Celebrating 100 Years of Master Farmers in Iowa

Yeager: We are on the road today for the MToM podcast at the Iowa FFA Enrichment Center, which is on the campus of DMACC. That's the Des Moines Area Community College in Ankeny, Iowa. This road show is where we bring together a couple of people, all in the name of being master farmers. It's the 100th year of the master farmer program in the state of Iowa. It was started by some guy named Wallace, who you recognize the magazine or maybe the secretary of Agriculture or that tiny little company that ended up being pioneer hybrids. We are going to talk to those who have connection to everything. They're both as master farmers before current and now new master farmers. So we are going to have a conversation with the president of the organization. That's Jeff Jorgensen. He himself a farmer from southwest Iowa. His grandfather won the award and he has won the award, and now he serves as president. We'll find out a little bit more about the organization. Then we're going to talk with Rob Fleming, who is a relation to the Wallaces. He's the great grand nephew of Henry Wallace. And we'll find out his connection to the state of Iowa and agriculture, both professionally and personally, and what he's been involved with. And then we'll talk to one of this year's winners, Steve and Jane Johanningmeyer farm in extreme northeast Iowa. We'll hear about their operation with Steve and Jane. Also had a nice conversation with us as well. So that is what we're up to. I'm Paul Yeager, this is the MToM podcast. New episodes come out each and every Tuesday. We're going to do a little bit more on the Master Farmer program later down the road for Market to Market, which this podcast is a production of that TV show. But first, I want to tell you about something and how you can be connected to the show. Jeff Jorgenson is the president this year of the Iowa master farmers, and you're a farmer yourself from Sidney, Iowa. And tell me about your operation.

Jeff Jorgenson: Our operation, down in Fremont County, southwest corner, far southwest corner County. We have corn and soybean, row crop. And we have a cow herd as well.

Yeager: And you've been involved with leadership in Iowa soybeans before?

Jorgenson: Yeah, we did, did nine ye ars on that. So as a full term on that was, when I was president, I mean, I did all the way through to treasurer and then I was president as well.

Yeager: Something going on with soybeans when you were in leadership?

Jorgenson: Yeah. We had a lot of things go on in leadership. You know, you do over a nine year span, we saw a lot of things, a lot of state legislation. We did, you know, National, we saw a lot of things going on globally. You on for that long a timeframe. You see a lot of different things. What would be the relationship was the. I'm sorry, that was the relationship with other farmers. One of the biggest surprises that you had when you joined that organization is sort of meeting with people and getting to understand what their operation is like and where they're from.

Jorgenson: Sure. By far, you know, you covered State of Iowa and then, you know, we do a lot of where we go and see a lot of national stuff when you're in the Iowa Soybean Association. So interacting with those farmers from across the country and, you know, essentially we're all after the same goal. You know, we're trying to move a pile of beans. And it was it was really fun. Interactive good folks. Great relationships. It was it was really rewarding.

Yeager: Are you a first generation farmer?

Jorgenson: No. I'm, third generation.

Yeager: Same spot, same spot. All right. So why did you decide to be number three?

Jorgenson: It was. It started from the beginning. I never was off the farm. It's one of those things when people talk about farming is in your blood. You and I started out that way. I think I was, I think early on, it was. It was pretty much known.

Yeager: Who taught you the most about farming.

Jorgenson: Oh, my grandpa did, by far, lost it. Lost my dad in a farm accident. You know, when I was really young. But it was my grandpa, and, you know, those those guys, we he's been gone a couple of years now, but, you know, that generation of farmers that made it through the, you know, 3040s, in the 50s? How tough some of those years were, really gave you an urgency to how to get things done, how to get by and how to make things work.

Yeager: What was your grandfather's and your father? I mean, I know you said he died young, but, what was their involvement with Master Farmer?

Jorgenson: My grandpa was a master farmer in 1973. And this was his. This was probably the most proud moment of his career. Really? Did a lot of, you know, work, you know, he worked in the church, helped in the church, and a lot of those things. But this was one of his proudest moments. And it is for me as well. I mean, I knew how important it was to him and and to be surrounded with folks that have, you know, like minded, you know, or working for stewardship of the land. We take care of Iowa. We take care of our community. That's that's really important. And these folks, that's what they believe in as well.

