ountry C Friday, November 19, 2021
cres A Focusing on Today’s Rural Environment
Volume 8, Edition 34
Raising
feeder lambs
PHOTOS BY CHRISTINE BEHNEN
Garth Hazen (from left) and Dan, Mike and Tom Lippert have distinct businesses but work together as family in their multi-generational sheep businesses near Blomkest and Willmar.
Lippert, Hazen family work together in multi-generational enterprise BY CHRISTINE BEHNEN | STAFF WRITER
B
The sheep are shorn, though wool is not a focus market.
ST R
Publications bli ti The newspaper of today is the history of tomorrow.
This month in the
LOMKEST/WILLMAR – In a unique twist of fate, a decision made in 1932 to buy six ewes for $3 a head became the inception of a multi-generational sheep business which continues to this day, and upon the same family lands. Ninety years later, this is the story for the Lippert and Hazen family in the Blomkest/ Willmar area. One generation is comprised of brothers Dan and Mike Lippert. Dan’s son, Tom, and son-in-law, Garth, are the newest generation as of the last 10 years. Even though Mike is newly retired, three businesses have the benefit of the larger family’s help and resources. On the crisp fall day of Nov. 4, all four men gathered to share their enterprise and family history. A new load of 540 lambs had arrived just that morning from Montana and were settling in. Separated into other pens were older groups of lambs belonging to
COUNTRY:
Watch for the next edition of Country Acres on Dec. 17
Dan and Tom. These lambs, having passed their young lives until now with their mothers on the range, their three- to four-month Minnesota sojourn will see them grow from 80 or 90 pounds up to between 150 and 160 pounds. The season for feeder lambs begins in August, with a new load arriving from Montana and Colorado about every three weeks going into October and November. When they’ve grown to weight, most will go to the packing plant, and from there, perhaps to a dinner table near or far. Some may sell to the ethnic market, and others direct to locals. Tom proffered a shovelful of a feed mix of corn, alfalfa, soybean hulls and protein pellets. Slowly, the lambs will go from grass to rations of increasingly high carbohy-
Lambs page 2
7
Over-looked benefit Diane Leukam column
15 Thanksgiving Q&As With our Advertisers
21 Country cooking Albany
9
The beginning Nancy Leasman column
18 FFA student ROCORI FFA Chapter
25 Heritage turkeys a fit for Traeger Avon
10 75 years of small implements, parts Millerville
18 Growing into hard work, farming, family values Alexandria
Page 2 • Country Acres | Friday, November 19, 2021
Country Acres
Published by Star Publications Copyright 2014 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave. Sauk Centre, MN 56378 Phone: 320-352-6577 Fax: 320-352-5647 NEWS STAFF
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 Christine Behnen Freelance Writer
PHOTO BY CHRISTINE BEHNEN
Lambs arrive from Montana and Colorado to finish in Minnesota, Nov. 4 at the Lippert farm near Blomkest.
Story ideas send to: diane@saukherald.com 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 Cheyenne Carlson
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 p publication.
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Lambs from front
drates, with higher and higher percentages of corn mixed in. With his characteristic levity, Mike explained how the corn of the Midwest finishes lambs. “It’s cheaper to ship the animal to the corn, than the corn to the animal,” he said. “Corn is high in excess calories and puts on the weight. It swells the muscle fibers and grows a fat covering for flavor. Feeding lambs is like turning people loose on donuts; they plump right up!” When the lambs reach their optimum weight, there will be a narrow window between two weeks and a month in which to sell them before a greater weight might detract from the quality of the meat. While the spring and summer of 2021 saw lamb prices at an all-time high, lambs are bought in the fall without the ability to know what the price will be come time to sell. “We don’t have any ability to hedge our price risk,” Tom
PHOTO SUBMITTED
One of the original ewes who started the Lipperts into the sheep business is pictured in this 1932 photo. A decision to buy six ewes for $3 a head sparked a multi-generational sheep business which continues to this day.
said. “There is no ability to contract prices on our lambs; that is one of the biggest challenges for anyone that wants to get involved with lambs. There’s a lot of risk in this industry.” Despite the wild highs of 2021 when prices have roughly
doubled, the preceding spring of 2020, when the pandemic hit, saw a bottoming out at around half of regular prices. Processing plants were shutting down. Restaurants, hotels, fine dining and cruise lines did not need lamb when they could not open. This drastic slow-
down backed things up to the farmer. While stories of hogs being euthanized were making the rounds, the sheep industry did not have to experience such drastic measures. Still, there were three to four weeks when
Lambs page 3
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Friday, November 19, 2021 | Country Acres • Page 3 Tom Lippert holds a shovelful of feed mix that includes corn, alfalfa, soybean hulls and protein pellets, Nov. 4 near Blomkest.
Lambs
from page 2 they had very little choice, and they had to make the best of a bad situation. Mike is ever quick to balance hardship with humor. “We got the manure and the pleasure of their company,” he said. This is the experience of one very rare year, but, sheep have brought the Lipperts through nearly the last century, from the earliest ups, to the downs of the 80s and 2020. M.
PHOTOS BY CHRISTINE BEHNEN
The gradual increase of corn in the feed that also includes alfalfa, soybean hulls and protein pellets plumps the lambs up as they grow on the Lippert farm near Blomkest.
