Country Acres - April 17 edition by Star Publications

Country

Friday, April 17, 2020

cres A

Focusing on Today’s Rural Environment

Volume 8, Edition 3

PHOTO SUBMITTED

A yearling Katahdin Hair Sheep ewe cares for her newborn twins this spring at the Will and Becky Haffner farm near Rose City.

l e d o m d e i f i s r e v i D suits Haffners

Found “sweet spot” raising kids, crops and critters By DIANE LEUKAM Staff Writer ROSE CITY – When the Haffner kids visit their grandparents, it might involve a bike, or maybe a casual stroll with a walking stick to make things a little more interesting. Their grandparents live just a mile down the country road. Will and Becky Haffner of Rose City had a dream and they are pursuing it. They both grew up in Forada and graduated three years apart from the same school in Alexandria. The young couple married in 2003 and lived in Lowry, where Will was a factory worker and Becky was a stay-at-home mom. They were busy raising their family – Quenton, now 15, Carson 13, Graham 11, Benjamin, 8 and Greta, 6 – and homeschooling them. But, the country kept calling. “Will grew up on a farm and always wanted to farm alongside his dad,” Becky said. They talked to Will’s parents, John and Cindy Haffner, and began looking for a farm nearby. They found one just

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a mile away. “We bought our 200-acre farm north of Rose City in 2013 and went all in; we had a dream to farm as our only source of income and our lifestyle, and that’s what we are doing today,” Becky said. Today, the Haffners farm around 1,200 acres along with Will’s parents, John and Cindy Haffner, in Douglas, Otter Tail and Todd counties. They grow corn, soybeans, wheat and alfalfa. “We are conventional, though a portion of the corn we grow is non-GMO for feed,” Becky said. That’s right. There are animals, too, and springtime is their favorite time of the year. “We just weaned lambs,” Becky said. “We lamb in mid-February and 80 percent lamb in two weeks. It’s busy but we like it that way. As long as you go out to the barn you might as well be busy.” The Haffners raise a unique collection of animals, including 38 Red Devon, British White and Black Angus beef cattle. There are Katahdin Hair Sheep, chosen for being good moms, their medium size for easier handling, and be-

This month in the

COUNTRY

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Benjamin in Haffner holds alamb at the Haffner farm near ear Rose City, where he and his siblings help outt with chores every day.

cause they do not need shearing. They maintain a flock of up to 150 ewes and their babies. Forty or so Red Wattle, Tamworth, Large Black and Berkshire pigs round out the mix of hooved animals. Poultry include 1,000 Cornish Cross meat chickens, up to 40 turkeys and 70 laying hens. Flash, a Border Collie, helps move sheep. Mostly, he is loyal, calm and always close by. Soon, a Border Collie puppy will be added into the mix to learn how to do Flash’s work. Storm is a female Great Pyrenees and is good with the poultry. She does a daily loop around the farm to watch for predators and when she needs a nap, it is with the sheep. As one might expect, the entire family is highly involved in the operation, beginning with John. “John feeds cattle at [their place] and checks for calves; he has raised cattle his whole life,” Becky said. “Any knowledge we have on cropping, he is teaching us. John also has a hired hand, Mike Boesen, who works with us.” Will does all the calving, hay production and field work with Boesen’s help. The calving is done at John and 4

Calves for a cause Albany

Space to breathe Diane Leukam Column

A tale of two friends Albany

Cindy’s; the cattle and calves are raised on rotationally grazed pasture throughout the summer and finished on alfalfa and grain at Will and Becky’s through the winter. Becky keeps records and does bookwork, sales and deliveries, licensing and most of the veterinary care, especially with the sheep. She helps with fieldwork, hauling manure, raking hay and moving hay bales. “I don’t do any planting or harvesting, though I did just learn how to drive the grain truck,” she said with a smile. “I didn’t grow up on a farm. I didn’t know how to drive a tractor or stick shift – it’s been a learning curve for me. I love a challenge, learning new things. I love when someone tells me I can’t do it, then I’m going to do it for sure!” The Haffners also love that their kids are working on the farm, learning skills they would not have learned living in town. All the kids, except Greta, have their own chore lists and they are paid for doing them every week. Every once in a while they go over the HAFFNER continued on page 2

12 Conscious conservation Richmond 15 Creating the perfect cup of joe Avon 18 Living by Kohl’s Law Herman Lensing Column

17 Country Cooking

Page 2 • Country Acres - Friday, April 17, 2020

Diane Leukam, Editor diane@saukherald.com Ben Sonnek, Writer ben.s@saukherald.com Herman Lensing, Writer herman@melrosebeacon.com Jennifer Coyne, Writer jenn@dairystar.com Evan Michealson, Writer evan.m@star-pub.com Carol Moorman, Writer carol@melrosebeacon.com Natasha Barber, Writer natasha@saukherald.com Sarah Colburn, Freelance Writer

Story ideas send to: diane@saukherald.com

PHOTO SUBMITTED

The Will and Becky Haffner family is pictured together this spring at Will’s parents’, John and Cindy’s, farm near Rose City. Pictured are Greta (front); Carson (standing, from left), Becky, Will, Quenton, John and Cindy; Back: Graham and Benjamin.