Yeager: And what year did they put you in this thing?

Jorgenson: 2022.

Yeager: Why do you think you were nominated or at least chosen?

Jorgenson: Well, I think it was. You know, I spent a lot of time doing, you know, volunteer work in the community. You know, then got on soybean board and we did did a full run of that. It just it's funny how some people just find it and say, you know, you're you're going to be here and you don't. I mean, I remember going down the down the highway going to a meeting very early on and you said you're going to be president of our soybean association. I'll just I'll tell you that right now. And, you know, you're kind of set back and, well, all of a sudden, he was right. And you look for those and they're looking for leaders. They're always looking for leaders. There's, there's people that want to go into leadership and there's people that, you know, kind of do the legwork. Right. And I was one of those that, you know, I was okay with it. I had young kids. It was a tough thing for the family, but I knew it was good for Iowa agriculture. I knew it was good for Iowa farmers, and it was the right thing to do.

Yeager: So with your grandfather in the 70s, that means your whole life you knew what this master farmer thing was.

Jorgenson: I know it was on the wall.

Yeager:  It was on the wall. You see it? So when you were in that position to move into leadership of this organization, what guided you the most? That plaque on the wall, or did you evolve a little bit of the way agriculture is now, where.

Jorgenson: My grandpa was live when I got the award and he came up and before it, he said, you know, you've done some soybean work, but, you know, they have to have leadership thoughts on this too. And in that for him that was saying you need to do that as well. So it was it was pretty implied that I was going to be part of it. And I enjoy being part of it. Very much so, this organization, you know, there's other states that have master farmers. But Iowa, really, Iowa does more and maybe it's with Henry as well as being from Iowa and how he started it. But we do a lot more in Iowa than other states. Do it for the master farmer, and I'm proud of it. And all of us are proud of it. And we really make sure that, we keep this thing going. It's 100 years. This is 100 year anniversary. And, I was told when I got out, I said, well, you get to be president during the hundred year. And I first said, well, what is it? And I'm like, oh, man, this is a little bit.

Yeager: It was all.

Jorgenson: There was a lot of planning that went on. It's like, wait a.

Yeager: Minute, what did I sign up for? Holy cow.

Jorgenson: Exactly.

Yeager: But let's define it for those outside of Fremont County, because everybody in Fremont County knows your family, and knows what this is about. But I'm sure there's people who are like Jeff Jorgensen. Mr. farmer. What does that mean? Yeah.

Jorgenson: Master farmer, it's until you read it or you think, you know, you got to get a little deeper, you know, it's it's a little bit, you know, 10,000ft view. But, you know, what it is is it's it's an organization. It's a group that, you know, you get nominated by by someone, can be family can be anything, but the nomination and going through the process, I mean, it's it's fairly strict. I mean, we, we look for people that are very philanthropic with their time. It's not about money. This is about philanthropic. With your time, you take care of your community. You're a good farmer. Those those those pillars of, good farming. Right. Thinking, good living. That's that's what we live by, I mean, and those things I think I said it right. That's what we, all those, all those three pillars are what we look at when we're looking for master farmers. There's a lot of folks that get nominated. Not everybody gets in to be a master farmer. It's kind of a high bar, but we feel that, you know, for this being 100 years and Henry Wallace putting it together, we feel that holding that to a high standard, is what it was meant to be. It's kind of living the legacy for him that we do it and hold those standards, to a different level. Good farming is a big part of it, but also, you know, community service is really, really big for it. And you can go through anybody that's been, you know, nominated as a master farmer and any of them that I know that are here with us or I get to see them different things, we all show up. We have two meetings here, this one, and we have one in the fall. And, you know, people show up, we all show up as master farmers, and we're looking for the best thing for an organization.

Yeager: Well, clearly the organization has had to survive all these times, the ups and downs of farming. You mentioned the 70s when your grandfather, we know what happened late 70s, early 80s, then we had the 80s, then we've had droughts, we've had high markets. That's not what it's all about. But the key, the way I'm hearing you speak, Jeff, is it's still about those farmers who show up every day and grind and lead and try to get to the next day. Is that pretty Accurate?

