-Submitted photo
Once part of the Dallas County Care Facility property, this barn now serves as the hub of much ag-centered education for Des Moines Area Community College.

ADEL — The Dallas County Care Facility operated its farm for 150 years and today, its care lies with Des Moines Area Community College ag students.

In 1869, the county purchased 160 acres of farm ground from Cyrus Hemphill for around $4,000, according to historical records. The first building constructed on the property became the first seat of what was called the county poor farm.

Over the years, additional land was bought and new buildings were erected. In 1904, the farm boasted 526 acres, making it the largest county farm in Iowa.

The property produced a self-sustaining income where livestock, poultry and crops were raised, along with a garden full of produce. Eventually, the farm added rabbits and sheep to the cattle, hogs and poultry raised there. The pantries brimmed with canned and preserved foods for feeding the patients and residents who lived there.

In 1884, the county farm had an English-style dairy barn built. Between 1897 and 1907, the farm director at the time invested money into improving the farm, including building a new barn at the farm, as well as pouring cement sidewalks, building an electric light plant, establishing water works and more. But as time wore on, these county farms were shuttered and the Dallas County Care Facility closed in March 2014.

The Dallas County Board of Supervisors dedicated $5.5 million to remodel the poor farm into the Human Services Campus shortly thereafter. The county also started leasing land to Des Moines Area Community College for its agribusiness program in 2005, which included the barns and stockyards, pasture ground, equipment and more.

The agribusiness program’s students conduct weekly labs there, covering farm operations such as planting, harvesting and daily animal care. Seed companies also grow a variety of test plots and competition plots on the farm.

DMACC students raise a couple hundred acres of corn and soybeans, and have more than 100 acres set aside for pasture and hay ground. There are rotational grazing paddocks and a small-scale breeding program. Students also sell beef and pork from the livestock they raise.

In January 2023, a new wetland was established to help protect water from the 346 acres of mostly tile-drained cropland from the North Raccoon watershed.

“The Dallas County Farm has been a staple of the Dallas County community for well over 150 years,” said Travis Lautner, DMACC farm coordinator. “DMACC and its agribusiness program commend its citizens for taking such great care of this facility over the years and are honored to carry on the tradition that allows DMACC to fulfill its mission to provide quality, affordable, student-centered education and training to empower our diverse communities and to serve as a catalyst for economic development.

“The Dallas County Farm is a great resource for DMACC students to engage in real-world, hands-on activities,” he continued. “The farm is also a great recruitment tool to get students interested in attending the DMACC agribusiness program. Think of the farm as a large working lab for students enrolled in DMACC agribusiness and vet tech classes. Students get to apply many of the practices they learn about in lecture and/or see it first-hand on the farm.”

The students primarily take care of the Dallas County farm, which also hosts industry functions like pasture walks, soil classes and cooperative test plots. There also have been several women-specific agriculture functions at the farm, too, including crop scouting for females.”

The longstanding barn at the Dallas County farm is regularly used by students.

Lautner said the “big yellow barn is a staple of the farm and hard to miss when you pull up to the facility.” The top part houses feed and equipment, and Lautner said the barn also functions as a “great back-up plan” for farm tours during inclement weather.

“The many windows provide a great way to showcase the farm to visitors when the Iowa weather does not cooperate. The barn sits high enough over the facility that many farm operations can be viewed from the windows of the four sides, including the swine and beef facilities,” Lautner said. “We once gave a tour of the farm to international guests from Indonesia during a cold, sleeting day.”

The basement of the barn serves as the swine facility, complete with a farrowing room and swine pens with outside access.

“As the DMACC ag program strives to demonstrate the niche marketing, value-added and farm-to-table component to students — some of whom may be a generation removed from farming but have an interest in production ag — it’s a great way to show students how they can make new life out of the older barns around the countryside while being involved in agriculture,” Lautner said. “We raise hogs with outside access, utilize the animals in classes and then sell back to the community through our freezer meat program.”

About 12 years ago, the barn underwent several updates through a grant program, Lautner said, thanks to the help of many Dallas County residents and officials. Dallas County officials also made improvements to the carriage house, which is an original structure on the 150-year-old facility.