HAFFNER from front

boys are willing to give up their chores for Greta, so she continues to be list as a family to see if Becky’s tagalong, helping any changes need to be her to feed hay. When the Haffners made. So far, none of the PHOTO SUBMITTED

Will (back) and Quenton Haffner grind feed on the Haffner farm this spring near Rose City.

SALES STAFF

Kayla Hunstiger, 320-247-2728 kayla@saukherald.com Missy Traeger, 320-291-9899 missy@saukherald.com Tim Vos, 320-845-2700 tim@albanyenterprise.com Mike Schafer, 320-894-7825 mike.s@dairystar.com Warren Stone, 320-249-9182 warren@star-pub.com Jaime Ostendorf, 320-309-1988 Jaime@star-pub.com Bob Leukam, 320-260-1248 bob.l@star-pub.com

PRODUCTION STAFF Pat Turner Amanda Thooft Nancy Powell Maddy Peterson CaraLee Feuchtenberger

Deadlines: Country Acres will be published the first Fridays of April, May, June, September, October and November, and the third Friday of every month. Deadline for news and advertising is the Thursday before publication.

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PHOTO SUBMITTED

Carson Haffner feeds bottle lambs this spring at the farm near Rose City. The Haffners maintain a flock of up to 150 ewes and their babies, and raise beef cattle, pigs and poultry on their farm, where they sell much of the meat to their direct customers.

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Friday, April 17, 2020 - Country Acres • Page 3 purchased the farm in 2013, they bought 13 sheep and started slowly selling their meat, and the business has grown since. Much of the meat from their animals is sold directly to their customers and the remainder is marketed outright. Diversification is the

strategy for making sure they have something to fall back on, even when times get tough. “With this model, it is hard to describe our farm,” Becky said. “We change, we are flexible. I am not glued to do something if it’s not working. We found a pretty good

rhythm and we are where we want to be. I feel like we found our sweet spot. We have quality of life, bring in enough income and keep our customers happy. We’re not perfect, but we are just doing the best we can.”

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Will Haffner runs the tractor and employee Mike Boesen runs the combine as they harvest the last 40 acres of corn in March. Will and Becky Haffner farm around 1,200 acres, along with Will’s parents, John and Cindy Haffner, in Douglas, Otter Tail and Todd counties.

Beef cattle hang out at Will and Becky Haffner’s farm on a crisp winter day.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

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Page 4 • Country Acres - Friday, April 17, 2020

Calves for a Cause Bauer working to provide clean drinking water for others By SARAH COLBURN Staff Writer ALBANY – At the age of 13, Cameron Bauer has raised more than $5,000 to help drill a well in Africa so people there can have access to clean water. The Albany teenager PHOTO SUBMITTED began her mission when After Cameron Bauer feeds the calves, she she was 12 and she’s one-

third of the way to her goal of raising $15,000, a goal that will provide enough funds to roughly cover the cost of one well. Cameron first began her project after seeing a video at her church, River of Life in Cold Spring, and their mission to support an organization called

WorldServe International that digs the wells. In fact, Bauer and her mother, Danielle Bauer, were supposed to leave April 3 with other youth and parents from the church to visit one of the villages that has benefited from a well. The trip was cancelled with the onset

of COVID-19, but that’s not stopping Bauer’s work. “I don’t even like to walk to get a drink of water from the fridge and these people have to walk for miles to go get dirty BAUER continued on page 7

fills their buckets with fresh water for the day.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Cameron Bauer stops chores to pose for the camera inside the cold storage barn where she raises calves in Albany.

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Space to breathe

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Out in the country, we have the benefit of space. Space to live according to our wishes. Space to breathe. Space to grow. In the country, we also experience the joy of all kinds of animals. Starting in our next issue, we begin a new spot called “Animals We Love!” Send photos of your favorite animals to me, and we will share them with our readers. Find out more about this in our sample on Page 3. If we can’t fit them all in the paper, we will share them on our Facebook page at www. facebook.com/countryacrespaper. Take care and, whatever your life’s circumstances, I hope the warm, sunny days of spring provide you with a measure of joy!