Jorgenson: Absolutely. Or and to get it to the next generation. The reality is, is, you know, this is what we do is generational. It's not what happens this year. Next year we look further down the road. I mean, even for me, I know I got a plant and a couple weeks I got to plant a car for 26. But I'm already looking at what's going to happen in 27, and beyond. And I have, you know, I have kids that are going to come back to the farm, and it's the greatest thing I could have. But, you know, farming is a generational thing. And you can tell with most of these folks that are master farmers, we want this to be a generational thing. And if they don't have that next generation, it's looking for the right piece that fits that puzzle, to move us forward and to carry this on. I mean, this is 100 years, I think, how agriculture has changed in the last ten years. To think about it back from from the early 1930s when, you know, we really started going, we have we have change and we're going to have more change. But stabilization of the family farm, that's, that's a key for all of us.

Yeager: As Iowa is a leader in agriculture, do you feel the Master Farmer award is the top honor in production agriculture in the United States?

Jorgenson: For me, it is. I really believe that. You can be a good farmer and do things well on your operation, but when you go beyond that—serving your community and your country—that’s what makes it special. That matters to me, and I think it matters to most of us.

Yeager: Do you get the sense that your job—as a group—is tougher now because of outside pressures, not just what’s happening on the farm?

Jorgenson: To a degree. But we also stay focused on what we can control. You stay in your lane, do what you can, and do it the best you can. There are things you can impact—on your farm, in your state, in your community—and keeping those moving forward is what matters most.

Yeager: You don’t set out to win awards. So if I’m a young farmer—say 24 or 25—how do I work toward something like this? What’s the path?

Jorgenson: Community involvement is a big part of it. Good farming matters, but so does being involved—volunteering, being part of organizations. There are plenty of opportunities in agriculture—corn, soybeans, pork, beef—and they’re always looking for people. That service and philanthropy piece is real. Get involved, take hold of it, and it will benefit you as you grow.

Yeager: This program spans 100 years. What’s stayed the same?

Jorgenson: Good farming. Clear thinking. Good living. Those standards don’t change. Things evolve, and they’ll keep changing faster, but the foundation stays the same—stay on the path and keep moving forward.

Yeager: You’re about to go on stage. Look into the camera—what should a young farmer be doing right now?

Jorgenson: You’ve got a challenge. Agriculture isn’t easy—it takes hard work and more time than you think you have. But stay involved. There are people willing to help—from those my age to those who’ve retired. Seek them out. They want agriculture to continue, and they’ll help you find your path.

Yeager: This year’s class—four farmers, right? Give me a quick snapshot.

Jorgenson: It’s not about size. Some have smaller operations, but their community involvement is incredible. They’re good people, strong families, and they show up every day. That’s what matters.

Yeager: Make a pitch—why should someone get involved or nominate someone?

Jorgenson: We all know people doing great things. You can nominate them. There are more Master Farmers out there than the 500 recognized so far—they just need to be nominated. They deserve that recognition.

Yeager: A couple weeks from planting—everything set? Any last-minute changes?

Jorgenson: A few small adjustments based on costs, but not much. We’re getting ready to go.

Yeager: Still have old crop around? Any new crop sold yet?

Jorgenson: Yeah, we’ve taken advantage of some opportunities to stay profitable. It’s a challenge right now, but you just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Yeager: Sounds like the same conversation we’ve had for ten years.

Jorgenson: Exactly. That doesn’t change. Agriculture has had tough years, but if you’re in it, you stay optimistic.

Yeager: That part never changes. Jeff Jorgenson, president of the Iowa Master Farmers—thanks.

Jorgenson: Thank you.

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Yeager: Rob Fleming joins us now. Rob, why are you here?

Fleming: Well, I’m here to attend this year’s Iowa Master Farmers annual meeting.

Yeager: And you have a family connection to this organism?

Fleming: I do. Master Farmers was founded by Henry Wallace in 1926, 100 years ago exactly. And I am his grandnephew—a great-nephew, I guess, would be the correct term.

