Friday, Oct. 14, 2022
www.farm-news.com
Farm News / Fort Dodge, Iowa
Ideas to Celebrate
For over 100 years, 4-H has inspired families, shaped careers, and impacted communities. From October 2-8, we will celebrate the impact of 4-H during National 4-H Week.
NATIONAL 4-H WEEK • Wear Your 4-H Gear
• Share Your 4-H Story
• Shout Out a 4-H’r
• Have a 4-H Reunion
• Storefront Displays
• Send a 4-H “Thank You”
• Become a 4-H Volunteer
• Give Back
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Going Global 4-H helped spark Murley’s spirit of service By DARCY DOUGHERTY MAULSBY yettergirl@yahoo.com
ROCKWELL CITY — It’s one thing to say that 4‑H empowers young people to become confident leaders who work well with others, endure challenges and stick with a job until it gets done. It’s another to see how this plays out in real life. It’s clearly reflected in the accomplishments of Brandi Murley, Brandi a Rockwell City Murley native who was inducted into the Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame during an awards ceremony at the 2022 Iowa State Fair. During her career, Murley has served as an agribusiness volunteer with the Peace Corps and has provided assistance to address the South Sudanese refugee crisis. Murley began to understand the farm-to-fork connection and the importance of community service early on, thanks to her involvement in the Center Willing Workers 4-H Club, her blue-ribbon baking entries at the Calhoun County Exposition and her leadership roles in the Rockwell City-Lytton FFA chapter. She also learned the importance of agriculture and food production from her father, Duane, a wellknown farm broadcaster who works at the radio station in Fort Dodge. “ “I like experimenting in the kitchen,” said Murley, who did an interview with Farm News when she was a 21-year-old senior majoring in ag leadership at South Dakota State University (SDSU). “I also like to travel and learn about
food in other cultures.” Helping others, from Iowa to Africa Murley joined 4-H in fifth grade and began a journey that helped her connect with the wider world. Through the years, she participated in numerous 4-H projects, including horticulture, cooking and citizenship. 4-H inspired her to keep learning about a wide range of topics. Murley’s 4-H experiences included nine years as a club member, four years as a County Youth Council member, and two years as a Northwest Iowa Council member. As both a club member and council member, she assisted with and led many workshops and youth activities. 4-H Day with the state Legislature was one of her most memorable experiences. The communication and leadership skills Murley learned in 4-H helped build her confidence and motivated her to challenge herself. Following her 2011 graduation from Rockwell CityLytton High School, she traveled in France for two weeks with her high school French class. As a college undergraduate, she participated in a 12-day South American study trip to Argentina and Uruguay in 2015 with her fellow SDSU ag majors. Murley’s 4-H experiences also opened up internship, career and volunteer opportunities. During high school, Murley worked as a staff member in the 4-H Building at the Iowa State Fair, which led to a job as an ISU Extension summer program assistant while she was in college. Since Murley wanted to be involved in Iowa 4-H after she graduated from high school, she became a certified 4-H judge and judged at various county fairs
-Submitted photos
ABOVE: Duane and Darcy Murley, center, accept Brandi's award at the 2022 Iowa State Fair for her induction into the Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame. LEFT: Brandi Murley, who has traveled to Africa multiple times, posted this picture on her Facebook page in 2016, showing her with a host family.
across northwest Iowa. She also served as an evaluator for Iowa 4-H Project Awards. During college, Murley pursued a bachelor’s degree in agricultural education, communication, and leadership, with the goal of returning to Extension as an employee. For three years, she served as an agribusiness volunteer in the
Peace Corps. With the agricultural knowledge and leadership skills Murley gained from 4-H and college, she was deployed to postconflict Uganda for two years with an international organization, teaching out-of-school youth about agricultural practices. Her third year was spent as a communications and knowledge management volunteer responding to the South Sudanese
refugee crisis. Murley credits the leadership skills she gained through 4-H with helping her become a confident public speaker who embraces a spirit of creativity, community service and a willingness to guide fellow volunteers. These skills became critical during her three years in Uganda, where donors were consistently looking for people to help design innovative programs to address the region’s social problems. Leaders like Murley, especially those who are inducted into the Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame, highlight how 4-H remains a relevant, positive organization that helps young Iowans find their passion. The Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame was initiated in 2002 to help commemorate the 100th anniversary of 4-H. Each year, counties across Iowa select inductees for their exceptional work in contributing to the lives of 4-H members and the overall 4-H program. “We are honored to recognize these special individuals, for their advocacy and dedication to the Iowa 4-H program,” said Iowa 4-H Foundation Executive Director Emily Saveraid.
