-Submitted photo
Barb Knudsen, Ida County Soil and Water Conservation assistant, and Roger Bumann, Farm Bureau board member, delivered free sack lunches to area farmers the week of Oct. 16. “It’s our second year working together,” said Knudsen. “It made sense for us to partner to bring a full meal with snacks to our farming community.”

IDA GROVE — Hungry harvesters were treated to a free meal by the Ida County Farm Bureau and Soil and Water Conservation Boards during the week of Oct. 16. Over the course of two days, sack lunches were provided to 200 fortunate Ida County farmers.

“We served Ida County farmers primarily,” said Barb Knudsen, Ida County Conservation assistant, “but some farmers in Sac and Woodbury have farms in our county as well, so we provided for everyone farming the county. We wanted to give back to our farmers, so they know they are appreciated.”

The sight of a combine was enough to offer lunch to hard-working farmers. Both groups have been providing sustenance for area farmers for years; the Soil and Conservation group with sandwiches and chips and the Farm Bureau staff with cookies and other snacks.

“It’s our second year working together,” said Knudsen. “It made sense for us to partner to bring a full meal with snacks to our farming community.”

Danika Hinkeldey is the outreach coordinator for Ida County Farm Bureau. “Collectively, we put together a farmer-friendly meal with two ham sandwiches, a bag of chips, a bag of chocolate chip cookies, trail mix, and a bottle of water,” said Hinkeldey. “Troy Leininger, our district representative, helped us to make sandwiches Tuesday morning before deliveries.”

-Submitted photo
From left, Danika Hinkeldey, Jake Myrtue, Troy Leininger, and Roger Bumann form an assembly line to make 200 sandwiches for 100 sack lunches for Ida County farmers.

The effort took three days to execute with Hinkeldey, Knudsen, and Leininger putting everything but the sandwiches in the sack on Monday.

On Tuesday, the group made 200 sandwiches for 100 sack lunch deliveries made to the southern half of the county that day. On Wednesday, another 200 sandwiches were made fresh and then added to the sacks for delivery to farmers in the northern half of the county.

Those making deliveries included Roger Bumann, Farm Bureau board member, as well as Jake Myrtue and Josh Langholdt, both with the Soil and Water Conservation group.

Many farmers had a nice surprise when they got to their combine and tractors and found a lunch when they returned to the field.

“Part of the fun was having county-wide second-graders draw pictures and write thank-you notes on the sacks,” said Hinkeldey. “It’s just another way that farmers can see they are appreciated by all of us.”

Knudsen, Hinkeldey and Myrtue hit the gravel roads on Tuesday to deliver the colorful sacks to farmers and their families, along with their farm hands during this harvest season. On Wednesday, Bumann joined in to help deliver.

“I asked our commissioner what we should do differently or have more of next year,” said Knudsen, “and he said, ‘I’d take more in the bag; I had the whole thing eaten in 10 minutes!’

We had another gentleman say, ‘We’re old, and we don’t eat that much.’ You just never know what kind of eater you’re going to run into in the fields.

“If we add anything different next year, it would be an apple perhaps. But when I drive the combine, it’s got to be easy finger food. When you’re running a combine, you have the left hand on the steering wheel and the right hand is on the hydrostat lever and you’re working with the buttons. You really can’t eat a whole apple under those conditions. I’ve always cut the apple up, but it’s not realistic to do that with 200 meals and have the apples in good shape.”

Knudsen recognizes that most farmers are not the “carrot stick and celery crunchy guys.”

“Primarily, we had carbs in the sack,” said Knudsen. “They were tasty carbs, but we’ve got to work on some fruits and vegetables. “What matters is that our farmers are well fed, so they can stay alert in the field. We’re happy to contribute to that end. I had a farmer thank me because we gave his son three sack lunches while he was in line at POET; he said it was nice to be appreciated. That’s the best part of this project. Everyone is thankful, and we enjoy the interaction with the farmers and the farm help.”