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Joy is a powerful word. Dictionary. food sources. For example, one of my com calls it “the emotion of great dedaughters lives in western Montana. light or happiness caused by something Last summer, I was visiting her family exceptionally good or satisfying; keen and the topic of conversation was some pleasure; elation.” landscaping projects they would like to I don’t know about you but for me, take on around their home. There is a a sunny, warm day in spring is pure joy. hillside next to their home that was barI think we all need a little joy these days, ren but messy from a previous owner’s and spring can help. As you read this, project gone bad. They had not figured the high temperatures in the area are out exactly what to do with the area, but predicted to be in the 50s and 60s, and I this spring, it will be terraced for vegby Diane Leukam scouldn’t be happier. etable gardens. They will grow healthy s Now, I know that being happy about the arrival of food for their growing family. Will they still need to spring isn’t going to solve the world’s problems, but rely on what they can purchase in grocery stores? Of eit definitely helps a person feel better. Having worked course! But even the thought of food sources being in fin a public office setting since 2004, I can tell you jeopardy gives a moment of pause and appreciation dthe weather has a drastic effect on the people walking for what we have always taken for granted. kthrough the front door. Give us a few weeks of gloom, We are fortunate to be where we are, right here in yand you have gloomy people. Follow that with even rural central Minnesota versus in a large city. one day of sunshine, and it is like flipping a switch. The major cities in our nation are great places to People smile more and their faces light up. visit and experience. I went with my sisters to New Spring is a time of new life, and I am feeling it. York City about 10 years ago – it was amazing to Without help from us, the days are getting longer and see, and the number of people was crazy. In the most warmer. Without help from us, the sun comes up in populous parts of the metro area, there were 57,116 the morning and sets at night. The earth is warming people per square mile in 2010. Per. Square. Mile. Or, and the trees are budding. Baby animals are being in terms of our farms and fields, 57,116 people per born everywhere. 640 acres. Several other areas were between 39,000 to One day, about a month ago it seems (I have been 51,000. New York City itself covers 302 square miles, working from my basement for nearly that long), I and had a population of 8,175,133, or 27,069 people drove uptown, and along the way I saw a couple of per square mile. The metro area was more than 20 big, fat squirrels playing alongside the road. I almost million residents – not including visitors. No wonder envied them in a weird sort of way; they were com- they are suffering so badly, being literally on top of pletely oblivious to what is going on in the world. one another. They weren’t worried about the economy or any viLike I said, New York is a great place to visit, rus. They were enjoying the day and going on with but in the past, the wonder of skyscrapers, subways life. Nature is that way. and insane traffic gives way to relief and peace as I On farms and in country life particularly, nature leave that madness behind. Give me the country anyis the order of the day all year round. It affects ev- time. Comparing our six-county Country Acres area erything and always has. It grounds us to what is real to the New York City metro area, we have just under and basic in life. It helps us to know the difference 5,000 square miles with a population of fewer than between what we can and cannot control. 300,000 people. Take the St. Cloud metro area (about I think we will see some long-lasting changes in 150,000) out of the mix, and we have about 28 people the general population from what the world has been per square mile, even with our small towns included. going through with COVID-19. There will be more Many of our townships average under 10 people per gardens and more people getting creative about their square mile.

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Page 6 â&#x20AC;˘ Country Acres - Friday, April 17, 2020

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Tell us about some of the things youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve done this year in FFA: This yearÂ I competed in the poultryÂ CDE (Career and Leadership Development). IÂ also had theÂ opportunity to travel to Indiana for the National Convention â&#x20AC;&#x201C; that was anÂ experienceÂ I will never forget. ThisÂ yearÂ I also willÂ be receivingÂ my stateÂ degree. Every year IÂ organize our annual tractor drive.Â Â Name one current issue you believe will impact agriculture in the future. The current issue thatÂ IÂ believe is aÂ problem and couldÂ possibly affect theÂ agriculturalÂ industry is the coronavirus. My reasoning behind this is there is milk that is being wasted dueÂ to the stores putting limits on it. Little do stores know, milk is producedÂ everydayÂ whichÂ means there should beÂ plenty to supply the people. IÂ believe if things get worse, they will put more limits on produce, which will also cause farmers to throw out more than just milk.Â

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Friday, April 17, 2020 - Country Acres • Page 7

BAUER from page 4 water,” Cameron said. While other students created bake sales and began selling homemade wares, smoking meats and detailing cars, Bauer, who lives on a hobby farm, turned to something she’d done before – raising calves. She raises and sells

“I don’t even like to walk to get a drink of water from the fridge and these people have to walk for miles to go get dirty water.” - Cameron Bauer

the calves, using the proceeds toward the building o“When she told us her goal we said ‘Wow, that’s a lot of money, honey,’” Danielle said. “Joel [Bauer, Cameron’s dad] and I, being the skeptical parents, told her to pray about that more.” She did. And so, Cameron’s Calves for a Cause was borne.

