Bobcat and Heath Dumas, who is a welder. “We’ve got it covered if we break down,” Tom said.
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“I’ve figured out over the years partnerships don’t work unless you need each other equally. For me, the spring is the most hectic part. You finishing up calving and then there’s the drive to get the crops into the ground. This spring, I put in 243 hours in in 13½ days. The tractor doesn’t get shut off unless I go home to sleep. While I’m planting, Dad or one of our partners looks after the cows. It all works together. We’ve got a really, really good partnership with these guys. “If there’s something that has to be done, any one of them steps up. I don’t have to get out of the combine and come back home to do something – it’s already done. Everybody cares about getting it done and done right. Halfway is something I’ve never accepted. And these guys don’t do anything halfway,” Tom said. The first year Heath was on the
Paul Knapp and Tom Huls pulling a calf.
team, Tom asked the guys one evening if they wanted to run late to finish combining the corn. “Heath asked, ‘Well, we’ve been running until midnight, what are you thinking?’ I said, ‘If we go straight through, we can get done by noon tomorrow. If somebody gets tired, we’ll shut it down. It ain’t worth
somebody getting hurt.’ “The next morning, the sun’s coming up and I’m unloading corn and I look over and Heath is in his underwear and socks in the tractor. I got on the radio and said ‘What in the heck are you doing?’ He said, ‘Well, when I get comfortable at home, I
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fun story or would like to suggest a family to feature, reach out to us at Bob@agemedia.pub.
Huls corn harvest in fall 2020.
get down to my socks and underwear, I figured if I’m going to be here all night, I should get comfortable.’” Tom’s “never settle” attitude towards farming comes not just from the work ethic his parents taught him, but also from his career in athletics. In addition to wrestling
and football, he played amateur baseball for 15 years. He also spent many years officiating wrestling and baseball and was honored with the Iowa Official of the Year award in 2012. He credits past coaches and fellow officials with being influential mentors.
Even though he’s been working livestock and navigating the farm fields for about four decades, Tom is not ready to call his farming career a success. “I’m not done yet, so I’ll tell you when I retire. In a story about whether a guy’s successful, you can’t tell the end of it halfway through the book.”
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RYE HARVEST IN NORTHWEST IOWA. PHOTO BY BRETT DAVELAAR, BD PHOTOGRAPHY.
July 2021 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine
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SIOUX COUNTY FAMILY
Austin Van Beek with Brad, Gerold, Gary and Jacob Den Herder.
TAKING GRANDPA’S SERMON TO HEART: DEN HERDERS FOCUS ON CASH FLOW AND EQUITY by Bob Fitch
Thirty years ago this month, Gary Den Herder started custom feeding pigs. Little did he know at the time he was part of a revolution which would dramatically drive up farm revenues in northwest Iowa, and Sioux County in particular. 18
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Brad Den Herder (Gary’s oldest son) said, “Custom feeding hogs was a very new concept back then. Dad was one of the first to enter a contract with Farmland Industries.” Sioux Center-based Farmers Cooperative Society (FCS) was a member cooperative of Farmland Industries, which was the largest agricultural cooperative in North America at the time. “Farmers Cooperative Society helped us grow and buy multiple barns. Farmers Coop needs to get a lot of credit for what’s happened here in Sioux County. They’ve grown the hog industry here. Livestock is what makes this county. People in Sioux Center, people in Sioux County get it when they smell it. Everything in town is linked to the
farm and livestock production. We’re proud of our community and its progressive approach,” Brad said. Jacob Den Herder (Gary’s younger son) said, “Custom feeding is a way for young guys to get started in farming. It provides cash flow and builds equity.” Brad said, “Since we were very little, Grandpa always preached to us that hog buildings were cash flow and equity. When I was young, I didn’t really want to feed pigs; I just wanted to be in the tractor in the field. But he stressed to us you need to have both the livestock and the land to make a living out here. That’s really been true for all of us.” Brad is glad to stand up to any custom feeding critics. “For me, I’ll be a so-called hired man any day as long as I get the check every month. The hog barns have given us the steady monthly income and helped us build equity. That helps with the crop farming – most of our barns are spread out and the manure gets applied to our land.” “And you’re still the boss of your own units,” Gary said. Austin Van Beek farms with the Den Herder family. Brad said, “Austin and I were friends from high school. He showed a lot of interest in the farm. He started as an employee, but now he has his own hog barns, too.” Austin said, “There was no room for me at our family farm and I was fortunate enough for them to take me in under their wing here. It just worked out. Now I don’t want to be anywhere else.” Gary said, “Austin is a guy who has a passion for farming and we’re privileged to have him work with us.” Austin met his wife, Jaclyn, via Brad – their wives are cousins. Austin and Jaclyn have a two-year-old daughter named Everly. Brad and Austin started a custom corn stalk baling business in 2010 which has grown significantly in recent years. They began with one baler, but have five today. They had a record year in 2020. Brad said, “Fall is a rat-race here between grain harvest and baling. We have multiple part-time employees.” Gary said, “They’re able to get these young guys after work because baling is pretty much an evening job.”