Yeager: And you live in Pennsylvania now? In Pennsylvania?

Fleming: Philadelphia.

Yeager: Still have connections to Iowa?

Fleming: Deep connections. My brother’s here, and my nieces and grandnieces and nephews. And we have a farm just south of the town where I grew up.

Yeager: What does agriculture mean to you today?

Fleming: Well, it’s fascinating. I’m a landscape architect, and within that profession my specialty was historic landscape preservation and ecological restoration. So I’m very interested in the natural landscape. And unfortunately, agriculture to me today means a system of practices that are not favorable to the natural environment.

Yeager: That’s what you’re doing now, you’re saying?

Fleming: Or that’s what, at my farm, I’m deeply engaged in—restoring the farm to its original native condition of prairie and oak savanna.

Yeager: How hard is that to do?

Fleming: It takes more than a lifetime to take what was a farm and restore it to something like the original condition. And even then, you never quite get there. But so much has been lost. The original prairie in Iowa—there’s less than one-tenth of one percent of actual remnant prairie that was there before settlement. So I’m deeply interested in what was here before settlement and how to go about putting something like it back again. So that’s the answer to the question. I look at production agriculture, and I’m distressed.

Yeager: Yeah. Well, that’s what I was going to ask—how receptive are people to trying to return us back?

Fleming: Well, of course, there is a movement, of which I’m a part, that’s accelerating to try to bring something of the natural native environment back to the farm. You may be familiar with the STRIPS program out of Iowa State, which involves looking—and thanks to present precision agricultural technology, you can do this. You can look and find the least productive patches, even small patches on any given field, and ask yourself the question, am I putting more into this than I’m getting out of this particular parcel? And if you can determine that it’s really not worth it, plant it to prairie. And the prairie has a sort of almost mystical ability to store nitrogen, for example. It’s translocated from the soil heading toward the tile system and from there to the Gulf of Mexico—not the Gulf of America, if you don’t mind me saying so. And that represents a very interesting and promising technology that can be compatible with production agriculture and actually increase overall return, I think, because you’re not farming unproductive land. Beyond that, when you think about the role of grasslands and the overall ecology in the world, everyone is talking about sequestering carbon, injecting carbon back into the ground. The single most effective environment for sequestering carbon are grasslands because of the deep-rooted nature of that virtual ecosystem. So I think there’s also a role for taking the least productive land out of production—larger and larger parcels—and returning it to prairie.

Yeager: Some of the reason the land went into production was financial, but now some of the reason that some of that land could come out of production is, again, financial. There’s a run-up in the things that are happening in Iran and the fertilizer market that was already rising up here, where it’s just not going to financially make sense. Do you think that’s what’s going to end up helping your cause more than, say, the cause itself?

Fleming: Well, it may. And having said all that about production farming, I’m a member of Practical Farmers of Iowa. And of course, looking at the airplane, it doesn’t look like it’s happening yet, but I think there’s great promise in cover crops as a means of sequestering nitrogen and keeping something green on the ground all year round. And I do think that one of the consequences of higher input prices will be to begin to think about these more naturalistic ways of increasing soil health and fertility, with a higher level of organic matter. Obviously, one of the premises of Practical Farmers is adding more crops to the rotation—not just corn, but also corn, beans, oats, wheat, clover, other specialty crops. There’s been a lot of research at Iowa State over the years about trying to prove out—and I think they have proven out—that you can have the same amount of income, even if you have less yield, by engaging in a three- or four-crop rotation.

Yeager: I just talked with the head of the Master Farmers this year, and we were talking about evolutions in agriculture. Do you think that we are at a point right now where things are going to evolve, given everything you just said about changes and attempts to return things? Do you think we’re at a major crossroads right now?