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Farm News / Fort Dodge, Iowa
www.farm-news.com
Ideas to Celebrate
For over 100 years, 4-H has inspired families, shaped careers, and impacted communities. From October 2-8, we will celebrate the impact of 4-H during National 4-H Week.
NATIONAL 4-H WEEK • Wear Your 4-H Gear
• Share Your 4-H Story
• Shout Out a 4-H’r
• Have a 4-H Reunion
• Storefront Displays
• Send a 4-H “Thank You”
• Become a 4-H Volunteer
• Give Back
Friday, Oct. 14, 2022
No horsin’ around Equine projects spurred Lake City attorney’s love of 4-H
By DARCY DOUGHERTY MAULSBY yettergirl@yahoo.com
LAKE CITY — Remember how it felt to be the little kid who wanted so badly to do things the older kids were enjoying? That’s how Illinois native Mary (Francque) Lauver felt when she showed her pony at the open show in her county at age 6. “I really enjoyed it and wanted to be in 4-H with the girls I made friends with at the open shows,” said Lauver, 27, who grew up in Dixon, Illinois, and now lives in Calhoun County. She got her wish in third grade, when she joined the Milledgeville Hotshots 4-H Club. “In Illinois, 4-H is open to kids ages 8 to 18 by Sept. 1 of the given year, which is different from Iowa,” Lauver said. “I loved being in 4-H and remained involved with 4-H through my freshman year of college.” Lauver took full advantage of a wide variety of opportunities during her 4-H years. Her projects included horses, beef cattle, crop sciences, veterinary sciences, public speaking, tractors, sewing and visual arts. “My favorite projects were horses and cattle, but public speaking and crop sciences have been very helpful in my career,” said Lauver, a Lake City attorney who met her husband, Andrew Lauver of rural Lake City, at Drake University Law School in Des Moines. Learning leadership through 4-H During her years in 4-H, Lauver served as club president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, reporter and historian at various times. At the county level, she served as federation president, county ambassador and a county junior ambassador. In addition, she made time to be part of the Carroll-LeeWhiteside Extension Expansion and Review Board, and Tri-County Extension Council 4-H representative.
“My friends were all in 4-H,” said Lauver, who has owned and operated Lauver Law in Lake City since 2020. “4-H was the most important thing I was involved in my entire childhood.” Community service inspired Lauver to get more involved in 4-H. She and her mother ran a program at the county level to help handicapped adults in the county show a horse.
“We helped them practice brushing and leading a pony once a week,” Lauver said. “We then helped them to show at the 4-H and open shows for the county.” At the state level, Lauver was selected to the Premiere-20, which includes the top 10 leaders in Illinois for 4-H and the top 10 leaders in the state for FFA. Lauver was named the Illinois Superior Young Producer for Equine. All this created even more opportunities, said Lauver, who was a member of Illinois’ state livestock ambassadors. She also competed on Illinois’ state teams at several national competitions for horse judging, Horse Bowl (a quiz competition that allows youth to showcase their horse knowledge), and hippology (a contest where students answer a wide range of equine-related
questions, including breed identification, anatomy and more). “I was on the Reserve Champion Horse Bowl and Horse Judging teams at the All American Quarter Horse Congress,” Lauver added. Building skills that last a lifetime Lauver credits 4-H with developing many of the skills that have served her well in her academic career and her business. “4-H gave me the tenacity to work hard for what I wanted,” she said. “I never had the nicest horse or heifer in the ring, but the work I put in helped me succeed.” She often drew on those experiences in law school. “I’m not a second or third generation attorney, but I knew how to work hard and study hard. This has helped me succeed in law school and in the legal profession.” Lauver’s rural roots, combined with her 4-H experiences, guided her decision to specialize in agricultural law. “4-H taught so many things. It prepared me for college and life after college in so many ways. It gave me the confidence I needed, while also teaching me responsibility, leadership and a work ethic.” Lauver treasures the amazing network she formed through 4-H. “These friends and 4-H leaders are still like family to me to this day,” she said. Giving back is important to Lauver and her husband, a former Calhoun County 4-Her and Jackson Pioneers 4-H co-leader who was inducted into the Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame in 2019. Mary Lauver volunteers with Carroll County 4-H when she returns to Illinois. She serves as an announcer and keeps the books at the beef, sheep, goat and swine shows. She also helps with the 4-H auction and serves as the superintendent for the Master Showmanship competition, where exhibitors compete for top showman honors in the
-Submitted photos
ANDREW AND MARY LAUVER pose with their daughter, Doris, a few years ago. LEFT: Mary Lauver rides her horse during her 4-H days, growing up in northern Illinois.
beef, sheep and swine categories. “I truly love 4-H and all the opportunities it provides and want to help others benefit from 4-H,” Lauver said.
