16 minute read
Ryan and Kristin
DISTRICT 3 Ryan and Kristin Oberbroeckling
BY BETHANY BARATTA
Saying yes to an invitation to attend an Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) research conference opened the doors to farmer membership and camaraderie for young farmers Ryan and Kristin Oberbroeckling of Garnavillo.
From there, an invite from ISA District 3 Director Suzanne Shirbroun to join the District Advisory Council (DAC) developed the couple’s interest in delving deeper into the organization.
The Oberbroecklings raise hogs, soybeans and corn in the northeast corner of the state, where Ryan was raised. It took a trip to the FFA Washington Leadership Conference for them to meet. Kristin was raised near West Union, not on a farm, but closely connected to agriculture. Her grandparents started Baumler Implement, and she worked on a friend’s dairy farm.
“We had to travel 22 hours to come together,” Ryan says of their meeting in Washington, D.C. “We lived just 45 minutes apart.”
After they both graduated from Iowa State University, the couple settled on a farm where Ryan was raised. It’s the farm where they now raise their 2-year-old-daughter Raelynn.
They’ve rented farms since 2013 and bought their first one in 2019.
“It was a dream come true,” Kristin says. Ryan adds, “It was the most money we’ve ever spent, but it felt the best.”
Being involved with ISA, the Oberbroecklings have found a network of other farmers with similar stories and challenges.
Ryan and Kristin were selected for the Young Leader Program. Sponsored by Corteva Agriscience and the American Soybean Association, it’s a two-phase educational program for actively farming individuals and couples who are passionate about the future possibilities of agriculture.
“We have created lifelong friendships with others from Virginia to Tennessee and Kansas to Canada,” Kristin says. “It has benefited us to see what other farmers are doing as far as tillage practices, chemicals, biologicals, and even how they handle their bad days. This program also taught us some different approaches to leadership.”
The opportunities for connections are a highlight of ISA farmer membership, Kristin says.
Kristin is also involved in the ISA Communications Squad, a valueadded program for farmer members looking to accurately share the story of modern agriculture. Training through the Communications Squad has made her confident in her interactions with consumers, she says.
“It’s taught me how to engage with people you don’t have connections with at all,” says Kristin, who also works full-time as a district sales manager for Wisconsin-based Renk Seed.
Ryan is interested in the research trials and opportunities ISA offers. They’ve implemented cover crops on their acres to reduce erosion in the hills of northeast Iowa, but they’re always looking at ways to grow a more productive crop more efficiently.
He’s also excited about new technology, like the John Deere sprayer he recently got to demo using Deere’s Exact Apply nozzle control system. Combining this system with his field maps, Ryan has the power to shut off every single sprayer nozzle in the 90-foot boom. That feature would be huge for the Oberbroecklings, who have several waterways they have to maneuver around within their fields.
“Hypothetically, it would save us three to four days in the fields,” Kristin says. It would also save money on inputs because applications don’t overlap, Ryan says.
Checkoff pays off
As Ryan and Kristin have become more engaged with ISA, they’ve learned how their soybean checkoff investments fund a myriad of initiatives and endeavors.
At the top of the list: market development efforts. “They’re not on vacation when they’re across the ocean,” Ryan says of ISA’s market development work and collaboration with the
U.S. Soybean Export Council.
“There are people who do that every day – the work they do to create new markets and expand markets – that’s very important.”
“If you don’t have the market, you’re not going to sell it, and it’s not worth anything,” Kristin adds.
It’s because of the relationship building ISA has done that they are able to have markets for the soybeans they raise on their farm, which are typically destined for China or Japan. ISA’s investment in the Iowa Food & Family Project, CommonGround Iowa and ISA’s Communications Squad helps further ag awareness efforts, Kristin says.
“There are so many people who are generations removed from the farm, so it’s important that we tell our story,” she says.
Ryan and Kristin encourage other farmers to activate their ISA membership and take advantage of the opportunities ISA has to offer.
“It’s nice to talk to other farmers who have been through the same things you have,” Ryan says. “So, if somebody asks you to come to DAC or a research conference you need to do it.”
