Iowa Farm Bureau - Farm Fresh Discoveries

What is a farmer? What is a female farmer? I absolutely love to say that I am a farmer, although I sometimes have some hesitation. Women have been a part of agriculture and farming for a long time. They never took ownership. I am doing all of those roles that a farmer does and I'm proud to be known as a farmer. It’s certainly a sense of pride, to be able to have a product that I'm raising with my family, to provide for someone else's family. So we are just picking our corn. We do this every day, six days a week. We have Steve’s Sweet Corn, also growing an operation that we have in the summer. And then we also have Kittleson Brothers Potatoes and Onions. We have a crew that does this every morning. Just taking a peek at the tip. And if it looks good, usually the rest of the ear is good after that. So it takes a lot more time. But I guess I think our reputation is known for having really good corn and every ear being good. Beth, my wife is a central part of our business. We're both involved in the decision making. We both complement each other. We're both involved in the labor side. Definitely proud to call myself an active part of the farming operation. There's a lot of things about our operation that are unique. There aren't that many sweet corn farms in Iowa to begin with. We are the only potato and onion farm in Iowa of size that we're aware of. These are potatoes, red potatoes, gold potatoes. During the pandemic, people started hoarding things from the grocery store. And one of the things that people chose to hoard was actually potatoes. And so we actually had phone calls like crazy coming in from these grocery stores that we're usually working with that we're delivering these products to. And they wanted massive amounts of potatoes compared to what they used to. They would take any variety that they didn't even usually get, just so that they could have some on their shelves. We ran two crews trying to provide for the demand. At that time, it was just amazing. It was kind of my “a-ha” moment that we are essential that the things that we're doing are really important for human life. Farming is a full time job that happens seven days a week and sometimes close to 24 hours in a day. As a fifth generation farmer, legacy is very important to me. My great great grandparents came over to the United States and farming was a way of making a livelihood. I am proud to call myself a farmer, and I'm proud that I get to drive a giant tractor down the road and that I get to market our corn and soybeans, and then I get to help out in the barns. My favorite part of farming is really the community and being there for everyone in my area. We are here to stay for the long haul. Agricultural always be here because we all have to eat right. Food is kind of that tapestry that weaves us together. It's something that even though we all maybe have a different way of eating, I've never met someone who doesn't eat. I grew up in the Twin Cities and then went to Iowa State University and never met my husband, Dan. So I did not grow up on the farm or have that experience. It is exciting when we have the opportunity to know that, yeah, we do get to feed the world in that, you know, my neighbor or someone all the way across the world. We are not here just because of our hard work. We're here because of the hard work of, you know, multiple generations before us. And we're so thankful for that. It's not just me. I'm part of a bigger picture.