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Friday, Oct. 14, 2022
www.farm-news.com
Farm News / Fort Dodge, Iowa
Ideas to Celebrate
For over 100 years, 4-H has inspired families, shaped careers, and impacted communities. From October 2-8, we will celebrate the impact of 4-H during National 4-H Week.
NATIONAL 4-H WEEK • Wear Your 4-H Gear
• Share Your 4-H Story
• Shout Out a 4-H’r
• Have a 4-H Reunion
• Storefront Displays
• Send a 4-H “Thank You”
• Become a 4-H Volunteer
• Give Back
Full circle
Spreading his wings Thompson becomes poultry judge for 4-H, FFA, Iowa State Fair By KRISTIN DANLEY-GREINER Farm_News_Iowa_KSDG@msn.com
OTTUMWA — Even though Dennis Thompson was encouraged by his father to pursue an off-the-farm passion for his career, he just couldn't go too far from his agricultural roots. Thompson grew up on a central Iowa farm where his family raised crops and livestock. He was the ninth generation to help out and was in charge of their breeding flock of purebred poultry, which they raised for a local hatchery. While involved in 4-H as a youth, Thompson naturally engaged in poultry projects. “I come from a long line of farmers. My grandparents came over from Norway and settled in central Iowa. My dad grew up on a Depression-era farm and became a full-time farmer after World War II. I had two brothers and two sisters and grew up working as an adult hired hand on the farm,” Thompson said. “He farmed anywhere from 160 acres when I was young to 600 acres, all rented. I told him I wanted to go into farming but he told me I had a good job, one he would've killed for with wages and benefits. One of the women he rented ground from told me I was the first generation to not follow farming in my family, which made me feel a little guilty.” Not surprising to those who know him, Thompson ended up becoming a general licensed poultry judge with the American Poultry Association in 1997, then was appointed poultry superintendent for the Polk County Fair and then named the poultry superintendent for the Iowa State Fair, a position he held for 27 years.
-Submitted photo
DENNIS THOMPSON and his wife Carol hold Thompson's Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame certificate after he received the award. “I’m an educator and I saw the importance of education as being foremost in 4-H, and I know competition is oftentimes the focus but I think education is really important. I really see getting young people to understand animal husbandry and the basic aspects of poultry raising as really important,” Thompson said. He naturally encouraged his son Matt and daughter Anne to participate in 4-H, where they showed poultry and dairy goats. Thompson and his son became master exhibitors with the American Poultry Association and both tend to a small flock of purebred poultry near their homes in Ottumwa. A graduate of Iowa State University, Thompson will retire at the end of this semester from his position as an English
and humanities professor at Des Moines Area Community College in Boone where he teaches writing, literature and film. “I started with DMACC in 2006 as an adjunct professor while working as a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier and ad hoc instructor for training at the Postal Service. I went back to ISU and earned my master's degree in English and creative writing,” he said. Even though he soon will be retired and no longer volunteers as a poultry superintendent, Thompson plans to continue judging open shows across the U.S. and Canada. He also currently serves as a board member for the Iowa Poultry Association, an organization that advocates for the poultry industry in Iowa through education and marketing. He and his wife, Carol, moved to Ottumwa to be closer to family. His son, Matt, serves as president of Indian Hills Community College and his family owns a 40-acre piece of ground in the country where they garden and raise chickens. “We have six grandkids and four of them are down here in Ottumwa. They're all in sports and every kind of activity. The two younger grandkids want their Poppa to help them with poultry. They have dairy cows, goats and horses — lots of critters,” he said. When Thompson learned that he had been nominated to become a member of the Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame, he was surprised. “It's really an honor. I really appreciate it,” he said.