Contact Bethany Baratta at bbaratta@iasoybeans.com.
DISTRICT 4 Kris Langgaard
BY JOSEPH HOPPER
Kris Langgaard remembers the simple answer that convinced him to become a farmer. At age 6, asking his dad why he farmed, and Langgaard’s father said, “it’s because I get to be my own boss.”
“I knew that’s what I wanted to do,” says Langgard, an Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) District Advisory Council member.
He worked for John Deere for 10 years after college before returning to the farm two years ago. His father was sick, and Langgaard transitioned to managing the family’s farm.
Langgaard farms three miles south of his parents’ farm, in the same county his great-grandparents settled in after arriving in the U.S. from Denmark. He joined ISA four years ago and participated in the 2019 ISA Experience Class.
“That was eye-opening,” says Langgaard. “I really appreciated that opportunity. The two things that stuck out to me are how many different uses for soybeans there are and all the contributing factors that go into growing soybeans. There’s just as much nuance to planting beans and maintaining them as there is with the corn crop.”
Another aspect of the Experience Class the Guthrie County farmer remembers vividly was learning how the ISA’s 22-farmer member board operates and directs funds while attending a budget meeting.
“It was interesting watching staff present funding proposals for the year and the directors discussing which priorities should receive the investment,” Langgaard says. “Just looking at the checkoff number on the check, I never thought it was that important. But after seeing how the process is handled and how the money is used, I think it’s very important.
Langgaard encourages those interested in joining ISA as a farmer member to simply explore it’s programming, classes and events.
“When you’re looking at the checkoff for every one of those checks coming from the elevator or whatever, that number actually means something,” Langgaard says. “Dig in further. It’s kind of a rabbit hole; the further you’re in the more interesting it gets. Keep going and there’s a program you’re interested in as well. There are so many different opportunities so keep looking and you’re going to find something that interests you more, then you’ll be in for sure.”
Contact Joseph Hopper at jhopper@iasoybeans.com.
Guthrie County farmer Kris Langgard says the Iowa Soybean Association’s Experience Class opened his eyes to all the ways the soybean checkoff helps his farming operation.
Jacob Van Manen is a proud soybean farmer, but he also is a proud tomato grower. Van Manen and his family raise and sell tomatoes and sweet corn locally in Jasper County.
DISTRICT 5 Jacob Van Manen
BY JOSEPH HOPPER
For Jacob Van Manen of Kellogg, farming is both a family affair stretching back generations and a personal, singular focus born from a love of planting crops and watching them grow. Van Manen has been a farmer member of the Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) since graduating from Central College in 2014.
“I farm with my parents,” says Van Manen. “We’ve got hogs, cattle, corn and soybeans. My sister and I have a little bit of sweet corn and my wife Kate gets involved, too.”
Currently an ISA District 5 Advisory Council member, he originally joined the ISA after getting involved with the Iowa Food & Family Project (IFFP). He says the work Iowa FFP does for ag education made him dig in a little more. Through his involvement, Van Manen has seen the results of his soybean checkoff investment pay off.
“My checkoff investment does a lot of good to support ag education efforts,” Van Manen says. “I think of that investment as being important for what ISA does to find new markets, uses and exports.”
The Jasper County farmer put it simply for those unsure whether they should join ISA, saying it is nice to have somebody who has the best interests of farmers in mind. “The farmer membership is a pretty small financial commitment to be a part of an organization that is such a good advocate for agriculture – not even just soybeans – but agriculture as a whole,” Van Manen says.
Van Manen says seeing export demand take off and new technologies develop makes him excited about the future of the soybean industry. It’s one of the reasons why he’s proud to be an Iowa farmer.
“Being your own boss is a huge part of it,” he says. “Being able to plant and grow crops and working with livestock – I love doing that,” Van Manen says. “It’s the independence of it and the endless opportunity.”
Contact Joseph Hopper at jhopper@iasoybeans.com.
