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next week,” said Florence Vink.

“We also have heifers with calves that calved early; once we open the pasture up, they’ll go with their moms. There are also smaller calves that we separated from the bigger calves.” The Vinks had an Angus bull, but went back to a Hereford bull as they like the Hereford-Angus cross due to its docility; lately, they’ve gotten straight Herefords that they will hold back for breeding.

Leroy’s father Albert preferred the Shorthorn breed for milking, and Leroy still has the sign that hung at the end of the lane when he was growing up on the farm.

The farm’s barn was built in 1948 and includes a milkhouse. Inside the barn, an award still hangs from the Milking Shorthorn Society Parish Show of 1959, awarding Albert Vink First Prize. There is also a membership certificate to the same society dated 1961.

Klaas Verberg, Leroy’s grandpa, built the grain bin — which has three overhead bins and still stands — during his tenure. The beams that secure the building extend into the concrete and square-headed nails secure the joints; all the work done by hand. The Vinks use one side of the crib for corn storage,

“We grind our corn yet on the ear,” said Leroy, “as feed for our calves.”

The Vinks built a large equipment shed in 1993. A Farmall 656 and four-row planter are in the building. Among the equipment is a Farmall Super H that Albert bought brand new on Sept. 5, 1954, and the Vinks passed it on to their son Justin. Leroy has the original paperwork given to his father.

“I enjoy the chickens, and I try to get colorful ones. We also have Guineas, and they’re good watchdogs; if a stranger comes on the place, they make lots of noise.”

Florence Vink knows people in Texas who eat the bird; these Guineas, however, will only die of old age, she said. Cattle and calves — crossed with a Hereford and an Angus — inhabit three different pens. “We have last year’s calves — feeder cattle — which are going to market

While Leroy and Florence Vink are moving to town, Justin Vink and his wife Candi are transitioning to the farm with their daughter Brooklyn, 8, and son Leevi, 5. “Leevi already wants to be a farmer,” said Florence Vink. “He’s only in preschool, and he knows he wants to keep the farm in the family.”

Wilhelm G. Knobloch and his wife Friederika came from Germany and purchased 320 acres of land at $75 per acre or $20,000. Friederika had a brother in Lyon County, and moving here gave Wilhelm an opportunity to farm.

Knobloch’s grandfather Ernst sold a quarter section to his brother Will.

“Grandpa Ernst passed away in 1978,” said Knobloch, “so the farm was split between Carl and my dad Ezra by inheritance. The south 80 was Carl’s, and he sold that to me in 1982. My brother has the other 80 now, which was our dad’s.”

From the time that Myron purchased the farm to today’s greenhouse footprint, the driveway location is the only piece that’s close to the same, and the driveway is about three times as wide.

“There was a full set of farm buildings,” said Knobloch. “My uncle moved to Alvord about 10 years before I bought the place. He had the house torn down before I bought it, but he had a barn, hog house, machine shed, and cattle shed.”

At first, Myron and Beth approached farming this land the same as his lineage had done since 1907.

“We farrowed here,” said Knobloch, “and sold feeder pigs as well as farmed crops until 1987.

“We started officially as Knobloch’s in 1987 as a strawberry and apple operation because we knew our location was not good for retail. We did have a small greenhouse that was left from my high school FFA days, but we only used it to raise plants for ourselves, family, and friends.”

When the Knoblochs got out of hogs altogether, they decided to cash-rent their 80 acres and go full-tilt into other endeavors.

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more than fruit to survive.

“We planted vegetables to sell at the Sioux Falls Farmers Market,” stated Knobloch. “We decided to put all of our effort into the greenhouse after the strawberries (were) winter-killed in 1996.”

Knobloch’s Greenhouse has grown to a full-time undertaking, and the scheduling of care for the fruit hasn’t coordinated well with the greenhouse schedule.

