-Submitted photo
This 1969 photo is of Jeff De Graaf on his father Gerald's lap on a Farmall 560 tractor. Jeff is just 6 years old in this photo.

ALTON — The De Graaf family has owned this farm since 1952, and — while the exact date of the barn’s construction isn’t known — the family figures it has been around since the 1920s.

“There are a few leather bridles hanging in the barn,” said Jeff De Graaf, current owner with his wife of 35 years, Marcia. “It seems to have been built primarily for work horses and a few milk cows.”

Jeff and Marcia have two children — Leah, 31, and Collin, 27. Jeff, Marcia, Leah and Collin all attended Iowa State and continue to enjoy supporting the Cyclones.

When De Graaf’s parents, Gerald and Olivia, acquired the farm, they started raising cattle. The couple built the silo immediately behind the barn for feed. Two cattle yards were also added to raise the Black Angus that the family favored.

“When the cattle market soured in the 1970s, the barn and yards set unused until I got into high school,” said De Graaf. “It would have been 1978 when we converted the barn into a place to raise 200 hogs.”

-Farm News photo by Doug Clough
Jeff De Graaf's barn was built in the 1920s. Throughout the barn's active days, hogs were always part of the activity, although evidence of workhorses has been found, including leather bridals.

De Graaf acquired the farm in 1988, using the white structure for hogs until 2014, even though he had built more modern hog facilities on their property. With more up-to-date arrangements, De Graaf currently raises 1,000 hogs wean to finish.

“In the 1920s, this was a multi-functional barn like many in the state,” said De Graaf. “Quite a bit of the structure was used to care for horses, which were the power source for getting things done. Otherwise, there would have been milking cows, chickens, and storage in the big open hayloft.”

During the early De Graaf era, the family not only favored Black Angus cattle, but also all-white Yorkshire hogs.

Now the barn is used for storage, fostering memories of the time De Graaf and his two sisters were raised on the farm.

“I remember my dad would have hired men come to scoop the manure from the barn,” said De Graaf. “Later, my dad got a tractor that could fit in there, and he could scoop it out with the tractor and bucket. Thank goodness for skid loaders and other improvements like that. My first job on the farm was helping to bale hay and pushing hay from the elevator to the hayloft.

“Back in the day, when I was a kid, it seemed like I was never bothered by the heat; it was exciting to work with Dad. Everything was on the hayrack with the tractor running the elevator; we had a bunch of younger guys stacking the bales in the hayloft. My mom would bring out sandwiches and homemade lemonade. I can’t believe we ate that much food back then, but we worked hard and could handle it.”

De Graaf’s mother Olivia was known for her big noon dinners.

“My favorite meal was Mom’s fried chicken,” said De Graaf. “She’d fry it up on her electric skillet that would set on the stove. It was fantastic, meat falling right off the bone.”

De Graaf is on the tail-end of his siblings with one sister 10 years older and the other 15 years older than him. “My oldest sister Judy was close to getting married by the time I started working on the farm,” said De Graaf. “I remember walking beans with my other sister Deb who was closest to my age; I hated walking beans, but she liked it, and I could never understand why. I was very happy when we could spray from a buggy.”

What De Graaf recalls most, however, is his time in the barn with livestock.

“In middle school, we got rid of the cattle, and my dad turned the livestock over to me,” said De Graaf. “Dad started to get me a few small groups of hogs, and the herd just got bigger. It was way less risky back in the day with the hogs. With the hogs you don’t keep them as long as the cattle to get to market weight. Hogs have been a better investment overall for us.”