Compeer Financial seeks nominations

Compeer Financial, a Farm Credit cooperative based in the Upper Midwest, is searching for the next game-changers in agriculture. Nominations are now open for the 2024 GroundBreaker of the Year award, recognizing young, beginning and small farmers who are transforming the industry.

Candidates must be under 35, with less than a decade of farming experience, or generating under $250,000 in annual gross sales. Potential award recipients may nominate themselves or be nominated by a family member, friend or colleague.

Submit your nominations at www.compeer.com/ groundbreakeroftheyear before Aug. 31. The winner will be announced in early 2024, and will receive a $5,000 cash award.

This article was submitted by Compeer Financial. v

It was a time when I was finally considered old enough to help — but not old enough to drive a tractor.

The job itself was terrible, and there were indeed no OSHA regulations to follow. It was always sweltering, and the perspiration would soak through our shirts. Loose straw would end up itching in the nooks and crannies that no one knew existed and stick to our perspiring bodies. Now and then, your foot would find a hole in the straw that had been stacked, and you’d take a tumble. Sometimes the baler would spit out bales faster than we could stack them on the rack. I once saw my Grandpa get knocked off his feet as a bale of straw fell from the elevator which brought bales into the barn and hit him squarely in the head. He just smiled, got up, and kept going without a word!

What made this time so memorable were the people. My immediate family, grandparents, and a few kids from the neighborhood would spend the week together working, eating, sweating and goofing around. A barn which started completely empty would slowly fill, ending with a mountain of golden straw. Every day you could see the progress a team of people working toward a common goal made. It was something to be proud of!

In the late 1990s, my dad quit making small square bales and transitioned to large round bales. I was crushed. My sisters and I begged him to make a few small bales for fun. I suppose, after a lifetime of small squares, my dad was looking forward to a break.

Earlier this summer, my husband and I began the hay-making process. We had miles of road ditches cut, raked, and waiting to be custom baled. Then a threat of rain popped up in the forecast. Not wanting our hay to get rained on, we started looking for other options. I remembered my dairy farming friend had just put new knotters on his small square baler and said we could use it anytime. I checked my calendar and saw my kids were available, so I asked them if they were interested in a few days of hard work. To my surprise, I received a resounding “YES!” from everyone! A few hours later, my kids had found a gang of neighbor kids ready to work.

I called my dad to come and help me make sure our bales were tight enough, and when he showed up in the meadow we were working in, his eyes were teary. “I don’t know if I’m being flooded with nostalgic childhood memories or if I’m overwhelmed with pride, seeing my grandkids working,” he said. “Maybe it’s both.”

I can’t say the work was explicitly enjoyable, but it sure was fun watching the kids take ownership of a project and enjoy it. The days were long and hot, there was plenty of goofing around, and it is entirely possible that a holiday is being resurrected.

Whitney Nesse is a sixth-generation livestock farmer who is deeply rooted in her faith and family. She writes from her central Minnesota farm. v