Country Acres South - October 1, 2022

Sharing a love for German Shepherds

Lanesboro breeding business grows from one special dog

BY JAN LEFEBVRE | STAFF WRITER

LANESBORO – Jessica Stutzman has turned her love for German Shepherds into an athome breeding business called Mid-daylich Hotzaw German

two litters were learning experiences, she quickly worked to gain more knowledge about how to raise German Shepherds with the best health and temperaments.

“I dug more into bloodlines and health testing, which made me decide on switching gears to import working-line German

She reached out online and connected with, Àja Vydrová, a woman from the Czech Republic who also raises German Shepherds. Vydrová is now training some dogs that will later join

Stutzman’s pack. Stutzman also began partnering with Lora Williams from Vom Lexhaus German Shepherds out of Illinois. Stutzman, Vydrová, and Williams co-own a male German Shepherd that Vydrová is having compete at higher level trials.

Stutzman has focused on the breeding aspect of her business, making sure her puppies can be guaranteed to have the best qualities of the working line breed of German Shepherds.

“My program is specifically geared towards breeding. I am a firm believer in knowing what dogs you have inside and out,” Stutzman said. “I currently do not offer training or boarding as my breeding stock is my priority and keeps me plenty busy.”

Her efforts have earned her respect. Just two and a half years after deciding to focus on breeding, the AKC has accepted her into its Bred with H.E.A.R.T. Program, meaning she has met all AKC expectations for her breeding program as to health, education, accountability, responsibility, and tradition. Stutzman has also been recognized by Good Dog for being a good breeder in its Responsible Breeder Program. Both programs stress that puppies and their dog parents must be

healthy, happy and trained well and that their owners are continually seeking more education in all aspects of dog breeding.

Stutzman has made sure that her puppies are raised in her home and on her land, in a spacious, clean and enriching environment to enhance their natural abilities and confidence. By breeding with strong bloodline combinations, she strives to produce puppies with excellent health, solid temperament, strong nerves, and balanced drives.

“Our puppies will be expected to be successful in a range of venues including, but not limited to, agility and obedience competition, dual purpose police K-9, family companionship, narcotics and explosives detection or search and rescue.”

Since the focus of her business is very specific, Stutzman has not needed to hire employees. Her business is truly a family enterprise.

“Because my program is small, I’m able to give each dog and puppy all of the attention and care that they need to develop and thrive,” Stutzman said. “My dogs are part of my family, and I give that same love to each puppy as I prepare them to join their forever homes.”

The humans in Stutzman’s family pitch in when needed.

“I do not have employees, but I do have the cutest helpers…our two children,” she said.

Focusing on Today’s Rural Environment

Shepherds, located near Lanesboro.

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PHOTOS SUBMITTED

Mika, a female German Shepherd owned by Jessica Stutzman of Middaylich Hotzaw German Shepherds near Lansboro, bites the sleeve of a person acting as a decoy. Stutzman uses some aspects of shutzhund training on her dogs, including protection work and obedience.

Saturday, October 1, 2022 | Country Acres South • Page 1 Saturday, October 1, 2022 Jessica Stutzman poses with her husband, Harvey, and their dog, Jhett, on their property near Lanesboro. Stutzman has grown her German Shepherd breeding business into a well-respected program that is recognized by the American Kennel Association.

She paid tribute to her husband Harvey, who left the Amish community, by using Pennsylvania Dutch in naming her business. She played around with the language a bit and came up with Mid-daylich Hotzaw which means ‘sharing hearts’ in Pennsylvania Dutch.

German Shepherds rate as high as a breed can rate, being labeled by the AKC as “lovey-dovey.”

“Underneath their noble and brave exteriors, German Shepherds are people lovers at heart,” Stutzman said.

It was shortly after Stutzman met her husband that she convinced him that they should get a German Shepherd. Though Stutzman had a myriad of pets and dogs growing up, none were German Shepherds. It was her husband who grew up in a large Amish family that had owned several German Shepherds amongst their various breeds of dogs.

Together the Stutzmans bought a German Shepherd and named him Jhett. They also bought a little chihuahua-miniature pinscher cross because Harvey had fond memories of a chihuahua he had as a child. They named her

Dixie. Both dogs brought them instant joy, but little did they know that Jhett was going inspire the business.

“He has been nothing short of a great dog for us, and I just started buying more shepherds,” Stutzman said.

Stutzman simply wanted more of a good thing. She wasn’t thinking about turning her puppy love into a career.

“When we got him, I did not have the goal of breeding until a friend of ours mentioned it to me,” she said. “I then started offering Jhett for stud service after completing his health testing. I was amazed at how many folks that owned females wanted to use Jhett. I did that for about two years before getting a female of our own to raise litters.”

Now that her dream of breeding top-line German Shepherds has becomes a reality, Stutzman is most proud when she hears back from those who have purchased puppies through her program.

“The majority of my pups have gone on to be active family pets with the rest being placed in working homes,” Stutzman said. “My pups provide those families with the champion they have always dreamed of having.”