Amy Nelson, who farms near Donahue, says the Iowa Soybean Association shares information about modern agriculture to consumers, offering invaluable assistance to her family’s restaurant business.
Amy Nelson and her family farm southeast of Donahue. The farm consists of conventional row crops, including corn, soybeans and seed corn, and a cow/calf operation.
Amy lives with her husband Randy and their two children Jakob, 17, and Courtney, 14, who are now the seventh generation to be involved in the family farm. Prior to coming back to the farm, the Nelson family lived in Minneapolis for almost 10 years and moved back to Donahue in 2012. When the Nelson’s moved back to the family farm, Amy jumped back into the tractor and quickly adjusted from the hustle and bustle of the city to the vibrant farm life. “I was learning it, and I was actively farming it,” says Amy. “Then I was teaching it to my family who had no background in agriculture.”
Today, Amy is the primary farmer on the operation and is thankful for the opportunity to raise Jakob and Courtney on the exact farm where she was raised.
In 2020, the family bought a local restaurant in Donahue. Amy says the reward of being on both ends of the agriculture industry is seeing all sides of production.
The farm-to-fork experience has come full circle for the Nelson family as they produce agricultural goods and then turn around and sell the tangible food items to consumers.
Amy first became involved with the Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) through the District Advisory Council (DAC), and then she became involved in the ISA Experience. Amy enjoyed being a part of these programs and becoming more involved. She also writes for the Iowa Food & Family Project and is involved in CommonGround. Through Amy’s involvement in ISA, she has connected with farmers across the state and developed an understanding of the work the association does as a whole.
“ISA presents itself as a professional organization with outstanding communication tools and advocates for producers in a positive way to consumers,” says Amy.
The Donahue farmer says the educational and promotional material ISA promotes is critical in informing consumers about the processes farmers endure daily. Amy believes checkoff dollars are beneficial through the presence ISA has on a statewide and national level.
“It’s a way for everyone to have a small piece and to make sure somebody is looking out for farmers as a whole,” Amy adds.
DISTRICT 6 Amy Nelson
BY KENNADY MOFFITT
Contact Kennady Moffitt at kennady@iasoybeans.com.
DISTRICT 7 Preston Grobe
BY BETHANY BARATTA
Growing up, Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) farmer member Preston Grobe thought he’d design farm machinery. But that education and career path would take him away from the farm near Avoca, where he really wanted to live.
Instead, Preston joined the Iowa National Guard, serving for nine years. He attended the University of Nebraska Omaha for two years majoring in pre-mechanical engineering before earning his degree in diesel tech from Iowa Western Community College. Fortunately, his unit wasn’t activated or deployed during that time, allowing Preston to assist his dad on the farm.
“I never really left the farm,” he says.
Preston, a regional director with the Conklin Company, works with crop advisors on nutrient efficiency and inputs. He puts thousands of miles on his truck each year, traveling across the country to host meetings and consult with farmers. He also performs on-farm research through test plots.
“Ag is my ultimate passion,” he says. “This career allows me to involved on my family farm and improve the operation for generations to come. In combination with helping American farmers. I am blessed to involved in the ag industry this way
He dipped his toes into ISA offerings through the ISA Experience Class. There, he learned how the money he invests into the industry through checkoff goes toward researching agronomic challenges, developing markets, expanding uses of soy-based products and growing affinity for the industry in the state.
It’s nice to have an unbiased organization like ISA supporting us, Preston says of on-farm research trial efforts.
“I’m glad soybean checkoff dollars help research new uses like seat cushions, biodiesel, and whatever else they can make out of soybeans. If we don’t fund the research it won’t happen,” Preston says.
His son Raydden will be a senior this fall. Remote learning due to COVID-19 provided Raydden an opportunity to work with his dad and grandfather to plant and harvest crops in 2020. The experience sparked a passion in Raydden to want to return to the family farm. Then, three generations will work together.
“Farming has to be in your blood,” Preston says. “Not everybody wants to do it and not everybody can do it, but once it’s in your blood it’s hard to get it out.”