Longtime crop specialist retires By KRISTIN DANLEY-GREINER
Farm_News_Iowa_KSDG@msn.com
After nearly 41 years of analyz‑ ing crop conditions, working close‑ ly with farmers and conducting re‑ search, Joel DeJong’s lengthy ca‑ reer as a field agronomist for Io‑ wa State University Extension and Outreach has come to an end. The 64-year-old crop expert re‑ tired Aug. 31. He said he’s worked with some amazing people and will miss those relationships, but is look‑ ing forward to a slower pace of life. “A lot of my clients became friends. I’ll probably run into them still, but not as frequently as I did while working with Extension,” De‑ Jong said. “There’s a lot of great peo‑ ple in northwest Iowa and I’ve been fortunate to interact with a lot of them. I’m also going to miss the end of op‑ portunities to learn about agronomy.” He said it’s been hard to stop star‑ ing at the fields he drives past, some‑ thing he’s done for 40-plus years. “I said to my wife, ‘Am I ever go‑ ing to stop rubbernecking all these fields’ and I catch myself doing it all the time. I don’t think that’s going to change,” DeJong said. “As the au‑ thor of the weekly crop report, I’ve always gone down the road counting fields at stages of growth, tillage, all those things, so I’m not only look‑ ing at the fields but I’m counting and doing math. Now I’m at least only looking at fields and eyeballing them for progress and not counting, so that’s a positive step.” After all these years, DeJong looks forward to spending time with his grandkids and carving out a new niche for himself. “My wife, Lor‑ raine, is a retired school teacher but still subs and has her own interests. I’m working to identify what my in‑ terests and activities will be,” he said. “But we’re enjoying going to soccer games and football games. We pick up my granddaughter after dance and go to supper.” He had an acquaintance offer him
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JOEL DEJONG sage advice — to sit back and take his time to decide what he wants to do. “I just knew it was time for me to retire. I’ve accomplished a few things I’ve felt were important, but I’m sit‑ ting back and enjoying not getting a bunch of phone calls all the time,” DeJong said. “One thing I want to do is that I’ve been fortunate to have learned a lot from good people in Io‑ wa, whether researchers or profes‑ sors or counterparts or business pro‑ fessionals. It doesn’t make sense not to share this information I’ve accu‑ mulated. I’m just not sure what shape that’s going to take just yet.” DeJong grew up on a farm be‑ tween Maurice and Orange City, the youngest of six children. He enjoyed being active in 4-H and is fortunate that one of his club leaders is in his 90s and the other in his 80s, and they still run into each other. “I showed hogs every year and a dairy calf or two. My 4-H club focused mainly on livestock. It’s wonderful the diversity in what kids can do for their 4-H projects versus what we did,” he said. While DeJong was in high school, his father retired from farming and sold the family’s farm. After his family moved off the
See DEJONG, Page 4D
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4D
Farm News / Fort Dodge, Iowa
www.farm-news.com
Friday, Oct. 14, 2022
Ideas to Celebrate
For over 100 years, 4-H has inspired families, shaped careers, and impacted communities. From October 2-8, we will celebrate the impact of 4-H during National 4-H Week.
NATIONAL 4-H WEEK • Wear Your 4-H Gear
• Share Your 4-H Story
• Shout Out a 4-H’r
• Have a 4-H Reunion
• Storefront Displays
• Send a 4-H “Thank You”
• Become a 4-H Volunteer
• Give Back
DeJong
A place to connect
farm, DeJong switched to FFA where he showed sheep at the county fair. But 4-H has played a huge role in De‑ Jong’s life not just as a club member, but in other ways, too. His granddaugh‑ ter is a fifth generation Plymouth Coun‑ ty 4-H’er on both sides of the family. He also met his wife while she was working as a 4-H program assistant in the Sioux County Extension office. “My friend was the county Exten‑ sion director and he introduced us,” De‑ Jong said. “4-H has been a big part of our family and my kids were all 4-H’ers, my siblings were all 4-H’ers, my wife’s family was all 4-H’ers. It’s amazing the relationships that exist today from all of the years we spent in 4-H when we were young. It’s neat how I’ll run into farmers who were in different clubs from me as youth, but we always reconnect.” A loyal Cyclone, DeJong enrolled at Iowa State in the late 1970s and graduat‑ ed with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture business and a finance minor in 1980. He started out a pre-veterinary medicine major, but those challenging chemistry classes prompted him to switch gears within the field of agriculture. After graduation, he worked briefly selling swine seed stock then started his first job with Iowa State University Ex‑ tension in Adair County as Extension director in 1981. He stayed in that role for a few years before moving north‑ west to take a job as Woodbury Coun‑ ty’s Extension director and agriculturist. In that position, DeJong served a seven-county area stretching from Woodbury north up to southern Min‑ nesota. He stayed there until 1992 when he applied to become the field agronomist for northwest Iowa where he’s been ever since. DeJong said he does plan to remain as secretary of the ISU research farm in northwest Iowa.