She’s currently selling her third batch of calves, nine head total. She sold nine the first time around and seven the second time. The calves come from a dairy farmer who is a friend of Joel’s and the minute they hit the Bauers’ property, they become Cameron’s responsibility. Cameron cares for the calves every morning and every night, sometimes missing sleepovers and other activities because she’s doing her chores. When Cameron does choose to attend a sleepover or other activity that interferes with raising the calves, she asks her brothers for help. Colton, 10 and Mason, 6 occasionally lend a hand. Cameron wakes at 6:30 a.m. to care for the calves before she begins her classes at home for the day. She feeds the calves, washes the milk buckets, gives them water, cleans their pens, adds straw and when they’re finally big enough, she brings them to the sale barn. The money she’s raised thus far comes not only from the sale of the calves, but also funds she’s saved from selling handmade signs and money she received for her birthday. The addition of the calves on the Bauers’

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Cameron Bauer fills the feed buckets for her calves, which eat a mixture of grain and corn.

hobby farm isn’t a stretch. The Bauers raise beef cattle, donkeys, a horse, ducks, chickens, dogs and cats, though not really intentionally. They make their own hay and have 50 acres that makes up their Century Farm. Joel is part owner of Midsota Manufacturing Inc. and though it’s his day job, he’s always loved farming. He would love to do more of it, but they just don’t have enough acreage for him to fully commit, Danielle said.

Though Cameron said she’s happy with the pace of her fundraising so far, she’s looking for a few other ideas to amp it up and raise money faster. She said she wants to make an impact and see the project through in its entirety. “A big thing in our family is you don’t quit, you keep going,” she said. “I have a lot of encouragement from the leaders at our youth group and my family, so I think that helps.”

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A powdered milk replacer for calves is prepared by Cameron Bauer of Albany. She feeds them milk twice a day until they reach 8 weeks of age.

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Page 8 • Country Acres - Friday, April 17, 2020

Long-distance alliance began as a mother’s death-bed request By SARAH COLBURN Staff Writer ALBANY, LE SUEUR – Tim Kranz and Marvin Lemke have an unusual friendship, one that was destined by fate … and a push from Kranz’s dying mother. Kranz, 57 and Lemke, 82, both bachelors, talk on the phone every single day. Separated by more than 118 miles, Kranz makes the drive from his hometown of Le Sueur to Lemke’s home in Albany Township at least once or twice a month. It’s been that way for seven years. It all began in 2003 when Kranz, a die-hard implement junkie, attended the Albany Pioneer Days Machinery

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Marvin Lemke of Albany Township visits with Tim Kranz of Le Sueur from this kitchen table in his Albany home. The two became fast friends and, despite the more than 118 miles between them, visit at least once a month or more in person and talk daily by phone.

Tim Kranz shows off his bright red Farmall tractor at Arlington Days.

and Threshing show with a friend. After the show they were heading back when Kranz pulled to the side of Interstate 94 near Albany to watch Lemke working a field on his farm with his tractor and plow. As Lemke worked, Kranz began taking photos and Lemke stopped, think-

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KRANZ from page 8 a large birthday cupcake sitting between them, she said her goodbyes. As Kranz walked out the door she said, “Do you remember those pictures I found

for you that day? I think you should go find this guy; I think he’s going to need a friend.” Those were the last words she spoke. “I think she knew something that I didn’t know at the time,” Kranz

said during a phone interview March 27. A month after the passing of his mother, Kranz attempted to track down Lemke, but the wintertime roads were too covered in snow. He couldn’t tell the difference

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Marvin Lemke hauls a bale of hay on his farm in Albany Township.

diesel fuel oil and manure wafting through the air. He walked across the yard, approached the house and heard the sound of the radio inside, turned up as loud as it would go. He knocked on the door and when Lemke answered he thought, “I know I’m at the right place, I remember that face.” Lemke couldn’t place Kranz until he showed him the photos and then, he welcomed

him right into the house. The two sat down and talked for three hours and their friendship bloomed. As Kranz got up to leave, Lemke said, “I can’t call you because I don’t have long distance.” Kranz assured him it was fine; he had a cell phone. He wrote down his number on the back of Lemke’s phone book and headed for home. Kranz described that