Preston and his wife Lynette, a police officer in Omaha, are also parents to Danikah, 24, and Preslyn, 21. He sees the potential to become more involved in ISA.
“I’ve always enjoyed being a part of ISA,” he says. “I’m looking forward to finding new ways to become involved in this next chapter of my life.”
Contact Bethany Baratta at bbaratta@iasoybeans.com.
Preston Grobe sits on the back of his well-traveled truck that looks over his fields near Avoca, Iowa.
Many farmers might describe their lives and careers as following in the footsteps of their parents and grandparents. For Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) District Advisory Council Member Curtis Berry of Winterset, it’s not just a figure of speech; his grandfather’s farmhouse is now his farmhouse. Berry graduated from Iowa State University in 2015 and entered the world of ag tech, but life on the farm kept calling to him. He came back home to farm with his father and to also achieve his personal dream: to grow the family farm.
“I would probably be the fourth generation to farm,” Berry says. “I live right down the road from where my great-grandpa lived.”
Berry is a 2020 participant of the ISA Experience Class. It taught him how ISA promotes soybeans, finds new uses for soybeans and keeps the soybean industry moving forward.
“Taking the class was an eyeopening experience,” the Madison County farmer says. “Learning how the markets work, what goes into raising a crop, and how we get it to the bin and then to the consumer helped me understand the whole flow of the agricultural industry.”
As part of ISA Experience Class, Berry learned how the checkoff works. While the checkoff may be seen as more of an intangible to some, Berry understands how it impacts farmers.
“It helps promote our industry, advocate for new soybean uses and expand the use of our soybean supplies,” he says. “Growing our markets while embracing current ones like soy-based biodiesel has an impact on us as farmers. You don’t see it, but it is making a difference and helping find uses for the products we grow.”
Berry says he’s amazed at the rate technology is advancing in farming. He’s humbled when talking to his grandfather about what it was like when his grandfather was living in the family farmhouse. More than anything, Berry says he loves farming because it’s what he was meant to do.
“There are a lot of hard days, but the reason I keep doing it is because it’s what I was born to do,” Berry says. “I was born into it, and I want to keep the farm up, not only for me and my dad, but for the next generation.”
DISTRICT 8 Curtis Berry
BY JOSEPH HOPPER
Contact Joseph Hopper at jhopper@iasoybeans.com.
Curtis Berry, a farmer near Winterset, walks through his fields on his operation that he runs with his parents.
Jeff and Paula Ellis, who farm near Donnellson, say they trust the research conducted from the Iowa Soybean Association to improve their farm.
DISTRICT 9 Jeff and Paula Ellis
BY JOSEPH HOPPER
Whether serving on the Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) District Advisory Council, volunteering with CommonGround Iowa or working with the ISA Research Center for Farming Innovation, Paula and Jeff Ellis of Donnellson bring their work ethic to support worthy endeavors.
They’re passionate about these ISA programs because the results support farmers.
Paula started farming with her father. Her father farmed with his brother.
“I started farming in 1993 as a FFA project and we still farm that farm today,” Paula says.
Paula and Jeff met in college and married in 1999.
“I basically followed her back home to the farm,” he says.
Jeff worked off the farm a few years before stepping in when Paula’s dad retired. The husband and wife duo are frequent participants in research trials. They say it’s all part of their farming journey. “You gotta try things if you want to improve and get better,” Jeff says. “ISA is finding out what works, what pays, then we use the information from the trials if we’re thinking about changing something. I’ll first look and see what ISA has come up with.”
Jeff says the body of research that ISA makes available through its website and research conference is useful.
“There’s a ton of research there,” he says. “ISA is proven to have good information.”
Some have asked the couple how they are able to tolerate working together. Paula says the couple makes a great team.
“Once you’re instilled with this love for the land, you can’t see yourself doing anything else,” Paula says. “We don’t have a typical 9-to-5 job, but we’re still able to go out to support our community, our kids and their activities. Even if we have to quickly hop out of the tractor, we’re able to be there for our family.”
Contact Joseph Hopper at jhopper@iasoybeans.com.
