Tri-States Grain Conditioning

Based on an acreage south of Menno, Ryan and Cassie operate Wielenga Trucking, LLC. Ryan, four full-time employees and several part-time employees haul cattle, grain, and wet and dry distiller’s feed. Cassie does all the accounting, taxes and reports. According to Ryan, “We run four trucks.” “Actually, five trucks,” interjected six-year-old son Jensen. Ryan continued the story, “Ok, we’ve got five trucks, but we run four pretty much full-time. And have one more we run in the busy times.” Originally from northwestern Iowa, Ryan moved with his parents, Lyle and Barb Wielenga, to Avon, S.D., when he was eight years old. Valerie made sure to point out that “We just call her grandma” when referring to Ryan’s mom. After graduating from Avon High School, Ryan attended Mitchell Technical College where he studied construction. “But I never worked a day of construction in my life,” he said. However, his kids set great store by his carpentry skills: “He built a dog house for the dog that’s a mansion; and it has an attic for the cats and a porch for the dog; and the inside is all insulated,” said 10-year-old daughter Savanah. “He’s got all the talent,” Jensen said very confidently about his dad. While in college, Ryan worked as a hired man for Parkston area farmer Gail Radke. He continued to work there full-time until July 2008 when he started driving semi for Randy Tjeerdsma of Yankton. His dad, Lyle, was already driving for Tjeerdsma Trucking. In April 2009, Ryan went to work for Mettler Fertilizer during the company’s busy spring season. In November that year, he took the leap to start his own trucking business. His father joined Wielenga Trucking in March 2012.

After graduating from high school in 2005, Cassie attended Augustana University for one year, then transferred to Mitchell Tech to be closer to Ryan. While in college, she began working part-time at MDS Manufacturing until January 2007, when she started a full-time position in the MDS purchasing department. In November 2008, Cassie began splitting her time working for Mettler Implement and Bertsch Law Office PC, both in Menno. After Valerie was born, Cassie left Mettler, but continued two days a week (full-time during tax season) at Bertsch Law. After

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Cassie and Ryan Wielenga of Menno. Photos by DeAnn McClure, Photography by DeAnn. Lillian was born in 2018, she quit working in town because the trucking business had grown so much.

Stepping back, Cassie and Ryan met in 2002. “Ryan and his parents drove from Avon to Menno for church. My best friend went to his church. A group from their church was going to the LifeLight Music Fest. I decided at the last minute to go with. That’s when we met,” she said.

They were married five years later. In unison, Savanah and Valerie said, “And it was 107 degrees on the seventh day of the seventh month in 2007.” Savanah added: “It was so hot they didn’t even want to eat the cake.” Two years later, the couple started the trucking company. There was a lot of grain piled at local elevators after the fall 2009 harvest that needed to be hauled. Still, in the early days of the trucking company, there was never a guarantee that there would be a load to haul the next day. “Right away, when you have a slow day, you’re kind of wondering if it’s going to work out or not. But as the years have gone by, you really appreciate the slow days now,” Ryan said. “Even though we’re not directly farmers, we pride ourselves on having the farmer work ethic. Both of our dads are hard workers and we definitely learned that from them,” he said. Cassie added: “We work for the farmer. We definitely put in the hours.” The company picks up distillers byproduct at ethanol plants in a wide area, including Sioux Center and Marcus, Iowa; Plainview, Neb.; and Marion, Aurora, Chancellor and Oneida. Jensen said, “He goes all over the world.” “Nooooo,” Savanah corrected him. “He’s never gone past Montana.” Ryan said, “The majority of the work is within 100 miles of here. In the winter, we deliver a lot of the distillers grain to the western part of the state and into Nebraska and Montana.” Wielenga Trucking also delivers finished cattle to local packing plants; and travels to Montana in the fall to pick up feeder cattle for delivery in this area. Since 2015, he’s hauled some cattle back for himself, although a partner takes care of the cattle feeding. The kids take turns on the road with Ryan. “My favorite trip is going to Montana and bringing calves back,” said Savanah. Four-year-old daughter Lillian made sure to mention that

Ryan, Lillian, Valerie, Savanah and Jensen. Wielenga Trucking transports cattle, grain, and wet and dry distiller’s feed. The Wielenga kids sometimes join Dad on the road. Jensen likes to get dirty helping in the shop.

Valerie and Dad had seen “Williams’ Big Bud, The World’s Largest Farm Tractor” at Big Sandy, Mont. Valerie and Ryan were picking up a load of calves just a few miles away during the week of her birthday in October 2020.

Cassie said when Ryan isn’t on the road, he’s busy doing the maintenance on the trucks, although he has help from Jensen, who said: “I like to go in the shop. My job is sweeping up and we grease the cattle pots and I help change the oil. My main job is tires. I mostly do everything.” Cassie told him he likes to get dirty. “Oh yeah!” was his enthusiastic reply. He also keeps busy building semi-trucks with his erector set. Savanah and Valerie enjoy living in the country and playing with animals. “We have one dog named Buddy and three cats named Callie, Coco and Chip. I hope to have a horse some day,” said Savanah. Valerie added, “My favorite animals are pigs and chickens but we don’t have any. And I can do cartwheels.” Encouraging her sister, Savanah said: “Show him your one-handed cartwheel!” So she did.

Cassie said, “We strive to keep the kids active and outdoors. And it’s nice having my mom and dad (Bill and Mary Schoenfish) just north of town where they’re free to roam on the farm. Also, my dad owns the farm in this quarter and my sister (Kari) lives in the next house over where we used to live.” The kids frequently run through the alfalfa patch to her sister’s house. “We just walk there,” said Lillian.

Cassie added: “My sister’s very willing to take the kids, although I’m worried we may be keeping her from having kids.” As the four youngsters head for the basement, this writer told them: “I’ll holler if I have any more questions for you.” But Valerie warned him: “We don’t holler in the house.”