J. Lippert, Mike and Dan’s father, went from selling mice at 13 years old to chinchillas, and finally to those famous first ewes. Dan told the story of their father. “Out of the six ewes, they all had twins, triplets, and a set of quads in 1932,” he said. “That was the mother ewe that cemented the sheep business for Dad. A 90-pound fat lamb brought as much as a 250-pound hog. Grandpa took notice; then, Dad built up to 150 ewes. Grandpa said he was making more money than anything on the farm. Like any old German farm, you work for your dad until you’re 21, so all of the proceeds went to Grandpa. They did more and more because it was the best enterprise on the farm.” Alongside the Lipperts doing well with the sheep, Minnesota’s profile with sheep also rose. In 1952, there were about a million sheep in Minnesota, though this has fallen to presently only 140,000. With the rise of global commerce, a large sheep industry in Australia and New Zealand sees animals go from alive to packaged meat in New York with very short turnaround. Just as lambs are now shipped to Minnesota for finishing instead of being raised here as well, so too changing conditions have historically seen farmers adapt
and go forward. The story of how Mike and Dan started in the trade marks the second generation in this broader history. Mike was the oldest of nine children, including Dan, on the farm in the 1960s. In 1971 when their father became sick, Mike came home from college to help. At that time, he bought two loads of lambs for 27 cents a pound and sold them for quite a profit. “I made so much money, I didn’t know what to do.” Mike said, appreciating that early success. He went back to finish his studies in business, but did not come back to the area and the family farm until 1976. He was in the business for 49 years with 2020 being the end of his personal business with the sheep. This is the first year since 1976 that he hasn’t had any sheep; his farm has passed on to Garth. Dan recalled his entry into the sheep business. His high school agriculture teacher, Glen Christiansen, was a big influence for him, and he was inspired to study Animal Science after high school. Mike and Dan soon got into farming in 1980, sharing in much of the labor, but also with separate businesses on their father’s land. The 1980s were a very tough time for farming, though. Land prices were down, and there were many foreclosures. “Prices went from about $3,200 down to $750-800; it’s historically recognized as
Lambs page 4
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Lambs
from page 3 one of the worst times in farming,” Dan said. Dan’s wife, Kim, a lifetime teacher, and Mike’s wife, Sharon, were a crucial part of the whole to get through those years. “We have to give them a lot of credit,” Mike said. “Both of our wives had good jobs in town. They had salaries that paid for the living expenses and insurance, so anything that we made on the farm we could plow back in. You could retire debt and buy equipment. Otherwise, the tractor payment might have to go into family needs. In farming you don’t make money every year, but you build your equity, your equipment line and your land base. You get paid off.” Tom and Garth represent the third generation. They started in the business in the last 10 and 6 years, respectively, and are roughly the same age but from a little bit different backgrounds. Although Tom did not have any lambs of his own until after graduating from college, he had grown up helping his father, Dan, with chores, like sorting the lambs on the weekends. In col-
PHOTO BY CHRISTINE BEHNEN
These lambs will grow 60 pounds in 90 days, shown here on Nov. 4 near Blomkest.
lege he studied finance and economics, which offered him a deeper understanding of the industry when he bought his first 200 head of lambs in 2011 to finish on the family farm where he had grown up. Every year since then, he has bought a load of lambs from Montana in August or September, all the while keeping his full-time job as an Ag lender in Olivia at AgCountry. “As a kid, I wasn’t as gung-ho about the farm
life as I am now,” Tom said. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I grew up. (Going to college) gave me a different perspective. Now, I’m the nights and weekends part of the operation. I’m not on the farm like Dad and Garth are every day. I try to pull my weight and be present as much as I can, balancing family life (with wife Jennie) and a job.” Garth, on the other hand, came into the family business in 2015
when he moved from his home state of Montana to Minnesota with his wife, Erin. He began working custom feeding lambs for Mike, and they would split the profits. In subsequent years, Garth took over the reins and ownership of Mike’s farm and business, thus allowing Mike to transition out of the business he had begun in 1976. “I appreciate learning a new industry from people who know it well,” Garth said. “We
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all have a good plan going into it, and everyone wants to make it work. That makes a big difference. I listen to his advice every once in a while.” Humor is an important part of their working relationship. “We had to convert him from wheat and cattle to corn and sheep,” Dan said, a chuckle coming from the entire group. This past year, in part inspired by the pandemic market highs and lows, Garth took on a new
venture, buying a flock of 200 ewes. Come next year they will be lambing, and he will be able to make a decision based upon market conditions between selling them as bred, feeding the lambs, or possibly another viable pathway. Dan noted they are on the verge of achieving six generations working on family land, and carries forward his father’s
Lambs page 5
Friday, November 19, 2021 | Country Acres • Page 7
Comedy in the country
Country living’s over-looked benefit
