I am glad that we took the opportunity a couple years ago to attend the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting in Omaha while both Charlie Munger and Warren Buffet were running the show. I have referred to the late Charlie Munger as my fantasy mentor as I love his take on many things, particularly ...
Farm wives come in every form and know what it is to face their brand of reality. You have the farm wife who grew up on a farm and can ease into that role regardless of what her jobs on the farm were as she was growing up. In my case, there were enough boys evenly spaced among my siblings ...
CLEAR LAKE — Ron Franks lives on the farm where he grew up north of Clear Lake. At age 85, Franks is mostly retired but still helps Jim Barkema, who operates the farm, as needed. In his farming career, Franks has raised crops, fed hogs and was a Pioneer seed dealer for many ...
SPENCER — Farm family ties can run as deep as a plow’s furrow. That notion became evident in the physical sense in the Bob and Linda Neppl family, when Bob Neppl purchased his father’s tractor at a bitter-cold 1970 farm auction. “It’s a 1968 John Deere 3020 diesel,” said ...
DAYTON — Leroy Jones spent a lot of time on the fender of a tractor just like the one that is now among his favorite restored tractors. The fender is round and narrow — and not at all where anyone is supposed to ride — but farm kids of the 1950s had no problem sitting up here for hours ...
DOW CITY — Drive along the county road between Buck Grove and Dow City, and prepare for a vintage tractor lover’s dream. At Donald and Barbara Kahl’s farm, it’s hard to miss the line of Oliver, Massey Ferguson, Case and Allis-Chalmers tractors lined up with military precision along ...
Bee colony losses across the nation have come to a critical juncture, with newly analyzed data confirming losses of 1.6 million colonies. Commercial beekeepers have sustained an average loss of 62 percent of their hives between June of 2024 and March of 2025, according to data released in ...
NEWS *The United States and Mexico have reached an agreement to strengthen efforts against the New World screwworm after U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins warned of potential restrictions on Mexican cattle imports if Mexico did not act more aggressively. Following discussions with ...
Three springs ago, a despicable derecho ravaged our region. We eventually engaged a scrap iron guy to haul away some of the wreckage the storm had created at my parents’ farm. It was gratifying to think that the steel from our ruined grain bins was going to be recycled, perhaps into new grain ...
Cattle producers turning their livestock out to pasture this spring may find that some pasture ground has been impacted by drought conditions and other factors. “Soil moisture is definitely a concern as that will put pressure on many of our perennials, as last year’s conditions will ...