Age Media Qtr Page Color 1-8-20.pdf 1 1/8/2020 11:21:34 AM
Gary and Deanne Den Herder.
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Many of the stalk bales are sold to nearby feedlots. In turn, Den Herders will purchase some of the cattle manure to spread on their cropland. Jacob’s sideline business is to haul manure with his side-dump trailer. Jacob’s manure hauling business along with Brad and Austin’s stalk baling business are good examples of the spinoff jobs which come with a strong livestock sector. “Think of all the jobs tied to livestock, from the bankers and co-ops to the construction and cement people to insurance and manufacturing,” said Brad. “Sioux County’s towns are strong compared to other areas, not because of the farm ground, but because of the livestock.” Gary’s dad is Garold Den Herder. Garold said, “Our goal is to keep the younger generation going. The way the farming situation is today, it takes a huge amount of money. So they have to have a little backing once in a while. And they build off of that.”
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Brad said, “To Dad and Grandpa’s credit, they’ve never stood in the way of us making decisions. Sometimes you see the older generation doesn’t want to let go, but they led us from a young age to make our own decisions, and succeed or fail on our own.” Jacob agreed: “The younger you learn, the better. If an 80-year-old is still writing checks and making the decisions for the operation, that’s not good – you’re going to be way behind the eight-ball. It’s a big deal to start early. We were never held back. At the same time, Grandpa is here every day and we talk over decisions with him.”
Amanda and Brad Den Herder with their daughters Rylee and Daisy.
Grandpa Garold and his wife, Donna, farmed with his brother, Ron, for many years. They were primarily a row-crop operation plus had feeder cattle which they sold at around 700-800 pounds. In the early 2000s, Garold and Ron split up their land holdings. Garold said, “It all happened without trouble. It was just time to do that.” Twenty years after the family divided up the land, it’s starting to come back together as Den Herder Farms now rents the majority of the family’s land. Den Herder Farms is owned by Gary, Brad and Jacob. Gary and his wife, Deanne, live on an acreage which is part of the Den Herder century farm. Deanne is a registered nurse now doing footcare at the nursing home and hospital in Sioux Center.
Courtney and Jacob Den Herder with Rees.
Austin and Jaclyn Van Beek with their daughter Everly.
Brad and his wife, Amanda, live on the acreage where he and Jacob grew up which also serves as home base for the operation. Amanda, who also grew up on a farm, owns Reflections Prom & Bridal in Sioux Center. The couple has two daughters, Daisy, 4, and Rylee, who turns 2 in August. Jacob’s wife, Courtney, works at the south side Sioux Center branch of American State Bank. She’s also the coach of the Northwestern College women’s golf team. “We met at the Tulip Festival via my cousin who golfed at Northwestern just like Courtney did,” Jacob said. He and Courtney have a son, Rees, who was born in December. Gary and Deanne also have two daughters. Tara is married to Jordan Kooiker, who farms with his family near Middleburg. Tara and Jordan have a two-year-old son named Luke. Gary and Deanne’s youngest daughter, Dana, will be a sophomore at Dordt University this fall where she has started taking some ag courses.