How often have you sat in your chair say the same thing. watching television and those commerFor generations, country life – and farmcials come on advertising workout equiping in particular – has been driven by hard ment? You know the kind, where every work, physically, mentally, emotionally, and person working out is fit, trim and in their every other “y” you can think of. It’s not 20s or 30s. Abs of steel, sleek, powerful all bad and it’s not all good either. It just is and ready to conquer the world. what it is. How many dairymen and women My husband always says, when you have their knees and shoulders shot by the buy any sort of workout equipment, there time they’re 50? Quite a few. The workout is one requirement: It must fit under the Random Reflections routine was just too repetitive, but many bed. Otherwise, when you stop using it as of them wouldn’t have changed it for the by Diane Leukam the majority of people do sooner or later, world. Some would. it will just be in your way. There is some Life in the country offers such an entictruth to that. Kind of like most new diets, eventually ing mixture of blessings and challenges, not only for most of us fall back into our old ways. farmers but for everyone who dares call these propTherein lies one of the overlooked benefits of erties their home. country life: It comes with a built-in fitness routine. In the spirit of taking advantage of what the As a girl who grew up on a dairy farm, my work- country has to offer, let me introduce you to Nancy outs consisted of climbing an extension ladder to Leasman, our new columnist. In each issue, you will the feed room above our milking parlor. After filling read about her adventures working out – in the outtwo five-gallon pails with ground feed, I would get doors. Her writing could be described as witty, imagback on that ladder and carry the pails back down, inative, creative, down to earth and a whole lot of face-forward while standing. Being barefoot actually other things. I also call it fun and I think you will too. helped with this balancing act, except when the lad- Hopefully, her writing will be an inspiration to all of der was wet from rain. (I’m pretty sure OSHA would us to get outside and take advantage of the many benhave frowned upon all this, come to think of it.) efits it holds for our health and well-being. Once back on the ground, I would carry the pails Welcome, Nancy! across the yard to the calf barn and spread the feed I wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving, out to the calves in each pen. Then, repeat. That was and may your country workout be a blessing for your just one chore – there were plenty of others. mind, body and soul. By the time I was about 12, I spent much more of my time milking cows with Mom or Dad. At varHELP ious times throughout the summer, there was hay to bale in summer and straw closer to fall. The workouts WANTED: changed and were enhanced during those times, good Age 55+ workers for muscle confusion to avoid those fitness plateaus, needed for right? part-time As an adult living on a dairy farm, the daily light chores were much more extensive, and the workouts custodial increased as I approached my late 20s, 30s and early work at the 40s. I might not have been on an exercise equipment Rest Areas ad, but I was certainly fit. It was like going to the gym in Minnesota. CAnov19-1B-RB for many hours a day, every day. Many farmers can Contact Green View
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Page 10 • Country Acres | Friday, November 19, 2021
75 years of
small implements, parts Roers reflect on business built on fields of rocks BY CHRISTINE BEHNEN STAFF WRITER
M I L L E RV I L L E – There are those for whom a field full of rocks gave yield to generations of good fortune and good friendships. There is a family for whom a young woman’s vow to never marry a farmer led to meeting the very farmer who could turn the rocky fields to farming, family and business. There are brothers who are for each other the best friends and business partners of a lifetime. There are ageless values which find continuity through a smaller scale of implements, through their use upon the land, and most importantly, through the good people who put them to good work. This family is the Roers. The brothers are Rodney and Glenn Roers, sons of Roman and
er, a rare part, or some other small-scale equipment or machinery which is sold here. Small implement dealers used to be as plentiful as small towns, but now, customers may hail from as far off as Florida, Canada and even Ethiopia. Finding these implements, and the parts for them, requires searching over longer distances, for as long as it takes, because there are not so many dealers still around. Glenn credits the website, www.roersequipment. com, with making it possible to be of assistance to farmers on a national and international scale. The seeming miracle that a small implements and parts dealer could represent for someone is exemplified by an anecdote of a man who was looking for a specific machine part. He despaired of finding it anywhere. “I looked at the picPHOTO BY CHRISTINE BEHNEN Glenn (left) and Rodney Roers are pictured with Dave Anderson’s 1957 Farmall 350, Nov. 10 on the Roers farm/Roers ture, walked into the Equipment near Millerville. The tractor came with a story, will never be sold and is still used for utility. back room, and Dad had it hanging in the rafters,” Ruth. Roers Equipment honor their stewardship thing that signals Ro- tractors. While this alone Rodney said. “It was began 75 years ago with of the farm, the business ers Equipment is not the is sufficient to stop many hanging up in the rafter their parents. Just north of and the rocks that they well-displayed sign, but passersby, many have rather the sight of a line- sought this place by way Millerville, Rodney and grew up with. Roers page 11 Glenn carry forward with Upon arrival, the first up of red International of a need for a snowblow-
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from page 10 for 35 years. He was so thrilled to get that part.” In the beginning, 75 years ago, Roman Roers discovered and quickly took advantage of the high demand that existed for good equipment and parts, but it took a problem to get him there. The family farm was exceedingly rocky – and still is. “You can go from rock to rock without touching ground, and go a long ways,” said Glenn. Roman’s plow needed constant re-hooking, with every rock that would jar it. He knew he needed an-
other way to make money. After buying a threshing machine and then reselling it, he bought more the following year, and the business just kept going and growing. Roman was an ambitious man who also farmed, milked cows, and even had a realty business for a time. It was into this industrious environment that Rodney and Glenn were raised, along with their five other siblings. Rodney and Glenn learned the business and eventually took over in 1987. “It’s the only job we’ve ever had; we started in junior high working here,” Rodney said. “Dad was a big believer in keeping us busy, keep-
ing us out of trouble. It’s an honor to take over Dad and Mom’s business, but it’s also a sense of duty to the people who’ve been coming here for years.” Roman got along well with people, and his business practices reflected his value for the relationships that he had with his customers and community. In the 1960s, he began salvaging equipment because he realized that even if he were to sell an inferior machine honestly and quite cheaply, the customer would still be unhappy. “He said he’d sooner have 20 people happy because they’re getting
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Glenn and Rodney Roers’ salvage yard is a treasure trove of hard-to-find parts. Their parents started the business 75 years ago.