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PHOTO SUBMITTED

Tim Kranz, of Le Sueur, pulled off Interstate 94 to take this photograph of Marvin Lemke plowing a field back in 2003. Lemke got out of the tractor, his dog by his side, and the guys chatted for half an hour.

between the ditch and the road, so he turned back home. Not to be outdone by the weather, he made the trek two weeks later and started to drive down what he assumed was Lemke’s driveway. He got out and knocked on the door of the farmhouse, but there was no answer. He went to town, got some gas and came back an hour later; this time, he saw some guys out by the shed. He rolled up and showed them the photos. They said he had the wrong place but they gave him directions. “Take a left at the T in the road, go to the next T road, take a left again and when you get down to the county road heading towards Albany, go to the dead end and you’ll find his driveway,” the men told Kranz. That’s just what Kranz did, driving right up to the old farm place. He got out of the car, the smell of

Friday, April 17, 2020 - Country Acres • Page 11

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PHOTO SUBMITTED

Tim Kranz’s parents, Betty and Herb Kranz, pose for a photo. Just before Betty died, she told Tim to go find the farmer in some old plowing photos he had taken in 2003, saying she thought the farmer might tneed a friend.

tdeparture. “He told me, ‘I’m so glad you came back to find me,’” Kranz said. “There are days when I’ve gone up there and there are tears in his eyes when I leave.” The two have an intseparable bond and they know everything about one another. They talk mostly about farming, implement dealers and their true passion for tractors and equipment, along with the history of the land and family history intermixed with politics. One year, Kranz even took Lemke on a road trip to the Le Sueur Pioneer Power Show where Kranz is the “plow guy” at the show. He picked his friend up and drove him cross-country so he could take in the show. It was the first time Lemke had left the farm in decades. Kranz and Lemke visit

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by phone every day, catching up on the day’s events. Kranz has gotten to know all of Lemke’s neighbors and calls on them if he can’t reach Lemke at night – just to have them check in to make sure his friend is OK. “It gives you a great feeling; he calls every evening to see how everything went,” Lemke said. Lemke is still farming his land. He grows corn, hay and oats and has 30 head of beef cattle. He said the farm is getting to be more than he can handle these days. Occasionally, Kranz pitches in to help change out equipment and Lemke’s neighbor, Mike Welle, helps out around the property. Welle is the one to check in on Lemke most often if Kranz can’t track him down at night. He’s even invited Lemke and Kranz to birthday par-

ties at his home. Back home, Kranz works a paper route seven days a week, mows lawns in the summer and does field work at the show grounds in Le Sueur. He helps a cousin with fieldwork in the spring as the crops go in; he finishes his seasonal lawn work in the fall before the snow falls. He’s spent years visiting farm shows and making a tour of implement dealers as he’s traveled to and from those farm shows. Ever since he was a kid, Kranz has had a love of farming. He remembers sneaking up from his lower-level bedroom as a child to sit at the kitchen table at night and watching the farmer near his house plowing his fields. “I’d open the window just a crack so I could hear something,” he said. “I couldn’t see much, just the tractor and the light and that was it. The next day the fields were black; it was just amazing to me.” That raw, black dirt that he remembers being fascinated by as a child as the earth was plowed up anew, is exactly what brought him to Lemke nearly 20 years ago. “On the way home, I could see black ground and this nice, straight line and I knew there was somebody plowing,” Kranz said. “Probably three-quartersof-a-mile away from me, PHOTO SUBMITTED [Lemke was] plowing a Tim Kranz drives his tractor from the Pioneer Power Show in Le Sueur field. I just had to stop.”

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Kevin Blanchette helps Massie (left) and Belle, granddaughters of his friends, visit with his sheep. The sheep, he said, love the grain and the attention.

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Edgar the llama wanders about the pasture next to Kevin and Donna Blanchette’s traditional red barn on their farm near Richmond.

the earth. They’ve been recycling since 1977, before they were married – a time when curbside recycling pickup wasn’t even available. Kevin even wears a headlamp to check on the barn animals at night instead of opting for a big overhead light. Still, the Blanchettes wanted to do more. “We were just trying to take a little better care of the earth,” Kevin said. As they restored the original farmhouse, Donna ensured it was energy-efficient, bringing in extra insulation and caulking every joint she could to cut down on heat loss. They renovated the entire inside of the house, plumbing, electrical, everything. The Blanchettes did the demolition work on their own as well as the installation of sheetrock and the painting. Kevin credits his wife’s motivation for the big-picture projects and conscious conservation on the farm. Early on, the couple discussed installing a geothermal system, but found they’d have to excavate a large area of the property and the cost became