Using different varieties and advanced planting technologies, Den Heders get creative each year with designs incorporated into their fields (foreground). In the background, various shaded areas show where different varieties are planted to fit the soil type and/or drainage in those areas of the field. 20
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For many years, the Den Herders spent every weekend with extended family. Garold’s
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brothers, Dale and Ron, owned a hitch of Percheron draft horses which they took to county fairs and the Iowa State Fair. Garold’s family became part of the show team. They enjoyed the parades and fairs, but ultimately it took too much time. Twenty-one years after their first parade at the Alton Centennial in 1980, the Den Herder draft horse hitch, harnesses and wagon were sold. But that was just one change among many. Garold remembers when his dad had a thousand hogs – which was really big back in those days – and all the chores were done with a pitchfork. There was no skid loader to do the backbreaking work. “Our first combine was a Gleaner with a two-row head. Now these guys have got two combines with 12-row heads. Our bean head back then was only 15 foot wide. It used to be you’d farm a quarter of a section and it would take the entire family. Now they can farm that in an hour or two.” Just like they went out on a limb 30 years ago with custom feeding hogs, Den Herders are not scared to be daring in the crop field, too. Brad said, “Today’s farming is so much about information. All of our decisions are based on data. We’re not afraid to try new things.” The Den Herder farmland is as far 45-50 miles away. Brad said, “It’s nice to have land close to home, but having it spread out lowers our weather risk. We farm everything from very high quality fertile soil to lower quality sandy soils; from flat ground to hilly and terraced. Everything gets managed a little differently to fit that particular farm. But one thing that constantly shows up is manure history and good drainage. We try to use manure as fertilizer as often as possible with a mix of chicken, hog and cattle manure. Some of the recent changes in the operation are less tillage and no till, planting beans early, experimenting with cover crops, and using our high clearance sprayer for split-applying nitrogen and late-season fungicides.” Gary said, “We’re always looking for a new way. We’re probably more on the progressive side.” This year, they started planting
Donna and Garold Den Herder.
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beans on March 28th and had 400 acres in the ground by April 8th. “Every year, our first beans in have been our best ones. We’re going to push the limits until we get burned – which we probably will.” But there is one value that’s timeless. Brad said, “Faith is a big part of all the decisions we make.” Gary said, “We’ve been blessed. You can’t be a farmer without faith. You put thousands of dollars in the ground and you’ve got to have faith that it’s going to produce year-after-year.”
A replica of the Den Herder Percheron draft horse hitch.
Dana Den Herder is a student at Dordt University.
Brad said, “Farming is working with nature, God’s handiwork. What we do is such a small part. Our family has been active at First Reformed Church in Sioux Center for many years. Dad and Grandpa have shown us the importance of our faith and being involved in the local church.”
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KEEPING LOCAL HISTORY ALIVE
Farmers blocking the road into Sioux City as part of the Farmers Holiday movement.
Striking farmers stop traffic heading into Sioux City in 1932. Photo from Historical Society of Iowa.
The Farmers Holiday movement was an effort during the Great Depression to obtain receipts equal to or greater than the cost of production and to alert consumers to the importance of agricultural producers.
IGNORE THEIR ‘LOLLIPOPS AND PACIFIERS’ AND ‘LET THEM EAT THEIR GOLD’ The Great Depression of the 1930s caused economic devastation across the United States and the world. Perhaps no group was hit harder than farmers, most of whom began suffering from depressed prices many years earlier. The combination of falling commodity prices, bank closings, and an avalanche of farm foreclosures left many farmers destitute. Farmers rallied their forces to try to force societal and/ or government changes. Northwest Iowa, notably Le Mars and Sioux City, became the focal point of the most famous farmer protests during the Great Depression. To set the stage, one must first go back to 1917. During the First World War, American farmers were implored to increase yields to help 26
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feed war-torn Europe. Farmers responded to the high demand and high prices – and borrowed heavily to buy more land and advanced machinery. After the war ended, Europe and Russia began to be able to feed themselves again. Consequently, demand and prices for American commodities plummeted, forcing indebted farmers to grow more and earn less. Crop prices in 1932 were less than a third of what they had been in 1920. Eventually unable to pay their debts, farmers faced foreclosures by desperate bankers seeking to collect on war-era farm loans. The National Farmers Union lobbied for aid and tariff reform in 1932, but no legislation was passed. Farmers ridiculed President Hoover’s campaign pledges as “lollipops
and pacifiers to keep you quiet.” Frustrated with the lack of results, Milo Reno, the former president of the Iowa Farmers Union, decided to take direct, radical action. Forming a protest movement known as the Farmers Holiday Association, Reno encouraged farmers to withhold crops from the market in order to draw attention to the plight of producers. The rallying cry of the movement was "Let’s call a Farmers Holiday, a Holiday let's hold. We'll eat our wheat and ham and eggs, and let them eat their gold." Reno organized farmers to refuse to ship commodities into Sioux City for 30 days or until such time as they got the “cost of production.” Farmers blocked highways with logs and spiked telegraph poles, smashed windshields
and headlights, and punctured tires with their pitchforks. The newspaper reported that the “effects of the blockade were strikingly apparent at the stockyards.” The only livestock on the market had arrived by rail, and the stockyards were nowhere near capacity. With blockades at every entry to Sioux City, stockyard and produce markets receipts plummeted. The Sioux City Milk Producers Association met with striking farmers and negotiated an 80 percent price increase, and the farmers began allowing dairy trucks though the blockade, but produce and livestock shipments were still turned away. The sheriffs of Woodbury and Plymouth counties maintained a force of several hundred deputies to escort trucks through the lines, but no truckers asked for assistance as farmers who were not a part of the movement were reluctant to risk personal injury or loss of product.