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Roers page 12
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Roers
from page 11 cheap parts, than have one person unhappy with an inferior piece of equipment,” Rodney remembered, and this firmly established the branch of the business that sold parts, as well as solidifying the ethic of respect and consideration for the customer. These customers most often were not then – and are not now – strangers. It is not uncommon for Rodney and Glenn to work with farmers whose father or grandfather were also customers. They related the story of one such multi-generational relationship, with their good friend, Dave Anderson, from Granite Falls. “Dave showed up about 10 years ago ask-
ing for Roman because he had sold Dad a cornpicker 33 years ago, was ready to retire, and wanted to sell Dad more machinery. We said Dad passed away a few years ago,” Rodney said. Dave had an antique 1530 McCormick tractor that he wanted to get rid of, because it brought him bad memories. He had meant to work on it with his friend, but this never happened. Just when they were going to start grinding valves on it, he found out his friend had cancer, and he died a short time later. Rodney and Glenn took the tractor, fixed it up, and called Dave back with a surprising invitation. “We asked if he wanted to drive it in the Millerville Butter Days Parade for us,” Rodney said. “His whole family came and took pictures, they threw candy; he was
PHOTOS SUBMITTED
Roman Roers is pictured on a favorite tractor, the model M Farmall. Roman and his wife, Ruth, began Roers Equipment 75 years ago on the farm north of Millerville.
so thrilled. He stops by all the time. When Dave Anderson comes, we make time for him – I don’t care how busy we are. We stop, because he is such a nice man. This all happened because 43 years
ago he did business with our dad.” Glenn added to the story. “In fact, we purchased nine tractors and his complete line of machinery, including the 1957 Farmall 350 that Dave’s father had bought new,” he said. Dave Anderson and his 1957 350 tractor are not just a customer and a product. He is a friend, and the tractor is still in use by the Roers, equipped with a twopoint mounted blade to grade the roads. Rodney and Glenn have a deep appreciation for some of the older equipment they come
Roers page 13
A 1959 auction bill lists many of the tractors and machinery items for sale at the time.
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Roers
from page 12
across. These machines, made of iron and steel, are easier to work with for someone with any mechanical skill. They often buy used equipment directly from individuals, and assess the condition through sometimes unexpected indicators. “The first thing I do when I get out of the pickup is look at the farm. If everything is in order, you know they took care of their equipment,” Rodney said. “I always turn the lights on. If they care enough to fix the lights, they probably fix everything else too.” These machines often mean much more than their rust or utility might suggest. For a farmer retiring, giving up these implements is like saying good-bye to everything that he’s done all of his life. Roman told his sons the story of when he went to load a farmer named John’s tractor. John insisted that, since he had been the first man to drive that tractor, he had to be the one to drive it onto the truck to load it. Before leaving, Roman could not find John to say good-bye. Finally he asked John’s wife if he was around. She said, “No, John’s in the house crying.” “The sale of that tractor was so hard on him; those kind of people care so much,” Rodney said. A story like this has
PHOTO BY CHRISTINE BEHNEN
Glenn and Rodney Roers stand by an International Farmall 350 and a lineup of tractors visible from County Road 7 near Millerville.
probably been foundational to the Roers’ principles of kindness and respect. “We’re so lucky working with farmers; they’ve got roots,” Rodney said. “Farmers as a whole are such good people. They may be on the farm for generations. They’re involved in the communities. A farmer’s word means something. When they call and say they’ll be there, you know they’re going to come.” These days, the Roers work with starting farmers who are looking for useful equipment. Some
of them are completely new, and are grateful for the generosity with which the brothers answer their questions. Others may even be returning to the farming of a prior gen-
eration. They may be organic farmers, or wildlife farmers, but they are all welcome. No question is a stupid one. Still, these are people who Rodney and Glenn
know where they came from and the work their parents did, which made their current life possible. With their own mother’s more recent passing, and the business reaching
75 years, the time seems right to commemorate what was before and what continues on. “We miss the small farms; we grew up with that life, where every farmer had 40, 50, 60 cows that they milked and a couple hundred acres,” Rodney said. “It just seemed like in those days you had more time to go fishing. The small towns were flourishing. The whole way of life has changed.” They know that even though they are not old, one day they will retire and none of their children will be taking over the business, but the heritage will remain. “Grandpa picked rocks. Dad picked rocks. We picked rocks. Our kids…they never picked rocks,” Rodney said. Glenn continued the thought seamlessly, as often happens with the two. “Rocks and all, we’re pretty attached to this farm,” he said. “This farm will never leave the family.” At 75, Roers Equipment is still going strong.
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Friday, November 19, 2021 | Country Acres • Page 15
ED
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E V ISI O N N ET W O
1. What are your favorite Thanksgiving holiday traditions? 2. What do you hope your children remember about Thanksgiving when they have families of their own?
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3. What is your favorite
Thanksgiving dish and how do you prepare it?
Q&As collected and compiled BY SARAH COLBURN | STAFF WRITER
RK
4. When do your Thanksgiving
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1. We get together with our kids and grandkids and we celebrate turkey day. We get together as a family and meet up in Florida every year. We have two daughters down there and the rest of the family packs up and heads down there. The day after Thanksgiving, we go to the Hog Waller Mud Bog and go four-wheeling. 2. That family is important, and a very, very special meal and giving thanks. 3. We have turkey and dressing prepared outside
of the bird. My wife prepares it and I eat it. 4. We have a high noon meal and then just lounge around. At the Florida property, we just sit around the pool and enjoy. 5. Four kids and four grandkids and my wife. It’s very special to get one-on-one time with the family; otherwise, it gets to be a herd and it loses the whole punch.
festivities begin and what do they include?
5. Who do you join together with for Thanksgiving?
6. How early do you launch into Christmas preparations at your home? Any Christmas traditions that follow immediately on Thanksgiving weekend?
6. My wife has the house decorated by Halloween and the gifts are already wrapped under the tree. She likes to be ahead of the curve. She gets on edge if it’s not done. Having it done early keeps everyone calm as we prepare for the holiday.