With her business now well-established, Stutzman is looking to the future.

“A lifelong goal for my program would be building my own bloodline,” she said.

With her dogs becoming ever more respected and desired, she believes there would be a demand for that bloodline.

“My future goal, along with building my bloodline with my kennel name, is that I want people to easily know who Mid-daylight Hotzaw dogs are and know of me.”

However, Stutzman remains humble about her success and gives most of the credit to one special dog.

“The dog that will always remain the foundation of Mid-daylich Hotzaw German Shepherds is Jhett,” she said.

Now retired from being a stud dog, Jhett lives a good life on the Stutzmans’ rural property. He also plays with the puppies and teaches them manners. He is their perfect role model of how to be a German Shepherd.

“All of our dogs highly respect Jhett,” Stutzman said. “He is such a loving dog, and I am forever grateful for him coming into our lives.”

Puppies snuggle at Mid-daylich Hotzaw, a German Shepherd breeding business owned by Jessica Stutzman. The goal of the business is to offer puppies with excellent health and temperament for showing in competition, serving in law enforcement or simply being good companions and pets.

PHOTOS SUBMITTED

Elvira Vom Sandarhaus is one of the female German Shepherds at Mid-daylich Hotzaw. Jessica Stutzman purchased her from Vom Sandarhaus German Shepherds, located in Wisconsin.

Houston County

Kruse Fami ly Family

Kruse Farms started in 1961 when Donald and Belva Kruse purchased the original 160-acre farm. In 1965, they added an adjoining 100-acre farm. At that time, the Kruse family milked cows and raised beef cattle and hogs. Belva also raised butcher chickens and laying hens.

The couple’s sons, Charlie and Kevin, joined the operation in 1980. Over the years, an additional 580 acres were purchased by the Kruse families. They grew corn, soybeans, hay and oats. The family also raised beef cows and calves, feeder cattle were purchased and finished, and the farm was home to a farrow-to-finish hog operation.

Currently, Charlie and his wife, Julie, and Kevin and his wife, Karen, are the owners of the farm. They own and rent 1,500 acres of cropland growing corn, soybeans, oats, and hay. The families raise 250 beef cow pairs and fatten all their calves. They own a 1,200-head hog nursery that is rented out.

Charlie’s son, Jacob, and the brothers’ nephew, James Sweet, work on the farm seasonally as they are able. Jacob and James have full-time jobs off the farm. Julie and Karen work off the farm as well.

Charlie and Julie’s family includes Kristin and Jonah Ross; Jacob and Chrissy Kruse; Lindsey and Derek Nelson; Carrie and Jesse Klug; Jesse and Aubrey Buttell and Megan Buttell. Charlie and Julie have 10 grandchildren.

Kevin and Karen’s family includes Emily and Mark Stein; Laura and Isaac Goetzinger; Sarah and James Little. Kevin and Karen have three grandchildren.

Charlie is a retired member of the Eitzen Fire Department where he served for 32 years. He is currently a member of the board of directors for the Equity Northeast Iowa Sales Barn. The Kruses are members of the Houston County and Allamakee County Cattlemen’s Associations.

The Kruse family (Maplewood Falls) were given their Houston County Farm Family of the year award during Farmfest which took place Aug. 1-3 near Redwood Falls.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

PHOTOS FROM ADOBE STOCK (Above) The Kruses own a 1,200 head hog nursery that is rented out.

(Left) The family works together ever year to harvest hay for their beef operation.

PHOTO FROM ADOBE STOCK

Kruse Farms is home to 250 beef cow/calf pairs and they finish all of their calves. The Kruses are members of the Houston County and Allamakee County Cattlemen”s Associations.

PHOTO FROM ADOBE STOCK

Kruse Farms run 1,500 acres of cropland. They grow corn, soybeans, oats and hay.

CONCERT

Luke Bryan performs his song ‘Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye’ during the Luke Bryan Farm Tour at Gar-Lin Dairy on September 24. Bryan partnered with Bayer to celebrate America’s farmers and donate meals to people in need during the tour.

PHOTO BY KATE RECHTZIGEL

PHOTO BY KATE RECHTZIGEL

(Left) Luke Bryan performs his song ‘Kick the Dust Up’ on stage for fans during the Luke Bryan Farm Tour at Gar-Lin Dairy on September 24. Gar-Lin Dairy milks around 1,750 cows near Eyota.

PHOTOS BY KATE RECHTZIGEL

(Above) Jameson Rodgers walks out on the stage during the Luke Bryan Farm Tour at Gar-Lin Dairy on September 24. Jameson Rodgers, The Peach Pickers and Riley Green opened for Luke Bryan.

(Above right) Luke Bryan performs his song ‘Kick the Dust Up’ during the Luke Bryan Farm Tour at Gar-Lin Dairy on September 24. The concert was held in Gar-Lin Dairy’s hay field near their dairy.

PHOTO BY KATE RECHTZIGEL

Fans run from the entrance gates at the Luke Bryan Farm Tour to get front row seats during the concert. There were approximately 20,000 tickets sold for the event.

