2 minute read
Impact Construction
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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FULL-TIME CONSTRUCTION POSITION
50-60 hours per week, NO Saturdays
Call 712-439-1862 or email rick@impactconst.com for more info and benefi ts offered
Impact
Specializing in Ag Buildings, Custom Homes and Remodels
511 Black Forest Rd., Hull IA www.reavesbuildings.com
RYE HARVEST IN NORTHWEST IOWA.
PHOTO BY BRETT DAVELAAR, BD PHOTOGRAPHY.
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.
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