Q&A page 16
Amy & Darren Michaelis with Lyla, Cora & Hailey Michaelis M & M Lumber | Paynesville 1. Getting together with our family, eating lots of delicious foods, watching football and taking a snooze on the couch, and for Amy, it’s also checking out the Black Friday ads. Amy and her dad love to shop so they always make a daughter/dad day and go shopping Black Friday – not the crazy get up at 4 a.m. and stand in line shoppers but they still like to get out and find some deals. Our family has two Thanksgivings, one with each side of the family, so a few days after the first, we do it all over again and eat some more delicious food, watch more football, take another snooze and, after a full belly, make a trip across the road to the local golf course and we walk through the woods looking for golf balls. Some years we can’t do the hunt because there is snow but the years we can we collect five ice cream pails of balls. 2. We hope that they remember the togetherness and time spent together. Thanksgiving is a time to really focus on what you are thankful for and what really matters to you, and to have it all in one place on Thanksgiving is really special. 3. This question is impossible to answer- it is ALL so good! But if we had to pick our favorites, Amy’s would be the potatoes – prepared any kind of way, whether it be traditional mashed, cheesy, or sweet. We
sometimes make a sweet potato crunch casserole with sweet potatoes, brown sugar, pecans on top and lots of butter. Darren’s favorite is traditional green bean casserole which is always a staple dish on the Thanksgiving table. And, of course, the kids love the pie. 4. Thanksgiving is usually an all-day affair, we eat around noon, watch football, nap, eat again and then end with Black Friday shopping or golf ball hunting. 5. Our family gets together with our parents and siblings. We both come from pretty small families so we can all usually fit around the table – with the exception of the kids, they get to sit at the kid table. It’s important to include our families because they are the people you love most. 6. Well, Christmas happens early at the Michaelis household. I actually have all my decorations and tree up, I put them up the first weekend of November. I used to wait until the day after Thanksgiving, but with 2020 being the year it was I decided to switch it up and put it up early that year and it just stuck, I think from now on I will always put it up early. The decorations take a long time to put up so the longer we get to enjoy them the better. We also love to sit in our living room with our kids in the glow of our fireplace and lights and just relax. There is nothing cozier and it makes us happy. So, we do what makes us happy. edge if it’s not done. Having it done early keeps everyone calm as we prepare for the holiday.
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Page 16 • Country Acres | Friday, November 19, 2021
OUR QUESTIONS 1. What are your favorite Thanksgiving holiday traditions? 2. What do you hope your
children remember about Thanksgiving when they have families of their own?
3. What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish and how do you prepare it?
Q&A
With Our Advertisers! Q&As collected and compiled BY SARAH COLBURN | STAFF WRITER
John Huonder 1. They’re sort of new. We all used to get together when Mom and Dad were alive. Now we go to my brother Steve’s and he lives in Blaine. It’s myself, my wife, son and daughter. When my parents were alive, my siblings would all gather there – I’m the youngest of five. Now we get together at my brother’s – all the siblings and however many of their kids.
4. When do your Thanksgiving festivities begin and what do they include?
5. Who do you join together with for Thanksgiving?
6. How early do you launch into Christmas preparations at your home? Any Christmas traditions that follow immediately on Thanksgiving weekend?
2. Basically, that the best thing about it is the family getting together; it’s not the food or the decorations, it’s the family getting together. Because that’s something you can’t buy, it’s not something you can put in the oven and make. That’s something that’s there and the only thing you can count on. You can burn your turkey and stuff but your family, they’re going to end up being there for you.
Q&A page 17
3. I don’t prepare it; I just know how to eat it. Stuffing with gravy on the stuffing. We’re talking carb-central
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4. We get together around 11 in the morning and everybody starts going home about 4. There’s always football on. I have a niece who gets a whole bunch of little prizes and they play games with the younger kids and hand out prizes. 5. All my siblings come and as many of their kids as possible; now they have kids too, so the grandkids come. 6. That used to be a Mom and Dad thing, too. Christmas is just more us; our family and we go to different places. But basically, it’s just the four of us on Christmas day. Then we see which sibling has something going on, it’s not a set-instone thing. The tree goes up two weeks before Christmas and Thanksgiving is just about Thanksgiving. Between Christmas and New Year’s, we have a little down time and try to do something special, like we might go to a movie or do something a little bit different.
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basically, which I don’t need but I don’t care on Thanksgiving, that’s my free day. Stuffing with gravy on it, you just can’t beat that; if there’s a choice of in-the-bird stuffing and out-of-the-bird stuffing, it’s always the stuffing in the bird.
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1. They’re passed on. The whole family gets together and usually has Thanksgiving dinner and we have all that good stuff. Most of the time, we would go home to the parents but they don’t host anymore. Now, that’s switched off and the kids are old enough they’re coming to us. Parents come maybe half the time. 2. Just getting together and having a good time. Just keeping family together. 3. The dressing – out of the bird. I just like that better. My wife, Sandy, dries out the bread for a couple days before and adds all the spices.
4. Usually around 10 a.m. we just gather together. Just talking and chatting. Just keeping everybody together. Just getting caught up on everything. We don’t play games or watch football; we just enjoy each other. 5. We have four children, all adults now, and they join us but sometimes Mom and Dad and the sisters come too. It keeps everybody closer. 6. The kids all do their own Christmas decorating at their homes starting that weekend. Our house gets decorated shortly after Thanksgiving, usually the week after. The weekend of Thanksgiving we just relax, sit around together as a couple and chat about the weekend.
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Page 18 • Country Acres | Friday, November 19, 2021
Growing into hard work,
farming, family values
Olberdings purchased property to teach kids BY CHRISTINE BEHNEN STAFF WRITER
ALEXANDRIA – When the Olberdings founded Rustic Roots Farm of Alexandria three years ago, their agricultural horizons immediately expanded. Chad, Julie and their children, Leah and Blake (then 10 and 8 years old) had already been growing strawberries, harvesting maple syrup from the woods by their home and finishing a chicken coop. The children were also growing, and ultimately, family values inspired the couple to jump at the chance to buy the beautiful 50-acre Grubb Lake property. “We needed to do something to help our kids learn how to be productive workers,” Julie PHOTO BY CHRISTINE BEHNEN Leah (from left), Blake, Julie and Chad Olberding said. “It was to teach them stand inside their garlic plot Oct. 29 on their farm near hard work, responsibility, problem-solving and perAlexandria.