PHOTO BY GRACE JEURISSEN The crowd thickens as Jameson Rodgers performs.

A place

Couple builds farm business with room for creativity

BY GRACE JEURISSEN | STAFF WRITER

ORONOCO – Having a farm site just like grandma and grandpa has been a dream for Susan Waughtal from a young age. She found the farm a great place to grow creatively and enjoy some of the simpler things in life.

Now, Waughtal and her husband, Roger Nelson, own a farm where local people can enjoy local things. Fifteen years after Squash Blossom Farm was a newly purchased site with many ideas to raise many products, they have honed in on what makes their home something they love to share with others.

“Squash Blossom Farm is a place that promotes creativity, healthy living and nature,” Waughtal said. “It houses a variety of aspects that make for a fun evening or place to socialize. Local food, local art and local music.”

The farm has a wide variety of aspects that offer something for everyone. The farm includes a mead wine tasting room, wood-fired pizza nights and made-on-site artisan cholocates, with gardens grown in a permaculture envieorment.Everything on the farm has a symbiotic relationship.

The animals each have their own job on the farm, except the Turkey, Dakota, who is just a pet.

The donkey helps keep grasses under control and provides protection

in the countryin the

for other animals. The Cotton Patch Geese, and chickens provide eggs and eat weeds and bugs. The goats help control invasive species and help fertilize the gardens. Last, but certainly not least, are the bees. They help pollinate the gardens and provide honey for the mead wine that the family has begun expanding.

Thirteen years after Waughtal and Nelson invested in 20,000 head of bees and became apiarists, the honey from their bees and other local apiaries serves an ever-flowing purpose, to make a wine to serve on their farm.

They make a variety of mead wines using fruits and spices to flavor each batch. Some of their mead wines are bottled while others are offered on tap in the wine tasting room, which is a renovated part of their historic barn. The mead tasting room is lit with honey-colored lighting and the auburn finishes on furniture help emphasize the importance of honey in their fermented delicacy.

“The wine tasting room was redone utilizing as much repurposed décor and furnishings as we could find,” Waughtal said. “Doing that helped us lower the cost of putting this room in. We found the bar on Facebook Marketplace; the flooring is from an old bowling alley and I got the hexagon tiles on amazon for very cheap. I

thought they fit nicely with the fact that bees are a huge part of our wines.”

With Waughtal’s mind of an artist and eye for beautiful things and Nelson’s background in architecture, the couple have transformed rooms in their barn to be the center of Squash Blossom Farm.

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Page 6 • Country Acres South | Saturday, October 1, 2022 PHOTOS BY GRACE JEURISSEN Susan Waughtal and Roger Nelson stand in their wine tasting room Sept. 23 at Squash Blossom Farm near Oronoco. They started the farm 15 years ago. The historic barn the Squash Blossom kitchen and mead tasting room are in is a century old.

Weekends during the summer at the farm are filled with art, music, comedy and good food. Pizza nights draw a large crowd of locals that often stick around the farm to enjoy the local musicians who take the stage just outside the farm kitchen.

“We used to love going to wood-fired pizza nights at different farms and venues, and that was something we wanted to incorporate from the beginning,” Waughtal said. “Roger is the expert on the pizzas. He truly is the sourdough master. He has also been the guy behind designing our renovations; he makes sure things are done the right way.”

The family built a clay oven to start developing their woodfired pizza nights. Now that the farm business has grown and absorbed different food varieties, they had to build a commercial kitchen and industrial wood-fired oven, which was completed in 2015.

The kitchen has helped Squash Blossom grow their baking business, become artisan chocolate makers and host larger events.

“The kitchen is such a big part of our farm, it is the center of most of our products, from the bakery items for the farmer’s market to Sunday pizza nights,” Waughtal said. “And even now having our chocolate bars, the kitchen has been a place for us to

experiment with different products and truly make something tasty to enjoy.”

The pizza nights were something unique that Waughtal and Nelson wanted to bring to their farm business that would encourage a community of people to come out and enjoy food on the farm. Now they host around 150 people during Sunday pizza nights and make around 80 pizzas.

“We love having people come out,” Waughtal said.

On Fridays, the smell of baking cookies, scones and tarts waft through the air as they walk through the French doors to the kitchen, where most of the charm happens. Wauhg-

tal, Nelson and some of their part-time helpers spend around 12 hours preparing baked goods to sell at the local farmers market.

The couple are amazed to think back and realize what the farm use to be and what they transformed it into. Everything on the farm has a purpose, and when they drove past it on their many trips to find a place to call home out in the country, Waughtal fell in love with it from a distance only imagining the potential the farm site would have.

(Right) Fire burns in the woodfired pizza oven Sept. 23 at Squash Blossom Farm. On Sunday pizza nights, around 80 pizzas are prepared for locals to enjoy.

PHOTOS BY GRACE JEURISSEN

Susan Waughtal pours mead wine from the tap behind the bar at Squash Blossom Farm. Mead wine is made from berries and fermented honey.