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Friday, April 17, 2020 - Country Acres • Page 13 prohibitive. They put in a propane-fired boiler and in-floor heat as they renovated. They looked into installing a wind turbine, banking on the fact they could save some money as Donna Blanchette’s brother worked for a company that marketed renewable energy options. Even with the connection, they found it too cost restrictive. Then, during the fall/ winter of 2017, Kevin attended a symposium about installing solar panels on farms and small businesses and by October 2018 the couple began their build. They connected with Fritz Ebinger at the Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) to understand exactly what they’d need to power their farm. Eventually, they installed a 9.8 kW fixed, ground-mounted solar array. Dan Thiede is CERTs Strategic Communications and Engagement Director. The resource team he works with helps people statewide get started with clean energy projects. His department falls under the University of Minnesota Extension service and is on an outreach and education mission. “We want to help educate people and provide unbiased resources,” Thiede said. For the Blanchettes,

PHOTO SUBMITTED

The solar array on the Kevin and Donna Blanchette farm near Richmond serves as shelter and shade for the sheep who roam the pasture.

CERTs was able to create projections surrounding the couple’s energy consumption and talk about their goals, proper locations for the solar array, resources for funding the project and potential pay-

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their energy needs; they can try to have a hedge against rising energy costs in the future,” he said. BLANCHETTE continued on page 14

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HAFFNER from page 13

The Blanchettes are hooked into the energy grid, meaning that when they make more solar power than they’re able to use, the excess flows over to the grid for use by others. The power they’re putting out at the farm is tracked and the months they add to the grid oftentimes cancel out months where they don’t have as much solar production and may owe in. The Blanchettes pay monthly rent on a bi-directional meter that tracks how much energy they upload to the grid and the energy they use on the property when the panels aren’t operating. The end result, instead of paying the $100 they used to pay out for electricity, the first 12 months they were producing solar they averaged less than $18 a month for electricity. Kevin expects the investment will pay him back in 13-15 years, between the tax credit and energy savings. On the Blanchettes’ form, the solar panels sit in a field, which was one of the spots that Ebinger, CERTs’ Rural Energy Development Program

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Chickens and sheep live in harmony on the Blanchette farm, where Kevin and Donna Blanchette have spent years working on stewardship and restoring the property.

Manager suggested for the Blanchettes. They had originally planned to put the panels on their farmhouse roof, but the mature trees in the area would have had to come down. Ebinger evaluated the property and the Blanchettes chose the field. Now, sheep roam the pasture under the panels and use them for cover and shade.

“Not only is solar a great resource for Minnesotans right now, clean energy is a big and quickly growing part of the Minnesota economy,” Thiede said. “There are 61,000 people working in energy efficiency and renewable energy in the state.” The bottom line, Thiede said, is that these

solar systems can make sense for a small business or farmers’ bottom line and, like in the case of the Blanchettes, can be compatible with farming practices. Farmers who have land they want to lease for solar can get roughly $1,000 per acre per year and leases are typically done for 25-years.

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Friday, April 17, 2020 - Country Acres • Page 15

COUNTRY COOKING Hamburger Shoestring Hotdish

BEV WINTER

• • • • •

Greenwald Stearns County

Press ground beef into bottom of a 7 1/2-inch by 11 3/4-inch glass cake pan. (Do not add salt.) Cover with a layer of onions. Spread undiluted cream soup over onions. Smooth chicken vegetable soup over top of cream soup. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove and cover with the shoestring potatoes. Bake 20-25 minutes longer.

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• • • • • •

1 cup shortening • 1 tsp. baking powder 1 cup sugar • 1 tsp. baking soda 1 cup brown sugar • 1/4 tsp. salt 2 eggs • 1 cup coconut 1 tsp. vanilla • 2 cups oatmeal 2 cups flour • 1 cup gumdrops, chopped Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture gradually. Stir in coconut, oatmeal and gumdrops. Roll into balls, place on cookie sheets and gently flatten slightly with floured fork. Bake 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees.

Marianne’s Banana Bread • • • • •

1 cup vegetable oil 2 cups sugar 4 eggs 4 cups flour 1 tsp. baking powder

• • • • •

6 Tbsp. milk 2 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. salt 6 bananas (about 2 2/3 cups) 1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional

Beat oil and sugar. Add eggs, flour, baking powder, milk, baking soda and salt. Mix in bananas and nuts. Pour into three greased and floured bread pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean.