L A R U R
severance. That’s the full reason that we branched out.” The Olberding family broke ground sooner than expected. They had closed on the property in October 2018. Their first-ever garlic crop
had been planted at their home property, but miscalculations resulted in a generous amount of leftover garlic. This situation was quickly turned to their advantage, as they set to planting the surplus in the cold and wet condi-
tions of November on the new farm. “We had to plant using the headlights of the truck,” Julie said. Over the years of days, sunsets and, yes,
Olberdings page 19
Paynesville
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Blake and Leah Olberding help harvest garlic at their family farm this fall.
If you are interested, we would love the opportunity to meet with you. All applications are kept confidential. Please submit resumes to:
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KAITLIN REITMEIER ROCORI High School Grade: 10 Parents: Craig and Laura Reitmeier ROCORI FFA Chapter
Tell us about your FFA program and your involvement in it: This is ROCORI FFA’s third year as a chapter, and we are continuing to grow. I enjoy going to chapter events and I participate in the livestock evaluation CDE. I also have an ongoing SAE that involves purchasing and raising calves to sell. What is the greatest benefit you have received from being involved in FFA? The greatest benefit I have received from FFA is a desire to try new things and an aspiration to always improve. What other hobbies and interests do you have outside of FFA? Outside of FFA, I am in tennis and figure skating, and I play the saxophone in the school’s band. I love to be outdoors and enjoy caring for my calves. What are your plans for the future? I don’t have any concrete plans for the future. I barely know what I want to do, but I am learning more and more about my passions every day. What will you be most grateful for this Thanksgiving Day? There are many things to be thankful for, but this Thanksgiving, I will be especially thankful for my family. I really could not live without them, and I am blessed to get to spend my life with such wonderful and supportive people.
Friday, November 19, 2021 | Country Acres • Page 19
Olberdings from page 18
some nights, their projects have come to include growing garlic, strawberries, hay, a variety of vegetables, maple syrup, apples and newer ventures like mushrooms and hydroponics. On Oct. 29, the garlic planting had just finished, and the Olberdings gathered to demonstrate and share just how a garlic operation is run. This year, the garlic was planted into a cover crop. This provided a green “manure,” which was then tilled in before the planting. In a span of weeks, the field would become host to 10 varieties of hardneck garlic which will make up over 17,000 plants in the ground. “Every single one goes in by hand; we harvest by hand too,” Julie said. It took three days of planting together, plus another day with just Chad and Julie. Rows are spaced close together for efficient use of space and materials. Fencing helps prevent deer passing and piercing the ground with their hooves. Before planting, each head of garlic is separated into cloves. They are then soaked 8 to 24 hours in a fertilizer which includes fish emulsion and mycor-
PHOTOS BY CHRISTINE BEHNEN
Expanding space to grow more strawberry plants was one impetus for the Olberdings to buy their Alexandria farm.
rhizal inoculants, which help the plant get started. A “dibbler” spaces and punches the holes. The cloves are placed with the flat end down and the pointed end up. Each clove will grow and become its own head. The garlic vernalizes when it is exposed to the freezing winter temperatures soon after planting, and so is more likely to grow large bulbs with many cloves. This is why the hardneck garlic is planted in the fall close to the freeze. A layer of straw covers the newly planted garlic cloves. As the fall vacillates between freeze and thaw, the ground flexes, and could push the new cloves right
out of the soil, but for the temperature regulation provided by the straw mulch. When the spring warmth returns, the mulch will reduce weed growth and help retain moisture. Garlic doesn’t need much watering; even with this past year’s drought, the garlic flourished. The growing garlic will then want to flower, just like its allium cousin, the onion. The scapes will be cut off before they can flower in order to concentrate the energy into the bulbs until the July harvest. “And then, since we like to do everything by hand, I will literally crawl through the field, and if
the garlic aren’t emerging like they should be, I’ll dig the straw away, because it’s too thick, and let the green shoot come out,” Julie said. There are said to be 400 different varieties of garlic. The Olberdings only grow hardneck garlic, as opposed to softneck. Red Grain was the variety they were planting on Oct. 29. It is a purple stripe type of garlic. In order to keep the varieties identified and separate, they need to be meticulously labeled and separated each step along the way. In the field, there are markers amongst the
Olberdings page 23
Leah and Chad Olberding separate cloves from the garlic heads before planting, Oct. 29 near Alexandria.
