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A Supplement to the Star Shopper
Focusing on Today’s Rural Environment
Friday, July 21, 2017 • Edition 10
Little livestock, big change Damhofs go from dairy to shrimp By MICHAEL STRASBURG Staff Writer
PHOTOS BY MICHAEL STRASBURG
(Above) After Phillip (from left) and Jan Damhof sold their dairy livestock and equipment last year, their son, Paul, retrofitted the calf barn into a shrimp farm, making Damhof Dairy of Blomkest the home of the newly-established Simply Shrimp LLC. (Right) Paul Damhof holds a shrimp that is about 120 days old. The growing period for shrimp is typically 120-160 days. Damhof hopes to sell off a batch every 120 days.
BLOMKEST – “Meticulous” is the word that comes to mind when one steps inside the office of Simply Shrimp LLC. Notebooks and binders sit on owner Paul Damhof’s desk, filled to the brim with twice-daily water inspection statistics. An open door reveals a feeding room that looks more like a science lab with scales, test tubes and beakers occupying the counter space. But that laser-like focus is what it takes to succeed in the shrimp business. And while he only began shrimp farming this spring, Paul Damhof has seen success so far. Damhof’s shrimp farm has grown out of the remains of Damhof Dairy, after his father, Phillip, retired in 2016. “I milked for about 50 years with my wife,” Phil-
DAMHOF continued on page 7
Flyin’ high Ricard enjoys crop-dusting career By CAROL MOORMAN Staff Writer SAUK CENTRE – John Ricard logs close to 300 hours on his rebuilt, yellow, single-seat, 1980s Air Tractor airplane each summer into fall, spraying crops to control weeds, insects and diseases for farmers and area cooperatives. He works with Tom Wenker, co-owner of their business, Central Planes Aviation, Inc. The two men are also airplane mechanics and private pilots. Crop dusting (spraying) isn’t without challenges, like the weather and dodging possible items like birds, power lines, towers and drones. This doesn’t dampen Ricard’s spirit or energy. In fact, during peak months from July to September, Ricard will arrive at the Sauk Centre Airport around 5 a.m. to begin his day, which may have
PHOTO BY CAROL MOORMAN
John Ricard (left) and business partner Tom Wenker stand in front of the crop-dusting airplane Ricard uses for spraying fields in central Minnesota.
him in the pilot’s seat until around 9:30 p.m. The crop dusting season starts around June 1. “It’s weather permitting. Wind is our biggest enemy. If it’s too windy we don’t spray,” he said, early in the morning on July 10, sitting in an office at the Sauk Centre Airport, where his plane is stored and the location of their crop dusting and airplane mechanics business.
A smoker system onboard the aircraft allows Ricard to check the wind information. “I can put a layer of smoke, using exhaust, on a field to tell me which way the wind is moving,” he said. Crop spraying, on corn, soybeans, potatoes and wheat is something Ricard has done for more than 20 years, getting his start at Oleen Ag Air in Rice.
“We spray a fungicide on the crops to prevent disease,” said Ricard. For corn it’s disease control, for soybeans it’s aphids, for wheat it’s scabs and for potatoes, blight. “The corn fungicide goes on right at full tassel and you have a 10- to 12RICARD continued on page 4