Good and Easy Meatballs • • • • • •

2 pounds ground beef • 1 cup milk 3/4 cup oatmeal • 1 cup ketchup 1/2 tsp. salt • 3 Tbsp. brown sugar 1/4 tsp. pepper • 3 Tbsp. vinegar 1/2 tsp. chili powder • 1/2 cup water 3 Tbsp. chopped onion Mix ground beef, oatmeal, salt, pepper, chili powder, chopped onion and milk together. Form into balls and place in greased casserole or roaster. Mix ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar and water; pour over meatballs. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

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• • • • •

1 1/2 pounds ground beef 2 medium onions, thinly sliced 1 can cream of chicken soup 1 can chicken vegetable soup 1 small can shoestring potatoes (I use Pik-Nik)

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Page 16 • Country Acres - Friday, April 17, 2020

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Here in the land of the Country and Pack Rat Law, “That all horizonAcres, we’ve managed to get by applytal surfaces must be filled to capacity.” ing Kohl’s Law. (Try finding room on a shelf when you Kohl’s Law, if you don’t know it, need it.) There is even an observation, will be explained shortly. Suffice it to called Wet Law, that says “A spoon in say, it belongs to that family of legislaa sink will be located to maximize the tion that was never voted upon, but has splash from a faucet.” become an accepted law to follow by Those laws are observations on many in our communities. fact and can’t really be argued. Neither Don’t be surprised that there are can the effects of Kohl’s Law. unlegislated laws. The law of gravity Kohl’s Law clearly is not one that and the law of conservation of energy by Herman Lensing is technologically based. Some of were never passed by a majority of any those laws: Bahaman’s Law, “As soon legislative body, or made law by a dictator. They as a person reads software reviews and manages to are, well, laws you really can’t break. Those laws, master the software, a new version of that software and most law passed by legislation or government appears”; Security Lulled Law, “(Computer) crashes mandates, really are not that much fun. will wipe out source files on storage devices when Kohl’s Law and other such maxims are a bit there is the least available backup”; Edward V. Bemore enjoyable. Into that category falls: Murphy’s rand Law, “Developing software is like walking on Law, “If anything can go wrong it will”; Hofsta- water. It will go ok as long as both are frozen.” All der’s Law, “It always takes longer than you think, have applications to computers. A personal favorite even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law”; for laws dealing with computers (or printers or routand Long’s Law, “Those who know the least will ers) is the Liebowitz Law. It comes from Walter M. know it the loudest.” Related to Long’s Law is Mc- Miller, Jr.’s “A Canticle for Leibowitz,” and points Fall Maxim, “No degree of acceptance can ever out “machines have souls and choose evil.” That change the facts.” makes issues with computers much easier to underAll of those, and a few others, come from ob- stand than any trouble shooter explanation – but it serving events around us and making observations. doesn’t solve any problems. They explain why things are the way they are – There are a lot of others; they have all helped us when there seems to be no reason for it being that understand life in the country a bit better, but only way. The laws also tend to follow the observation Kohl’s Law has continuously helped us to make a of Terry Pratchett, author of the Discworld series, day, an outing or a meal better. Here it is: Kohl’s that a million-to-one chances happened 9 out of 10 Law, also known as Koal’s Law or Coel’s Law in its times. simplest form is thinly sliced cabbage (coleslaw). It Actually, Kohl’s Law, for all it benefits, may not can be seasoned with cream, peppers and sugars – fall into Prachett’s observation. It may fit a little bet- but it clearly helps make almost every country meal ter with the Filth Conservation Law, “In order for just a bit better. something to get clean, something has to get dirty”;

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Friday, April 17, 2020 - Country Acres • Page 17 PHOTO SUBMITTED

Austin Maile stands near one of three wood-fire coffee roasting machines he and his father created for his business, Austin’s Acres, Artisan Crafted Wood Fire Roasted Coffee. The 18-year-old roasts 300 to 400 pounds of coffee a year.

Maile uses Italian method for roasting coffee By SARAH COLBURN Staff Writer AVON – The crackling pop is a sound 18-year-old Austin Maile has grown accustomed to as he fire roasts 300 to 400 pounds of coffee a year. “The first crack is slow-paced popping, kind of like Rice Krispies,” Maile said. “The second crack is more intense and a lot faster-paced.” “Crack” is a term use for the roasting stage of the coffee beans. Maile watches through a small, quarter-sized peephole as the moisture gets roasted out of the beans and they begin to turn a yellow color. As the roasting progresses, the light and medium roast comes to fruition. At the start of the first crack is the light roast, then halfway