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Olberdings from page 19
rows. Visually, the different varieties may have different colors, numbers of cloves and size of the bulb. Some varieties may be hotter or spicier. “After you’ve grown for a while, the garlic gets used to your micro-climate; some of ours have started out small, but as it has acclimated it has grown bigger and hardier,” Julie said. “The colors can change, based on the nutrients in the soil. It is fun to see how the differences in the soil can affect your final product.” Taste-testing allows the entire family to know their own garlic. Knowing how much to save for next year is estimated by weighing how many pounds represents how many cloves. Each row has about 700 cloves in it. This year’s harvest was about 1,600 pounds, which can be grown from about 350 pounds of last year’s garlic. Next year is anticipated to be about 2,000 pounds. Extra garlic from the harvest is peeled, dehydrated and ground up into powder. “I don’t like to waste anything and throw it away,” Chad said. “We
can do something with it and still have something at the end for an end product.” Garlic was harvested a few weeks early this year due to concern about potential aster yellows. Aster yellows is a pathogen carried by leafhoppers which has damaged the crops of some farmers in the area. Any diseased plants would need to be burned. The Olberdings shared that garlic growers cannot determine whether the plants were affected until after curing and noticing a distinctive smell and taste. The garlic field is rotated at least every four years, but with so much space on the farm, reusing the same space again for garlic is unnecessary. Rotation helps prevent any soil-based disease from taking hold. Successive planting should never be from alike plants, so, for example, onions and garlic should not be planted one after the other. The cover crops planted between July and October, or between rotations, revitalize and keep a live root in the soil, prevent weathering and help dissuade opportunistic weeds from staking a claim to the field. This past year, a beekeeper stationed 88 hives on the property in a strip between the garlic field and a tree line. While
the strawberry blossoms a bit farther down have been an attraction for these pollinators, the cover crop mixes have also been devised with the bees in mind. The cover mix may include clovers, ryes, alfalfa, chicory, turnips and radishes. “I grab just about everything I can get my hands on and just throw a mixture in the ground and let it go. What comes up, comes up,” Chad said, explaining his experimental approach to the cover crops. While conversation with the Olberdings is full of precise and detailed commentary upon everything from the state of the soil to the processes of planting, they are willing to try things out. And, despite every experPHOTO BY CHRISTINE BEHNEN iment being thoughtfully Julie Olberding demonstrates how the dibbler makes exactly spaced holes for planting designed and enacted, garlic, and each row is separated by an exact distance, Oct. 29 near Alexandria. they understand what it means to be willing to do things whose outcomes Established in 1975 may be beyond their control and prior experience. In fact, the many and ever-increasing number of agricultural projects they Jason Marthaler 320-249-6062 Howard Marthaler 320-250-2984 have undertaken were not Karl Larson 320-808-8012 preceded by a life growing up on the farm and learning the ropes. “We’re not exactly normal, when you buy a farm in your 40s and decide to be first-time farmers,” Julie said.
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Page 24 • Country Acres | Friday, November 19, 2021
Olberdings from page 23
Chad admitted he probably spent an hour or two every day for the past year and a half trying to figure out how to protect the soil. The Olberdings are trying to offer their children a heritage of knowledge without having themselves inherited it, but the support comes from many places, from friends and acquaintances to webinars, videos and The Sustainable Farming Association. The confidence to farm may be due less to having weathered many seasons of practice than to having family with whom to steady that confidence and the immediacy with which each new effort is undertaken. Having a family of hands at the ready has been a true blessing to make this possible. Now 13 and 11, Leah and Blake work alongside their parents, but it wasn’t always that way. It started with eating the baby food grown in the family garden, playing in a baby saucer, or riding in a carrier while their parents did the work. Then they were pounding stakes. It became increasingly difficult to distinguish to what degree the farm was growing the children versus the children growing
PHOTOS BY CHRISTINE BEHNEN
Leah (from front) and Blake Olberding follow along, planting in the holes Julie opened with the dibbler while Chad rakes over the dirt at the end, Oct. 29 near Alexandria.
Red Grain Purple Stripe garlic is one of the varieties of hardneck garlic raised by the Olberding family near Alexandria.
the farm. This year, they had their own independent venture of pumpkins and squash. They were in charge of every aspect of growing all the way to selling. Leah worked out strategies, writing up the persuasive reasoning to buy their pumpkins and squash. When customers would come to Rustic Roots to buy garlic, they would encounter another offering. “When people came to buy garlic, we gave them a card for a free pumpkin and then a freewill offering for other ones,” Blake said. The business operations were a success, and they saved seeds and funds for college in the process. On the farm, the needs of one season give over quickly to another; when things need to be done, everyone rallies as
they can. In March of this past year, the maple trees started running earlier than expected, but a recent carpal tunnel surgery did not allow Julie to lift the heavy buckets connected to the tapped trees. Chad was helping another friend in need following their own surgery, but Leah and Blake were able to take charge of getting the buckets out of the woods and ultimately, to the sugar shack. Thankfully, when one person is less able, another will rise to the occasion. The Olberdings are grateful to be starting from scratch a new generation who will know how to farm. With the reality that there are families who are leaving farming, seeing families come newly to the farm can be incredibly meaningful. “Last year, we had a guy that came and was almost in tears because
he never thought he’d see another family on the farm with kids,” Chad said. The entire family often transitions from a full day of work or school to the farm. What do they appreciate about spending their days in the field? The unanimous answer is time spent together as family. “There’s always something new to learn and try,” Chad said. “It’s fun teaching these guys something they might need to know. They’ll know how to plant a garden. It’s all passing down knowledge to the next generation.” For the Olberdings, work which could be tiring is transformed into something which makes the dirt and sweat of effort wholly worthwhile.
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Heritage turkeys
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Rolling Hills is an appropriate name for the Traeger farm, pictured Nov. 9 near Avon.
