-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
Ross Hartwig, of Rockwell City, stands next to his Case International combine earlier this fall. Still farming at 94, Hartwig shows no signs of slowing down.

There’s a saying that each of us has about 40 chances to accomplish our goals in life.

Howard Buffett (Warren Buffett’s son) said he learned this through agriculture, because all farmers can expect to have about 40 growing seasons, giving them just 40 chances to improve on every harvest.

Well, he must not know 94-year-old Ross Hartwig of Rockwell City.

This fall, Hartwig was hard at work in Calhoun County, combining soybeans in a field northeast of Lake City with his son Rex, 64, and daughter-in-law Shelly.

“If Ross can’t work, he’s not happy,” said Shelly Hartwig, who ran the tractor and catch wagon.

-Submitted photo
Ross Hartwig, of Rockwell City, harvests soybeans with a pull-behind combine in this photo, circa 1955, provided by the Hartwig family.

While most farmers might get 40 growing and harvesting seasons (at least according to Buffett), Hartwig’s total is well over 70. It gets a little tougher each year for Hartwig to climb up into his Case International combine, but he’s always ready for another day of harvesting soybeans (after he’s enjoyed a good, hearty breakfast at the local Sparky’s convenience store, of course).

While his combine is nearly 30 years old, Hartwig has no interest in driving a more modern machine with the latest computer technology (too many bells and whistles for his taste).

His cell phone is enough technology for him.

While drought conditions have gripped Calhoun County for several years now, Hartwig was pleased that his family’s soybeans were yielding in the 50s and 60s this fall. No matter how many birthdays he celebrates, Hartwig is always interested in how the crops are doing — and he likes to be involved in the farm.

For someone as active as Hartwig, it helps that longevity runs in his family.

-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
The Hartwig family harvests a soybean field northeast of Lake City in early October this past fall. Ross Hartwig, of Rockwell City, is driving the combine, and his daughter-in-law, Shelly Hartwig, is running the tractor and catch wagon. Ross is 94 years old and has farmed in Calhoun County his whole life.

“Ross’s mother, Ella, was almost 98 years old when she passed,” Shelly Hartwig noted.

Putting in a full day’s work

Hartwig learned early on the value of work. His father, Fred, farmed, and his mother tended a large garden, raised fruit trees and canned countless jars of food to help feed the family.

Hartwig graduated from Rockwell City High School in 1947 and served in the U.S. Air Force for two years before returning to Calhoun County to farm. After marrying his wife, Dolores, in 1952, the couple raised their children (including sons Rex and Craig) on a farm in Sherman Township.

Even after Ross and Dolores moved to Rockwell City in 2012, Ross stayed connected to the farm.

Both Ross and Dolores (who passed away in 2015) passed along their love of agriculture to their children, three grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. (Their granddaughter Tonya and her husband, Clayton Reynolds, farm near Yetter, where they are raising their own family.)

The Hartwigs are happy to give Ross a helping hand at harvest. “The boys clean the combine and grease it,” said Shelly Hartwig, who married Rex in 1978. “Also, Ross only combines beans.”

A man of few words, Ross doesn’t mess around when it’s go time. He put in a full day’s work every day during the 2023 soybean harvest, just like he has for decades. “My sign that the work day is almost done? When the lights come on,” he said, as he made one more round.

While no one knows what the future will bring, one thing is certain, Shelly Hartwig said.

“‘Hard working’ is the way to describe the Hartwigs, especially Ross.”