Teacher launches urban 4-H club in heart of Iowa By KRISTIN DANLEY-GREINER Farm_News_Iowa_KSDG@msn.com
4-H has been a huge part of Becky Langholz's life. She grew up as a member of the Blue Bells 4-H Club in Marshall County and enjoyed participating in music, clothing, food and nutrition, home improvement, leather craft and photography project areas. She also used Becky the opportunities 4-H afforded Langholz her to become a leader in her community at a young age. Her experience as a junior leader and one mentor in particular is what she believes led her to become a 4-H club leader as an adult, a role she's held for many years. “My 4-H leader was Ruth Gale, and she loved 4-H and loved all of her girls. It was an all girls club and she had only boys herself. I wanted that same experience for my own children as they were old enough for 4-H,” Langholz said. “As the leaders stepped away, I became one of their leaders. Then I saw a need in the public school I was teaching in for the urban kids to have similar experiences, so I
started an after-school program. The first one was at Hoyt when I taught there, now at Callanan." While living in Madison County, Langholz served as club leader of Jefferson Lee J's 4-H Club while her children were involved. She also serves as a club leader in Polk County for the Callanan 4-H Club at Callanan Middle School in Des Moines, where she is a vocal music teacher. “Working with youth is amazing. Seeing them learn new things, take new challenges head on, grow as individuals and learn new skills. The fun is watching them grow, learning from them and with them. Our kids (my students are my kids, too) deserve to have the opportunity to work together in positive youth settings where they help others and build community. This comes more naturally in rural settings with family farms, but not so in apartment buildings,” she said. “Every kid needs to belong and 4-H gives them a space to be part of something bigger than themselves. And it doesn't hurt rural 4-H’ers to interact with urban 4-H’ers either — they can learn from each other.” As an urban club leader, Langholz challenges the 4-H’ers under her tutelage to focus on three areas in particular. “We work on the three big parts of 4-H: leadership,
communications and community service. We do this through handson learning in areas the students are interested in," she said. Recently, club members chose to make tie blankets for Cancer Connection, assemble meals with Meals from the Heartland and help with Little Dresses for Africa for this year's community service projects. “Communications is woven into every meeting by simply speaking in front of your peers by answering roll call as well as sharing skills they have with others,” Langholz said. “I think communications is one of the best parts of 4-H, and I strongly encourage clubbers to do a communication project for fair. “Leadership also happens when clubbers share their skills with others on projects. This year the club wants to make bird houses, work with polymer clay, make fairy gardens, cook, sew pillowcases, make slime and do ink art to name a few,” she said. “Each one has specific skills. For instance, birdhouses is a new one, but it will include measuring, using tools, planning a project, researching best designs with materials available and will bring in a dad and grandpa with tools and time to help. The pillowcases will be learning how to use a sewing machine and sewing a straight seam — and hopefully then make the Little Dresses for
Continued from Page 3D
Africa. “Slime is science — which recipes work best, what happens if we increase the amount of contact solution or shaving cream or lotion in the mixture. We can turn anything into a project and learn from it,” she said. “We also like to take the kids on a field trip. This year we will go to the Des Moines Public Schools Farm and learn about plants and animals and the ag program available to them in high school.” Langholz averages 15 to 20 students in her Polk County 4-H Club. The kids sought out the 4-H club because they “wanted a place to connect.” she said. “They have varied backgrounds, varied cultures. Some stay a year, others clear through high school. Some parents were in 4-H, some have a family member on a farm, others have never stepped foot outside of Des Moines,” she said. “There is no typical club member. The door is open to all.” Recently, Langholz was inducted into the Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame, an honor she described as incredible. “It was humbling to be inducted and so kind of Polk County to nominate me. It was fun to find out a friend of mine from Madison County was also being inducted,” Langholz said. “4-H is like a great big family, youth and adults alike.”
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