Small farming advocate raises variety of animals BY CHRISTINE BEHNEN STAFF WRITER
PHOTOS BY CHRISTINE BEHNEN
s Christina Traeger holds one of her Narragansett turkey Avon. near Nov. 9 at her farm
A Royal Palm Turkey stands high above his chicken pasture mates, Nov. 9 at the Traeger farm near Avon. them socialize in a large hills. Walking amongst the
be seen in a display of the wide variety of animals that live there. This family farm passed from an uncle’s hands to Traeger over a decade ago and has been growing in diversity ever since. Now, Traeger’s
endeavors include breeding stock, beef, chicken, ducks, turkey, lamb, pork and eggs. As her website boasts, Rolling Hills is run by “farm-hers.” For the most part, this includes Christina, her daughter,
Hailey, and various family members at different times. On this sunny early November day, the turkeys are a particular attraction. Traeger chose old heritage breeds to raise. Some of
grassy pen with ducks, geese and chickens; she points out a Blue State, a Royal Palm and mixes. A proud fanning of tail feathers and the trademark gobble attract the senses, as does the wavy vista of
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AVON – When Christina Traeger decided four years ago to add turkey to her repertoire of meats, she noticed no one else was offering it at the farmers markets she attended. Come Thanksgiving, Christmas and the holiday season, she wanted her customers to have a turkey option at the market. She saw an opportunity to focus on raising healthy birds in a natural way and went for it; she has since doubled her flock every single year. Rolling Hills Farm is near Avon and true to its name, traverses the swells of the hills as the inhabitants of the farm are revealed to visitors, one after the other. First are the British White Cattle. Then appear horses and finally at the top of a hill, hogs, lambs and birds can
Page 26 • Country Acres | Friday, November 19, 2021
Traeger
from page 25 “People love to eat these,” Traeger said. “They are creamier than a chicken egg. Goose eggs are the creamiest of all of the eggs. Next are turkey eggs. Turkey eggs are richer than a chicken egg.” Christina sets the turkey season in motion in January, when she orders the chicks. Turkeys may lay only 8 to 10 eggs twice a year, so a turkey egg is a rare delight. Incubation lasts 28 days, and hatcheries have perfected the conditions most propitious to bringing forth the next generation. So, an egg laid in March is hatched in April, and the chicks arrive at the Traeger farm in June. Once they are fully feathered, the chicks do not need the warmth of the brooding building, and they begin to scavenge in the turkey “tractors.” This looks like a pen, with airy wire all around, which can be dragged from one pasture spot to another. Today the tractor is full of Narraganset turkeys. The tractor allows the turkeys to eat the grass and bugs that satisfy about 20% of their natural diet, while keeping them safe from predators such as eagles, owls, and even invasions of wild turkeys. The other 80% of their diet comes from organic corn
PHOTOS BY CHRISTINE BEHNEN
Logan Carlisle, Christina Traeger’s grandson and helper, stands with heritage turkeys, which consume some 20% of their diet in the grass and bugs they eat in the pasture.
and soy-free feed rations. “It is important for the feed to be corn and soy free,” Traeger said. “Some people have a food protein intolerance, or allergies, which can be set off by
corn and soy. Some customers would not be able to find turkey otherwise that won’t cause indigestion or a reaction.” Turkey meat is naturally one of the leaner meats
and is easy to digest. As a source of energy, though, the unprocessed fat present in these pasture-raised turkeys is of a level of quality highly prized for those looking for meats raised as
naturally as possible. Traeger’s turkeys are farm-processed and sold to customers directly from the farm. Small farmers who slaughter fewer than 1,000 birds each year meet a special set of regulations designed to facilitate direct sales. Sixty turkeys can be processed in one day, with the assistance of six to eight helpers who are mostly family. Customers often pre-order and call ahead to pick up their birds. Traeger said 99% of her customers return the following year, but finding customers has not always been easy. The advent of a new organization, Farm Direct MinNarragansett turkeys are sheltered within their “tractor,” a pen with wire fencing all nesota, which was borne around that which can be dragged from one pasture spot to another. during the shutdowns of
the pandemic, was cited by Traeger as a revolutionary tool to connect customers to small farmers. A website features a map of Minnesota by which nearby farms can be located. “I hope that people continue to become more aware of how and where their food is produced, and buy more local food,” Traeger said. “From the grocery, the farmer gets a very small piece of the price paid. When you tell customers, it blows their minds.” Traeger expressed gratitude for the speed of success of her turkey business. Her first 40 turkeys became 80 the next year
Traeger page 27
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PHOTOS BY CHRISTINE BEHNEN
Geese, chickens and heritage turkeys enjoy a sunny day, Nov. 9 on the Traeger farm near Avon.
Traeger
from page 26 and then 250 this last year; she sells out every year. Farming for 25 years, she has sold through farmers markets for the last 13, often attending four a week in the metro area, even through winter. This makes for long days waking up at 2 or 3 a.m. to do chores, load the truck and get on the road in time for the market. When she returns home, she has just enough time to do more chores and finish up responsibilities before a night’s nap prepares her for a new day. “I do it because I love doing it,” Traeger said. “They say if you do what you love doing, you’ll never work a day in your life. Any farmer will say the same thing. That’s why people farm.” She does have help sometimes, especially from her daughter, Hailey, and she recounted with pride the part that her grandson plays. “My grandson, Logan, helps take care of the birds, water, clean up, pick and package the eggs, in order to earn $1 per dozen,” Traeger said. “He’s earning money, which goes into a jar. We count it every few weeks. He’s learning that he has value. He’s learning how he makes money. He’s saving money
to do something. I showed him how many eggs would amount to how much money. I showed him if he does a good job, he will earn this money. He’s also providing customers with insight about what goes into what they are buying.” The value of sharing and offering new understanding is not limited to family, and is a broader community value that Traeger supports. She has taken on an additional role as a teacher to many who increasingly want to learn, especially after the shock of shortages in 2020. “People are increasingly looking to go back to gardening and producing, learning how to can, and raise their own,” she said. “I think it’s important for people to know people like us who are already doing it and are willing to teach people how to do it. I probably spend almost to a fulltime level teaching people. More farmers are in the position to teach first-time farmers. Birds are an easy way to start.” As customers rediscover an appreciation for the small farmer, meat like that from heritage turkeys becomes increasingly valued. And so too, upcoming farmers like young Logan, or someone who is newly interested due to the changing times, may find a farmer like Traeger extending a welcoming hand to get them started.
Freezers are full of turkey, goose, chicken, duck and other meats raised by Christina Traeger near Avon.
Christina Traeger holds a large goose egg found Nov. 9 on the farm.
Page 28 • Country Acres | Friday, November 19, 2021
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