-Submitted photo

CARL KNOBLOCH owned and operated the 80 acres prior to selling the farm to his nephew Myron Knobloch in 1982; this is a photo of Carl, most likely taken in the 1930s. “The farm was split between Carl and my dad Ezra by inheritance," said Knobloch. "The south 80 was Carl’s, and he sold that to me in 1982. My brother has the other 80 now, which was our dad’s.”

After the first strawberry crop was a total loss to June temps that reached 106 degrees, the couple realized they were going to need

“We’ve added numerous greenhouses over the years as our business has grown,” said Knobloch. “We constructed a new retail area in 2008 and an additional area in 2022.

“Before Grandpa Ernst moved from the farm, he had a lot of fruit trees; even when he moved to town, he had a huge garden and that was his life until he died at 91. Grandpa wouldn’t be surprised by what we’re doing here today.”

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MAXWELL — As the fourth generation to care for his family’s century farm, 78-year-old John Beal still helps out his son on their farm when he can.

“Farming was in my blood. My great-grandfather bought the farm in 1920 with 240 acres but he lost 160 during the Depression. He knew the individual who bought the land and we continued farming it,” Beal said. “When my planter wore out and it would cost more than what I wanted to give for a used planter, I hired my good friend, who is farming the neighbor’s farm across the road, to come plant my corn and beans. We have a good combine, so my son does the harvesting.”

Beal farmed with his dad after graduating from high school until he enlisted in the Army Reserves.

“The draft board said being a farmer wasn’t enough to get out of the draft, so I continued farming with my dad and spent 24 years in the Army Reserves. We came close to being called up a couple of times but I never did have to go,” Beal said.

The farm is located at 66357 305th St. in Maxwell, while Beal and his wife Carol live in town.

“When my dad passed away, I tried my best to get her to move to the farm but she told me she is a city girl. We rented out the house on the farm for a few years, then our middle daughter got married and she and her husband moved to the farmhouse,” Beal said. “It makes me feel great that we have family living on the farm and my son still does the harvesting. My daughter learned a long time ago how to drive a tractor, so she gets the crop from my son in the combine.”

Ever since his stroke, Beal hasn’t been able to farm as much as he’s wanted to, but still helps as he can.

“I’ll sit on the chair as she brings the wagon up to the auger and I open the gate and watch her unload it into the bin,” Beal said. “I deeply appreciate being able to do what I can do. I really want to do more, but I’m happy to do what I can.”

The family farm features the original barn and chicken house. They raise corn, soybeans, hay and have a 1.5-acre vineyard.

“The chicken house is about 40 feet away from the house and at one time we had cattle, hogs and sheep,” Beal said. “I remember when I was in eighth grade, my dad told me if I walked the beans and got out all the weeds, he’d buy me a brand new bicycle. I did, and he bought me a Schwinn bicycle that I still have today.”

Beal also fondly recalls picking corn with his brothers that involved a few friendly games of football with ears of corn.

“My oldest brother would run the tractors and I helped with the unloading. When we waited on our dad to fill a wagon with picked corn, we would find an ear that had dropped off and us boys would play football in the middle of the corn field,” Beal said. “We had a hay day doing that. It was also a good way to stay warm, by keeping moving in the fall when it got cold. My oldest brother was always the quarterback and he could throw with the that ear of corn a long ways.”

After their father passed away and the family farm was handed down to the three brothers, Beal bought out his brothers’ share and owned the farm outright.

“It was very exciting to know that I would be keeping the farm going and to know that my son is willing to keep the farm going, too. It was so exciting to be named a Century Farm as the fourth generation to own it. I have two grandchildren — one lives in Oklahoma and is studying to become a doctor. My other grandson works for General Fire and Safety, and when I had my stroke, he sold his condo in Ankeny and moved back home to help out,” Beal said. “We just love having him here with us.”

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Ryan Luke

P.O. Box 256, Colo, Iowa 50056

Office: (641) 377-2355

Cell: (515) 231-7102

Fax: (641) 377-2822 email: bobdaily@netins.net