Farmers in Wisconsin went on a “milk strike,” dumping the commodity rather than sell it below the cost of production.
Emboldened by their success in Sioux City, farmers expanded their picket blockades to include railroad stations. Furthermore, 400 farmers meeting in Missouri Valley, Iowa, voted by a 90 percent majority to picket highways leading into Council Bluffs. One farmer said, “I’m over 60 years of age, and I’ve lost everything but my tongue, but I’m sure going out and use it.” In Nebraska, where farmers carried placards reading “Be Pickets or Peasants,” strikers halted a freight train and took off a carload of cattle.
the fair thing to all men to the best of my knowledge." Bradley was just about to be hanged when he was saved by a local newspaper editor who had just arrived in his car. Iowa Gov. Clyde Herring declared martial law and sent troops to Le Mars. The protest catapulted the farm crisis to the front
In Iowa, the Farmers Holiday movement spread to 33 local groups representing 88 counties. Reno declared there was “nothing revolutionary or un-American in the move,” and that they hoped only to “bring consumers to a realization of the importance of the farmer in the economic system.” It was estimated that half a million Midwest farmers had signed the Farmers’ Holiday pledge. Protests took other forms, too. In the first two months of 1933, there were at least 76 instances in 15 states of so-called penny auctions, in which groups of farmers gathered at foreclosure sales and intimidated legitimate bidders into silence. One penny auction in Nebraska drew an astounding crowd of 2,000 farmers. In Wisconsin, farmers bent on stopping a farm sale were confronted by deputies armed with tear gas and machine guns. In April 1933, the storms of protest reached a crescendo in Plymouth County when 600 farmers marched on the courthouse in Le Mars to ask the judge to stop signing foreclosure notices. Judge Charles C. Bradley sympathized with farmers who had lost their property, but he was firm in his conviction to enforce the law. Men who didn’t like this answer dragged Bradley out of his courtroom and he was taken to a crossroads outside of town, where his trousers were removed and he was threatened with mutilation. A noose was pulled tight around his neck, and the mob demanded that the strangling judge promise no further foreclosures. The 60-year-old Bradley bravely replied: "I will do
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that at the same time the farmers prevented the execution of a legal process, "they obeyed all the no parking signs around the courthouse.” Ironically, proposals from President Roosevelt and Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace which were previously considered too daring and radical were now seen as moderate and acceptable. After negotiations, Congress passed the first farm bill as part of Roosevelt’s New Deal. Just as the Holiday movement sought to raise prices by limiting
Striking farmers in Grant County, Minn.
page of the New York Times. The initial news coverage was followed by an invitation from the Times to R.F. Starzl, editor of the Le Mars Globe-Post, to write a guest editorial. Starzl wrote that the assembled crowd was dominated by middle-aged, conservative farmers. He suggested the radical behavior was not the norm – pointing out
supply, the Agricultural Adjustment Act launched a program to raise agricultural prices by paying farmers to limit production. The Holiday movement quietly fell apart as farmers were mollified by checks from the Department of Agriculture. By the autumn of 1933, popular sentiment in the country turned against the Holiday’s renewed effort at striking, when "Law and Order Leagues” emerged under the auspices of county sheriffs. The strike movement was also hindered as corn prices rose from 22 cents per bushel in April to 39 cents by the end of July.
Sources: • The Farmers' Holiday Movement, Plymouth County, Iowa: 1932-1933. By Rodney D. Karr, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 1980. • Farmers Holiday Association. By John Simkin, Spartacus Educational, 1997, updated 2020. www.spartacus-educational.com/USAfarmersHA.htm. • Farmers’ Holiday Strike of 1932. By Andrew Bouska, Council Bluff Library, 2018. www.councilbluffslibrary.org/blog/farmers-holiday-strike-of-1932/ • Rethinking the Farm Revolt. By William Pratt, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 1988.
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