through it, the medium roast; the second crack is the dark/espresso roast. He roasts the beans using wood-fire roasting, a method borne in Italy, and sells them under the label, “Austin’s Acres, Artisan Crafted Wood Fire Roasted Coffee.” He lives with his parents, Randy and Jodi, just south of Avon in Farming Township and roasts the beans on-site. “I wanted to do something different; I wanted to do wood-fire roasted coffee,” he said. Maile isn’t new to running his own business. At the age of 10, he launched Austin’s Acres as a garden on his parents’ property and began selling produce at the local farmers market, eventually selling his own homemade pasta sauces, soups, pickles and bar-

beque sauce. During the summer, Maile is busy creating his specialties, with Dad’s help. Randy also taught Austin how to roast beans and Austin took it to the next level. Now, he does all the roasting himself. There aren’t many wood-fired coffee aficionados in the United States and Maile and his father built their own roasters entirely from scratch. They recently finished building a third one. The roasters are made almost completely out of stainless steel. They have a

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steel frame, a layer of insulation, a hopper on the side and an auger that slowly releases wood pellets into the fire for optimal temperature control. A motor on the back of the machine turns the inner drum and churns the beans, tumbling them so they roast evenly. Maile first started drinking coffee when he was 16 years old, adding in more creamer than actual Joe. As he got older, PHOTO SUBMITTED his palette matured and Austin Maile purchases coffee beans from a number of suppliers MAILE continued on page 18

around the globe. He works to find supply companies run by women and fair-trade organizations, in hopes he can more ethically source the beans.

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Page 18 • Country Acres - Friday, April 17, 2020 “I base blends off of (beans with) similarities or play around with what matches and what doesn’t go together,” he said. He sometimes blends two or three kinds of beans to create a variety. Currently, he offers 10 varieties of coffee, many in caffeinated and decaf, as well as four blends and some specialty flavored coffees that he adds seasonally, including pumpkin spice and peppermint mocha. As he creates his flavors, Maile said he considers where he’ll be selling the coffee and the regions of the various farmers’ markets he has coming up. Once he’s been to a particular market for a while, he begins to understand what customers in that region prefer and he tailors his product to fit the demand. As Maile expands his

business, he’s working toward getting his food manufacturing kitchen license so he can begin selling coffee in stores. Once he finishes his new coffee cooler, a machine that constantly circulates air through coffee beans, cooling them to the touch, he’ll apply for the license. For now, he sells his product through markets and online at his website: https://www.austinsacres. com/. Additionally, Maile plans to start school in the fall of 2020 at St. Cloud State University, where he will study marketing for his business. Wood-fire roasted coffee is his future. “It’s something that I can do on my own and I get to experiment with a few different things,” Maile said. “I can always change things up, play around with it.”

PHOTO SUBMITTED

This hand-built machine roasts hundreds of pounds of coffee a year for Austin Maile of Avon. The quarter-size hole near the bottom allows Maile to see the beans changing color, alerting him to their stage of roasting.

MAILE from page 15 now he drinks it black, limiting himself to two cups a day and only in the morning to prevent the jitters. “Coffee tends to be an acquired taste at first,” he said. The coffee beans Maile uses are shipped in large burlap coffee bags

and he then stores them on racks in the kitchen. Maile sources his beans from Nicaragua and Guatemala as well as other places, and gets them from a handful of vendors. He works to order organic beans from women producers and fair-trade organizations. “It’s better for the economies of those regions,” he said. “Some

places they don’t pay the farmers enough … this is more ethically sourced.” Not only does Maile pay attention to the ethics, he also studies the cupping notes of each type of bean he purchases. Cupping notes are subtle flavors that are written down by the seller when tasting the coffee. Every coffee will have its own cupping notes, which depend

on the country, region, altitude and soil. Those notes are provided to purchasers of the beans, and Maile uses them as he creates blends and chooses single-origin beans. “It’s something I get to experiment with, trying new blends and roasts,” he said. As he creates, Maile is able to focus on smaller batches.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

A hot cup of coffee is just what Austin Maile loves, though he limits himself to two cups a day. He creates many different blends, wood-fire roasting coffee beans purchased from carefully selected sources.

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Austin Maile’s Breakfast Blend Light Roast Coffee is just one of many blends he creates to cater to his customers’ tastes. Maile, 18, roasts coffee at Austin’s Acres south of Avon, a portion of the business he launched as a 10-year-old, beginning as a garden to grow vegetables to sell at local farmers’ markets.

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Austin Maile stores sack upon sack of coffee beans, ready for wood-fire roasting on his parents’ property just south of Avon in Farming Township. He also carries special flavorings he adds to the coffee to create holiday favorites.

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