Fleming: Maybe, but it’s kind of a political issue because of the nature of the current farm support system that supports the kind of agriculture that’s intensive, fence-line to fence-line, and one or two crops—corn on corn or corn and soybeans. And of course, half of the corn now is, and increasingly more of the soybeans are, going into biofuels. So it takes a change in policy. The existence of the ethanol system is really a political decision. It’s not driven by anything other than the mandate to want ethanol with gasoline. I think it has a marginal environmental effect. And in the end, because it takes just as much energy to produce a gallon of ethanol as it returns when you put it in the car— But a change in policy and the support system would be the thing that would make the difference. You know, a carrot, not a stick, to get people to engage in resilient farming practices involving cover crops and soil.

Yeager: So more policy-driven than market-driven?

Fleming: Well, the two are related some. That’s a good question. I don’t think that the market will demand environmental reform. I mean, people will approve of the idea of more environmentally friendly farming practices, but I don’t think they’re willing to pay for them unless they can actually be proven out to be somehow more affordable.

Yeager: Let’s look at your family. Would they recognize agriculture today, your great-granduncle and your—

Fleming: Well, they would, because the basic idea was to establish really good settlement and deeply encourage the farm process. It was run by the three Henry Wallaces. So the basic structure of it is similar. They did have an environmental perspective, but it was, I think, more about preventing soil erosion, for example, but certainly in the interest of increasing yield through hybridization. I think they were certainly—Henry Wallace would approve of the practices engaged in by PFI, as an example, or the practices being promoted by some graduate studies in sustainable agriculture at ISU and many other places as well. So it’s a mixture of, yes, recognizing not only the continuation of what they promoted as scientific agriculture, but also that aspect of scientific agriculture now which can be applied as a reform to overproduction.

Yeager: How many years have you been to this event?

Fleming: This will be my third time at this event.

Yeager: Which means you’re familiar with the Master Farmer concept, and you’ve seen and heard different stories from Master Farmers. So is there anything that ties those together, do you believe, over the years?

Fleming: Ties—

Yeager: All the Master Farmers together, other than the organization itself—is there one or two commonalities in who becomes one?

Fleming: Well, the fascinating thing about the Master Farmer program is it’s deeply based in values. And I’ll be speaking about this later today. The motto of Wallaces Farmer is “Good Farming. Clear Thinking. Right Living.” This is based on an almost religious view of country life and the value of the citizenry of the country, if you will. There’s this deeply held motto based on family values translated into the Master Farmers program in a very creative way. The masthead had that motto when Wallaces Farmer was formed in 1895, and in 1910 Uncle Henry Wallace, with his son H.C., who was my great-grandfather, reiterated it—restated it in an article about what they really meant by each of those three points. And then flash forward 16 years to 1926. Uncle Henry had been dead for ten years exactly. Henry C. Wallace had died in office two years before. Henry Wallace was alone running Wallaces Farmer at that point, the editor-in-chief, and conceived of embodying these three principles into the lives and persons of farmers. The idea behind the Master Farmers was that he was living these values, these three basic values. But he made a scorecard—or he published a sheet—that was a list of points, criteria, to qualify to be a Master Farmer under each of those three points in the motto. And it was very value-laden. I mean, nowadays not all of these points are in the current list of criteria.

Fleming: To be a Master Farmer, you kind of had to be an elder in your church, and you had to have your home open to inspection to make sure the whole place was tidy, that you had a lot of books around, that you had a lot of magazine subscriptions, including—

Yeager: You know, of course.

Fleming: And the latest tools, that you were engaged in scientific agriculture based on the things that were lying around your house. And you had to be married and have kids. The kids had to be clean and in school doing well. I mean, it was really a very specific set of pretty high-standard behaviors to become a Master Farmer. And the interesting thing is, I’m convinced that when I read that every year—Wallaces Farmer has the bios, and I do have a subscription to Wallaces Farmer, and I do read the bios of the typically four farm couples—used to be all men. But I read this, and I think they meet or exceed those original, very specific and very high-standard criteria. So I think there’s fabulous continuity over the last 100 years, and hundreds, maybe even a thousand or more people, have gotten this honor.

Yeager: To get to the first hundred years, this is what we’ve talked about. How do we get to the next hundred years?

Fleming: Well, I think that’s easy in a way because if you go out in the room, you’ll see all these very good-looking, healthy-looking, friendly people, and that’s that core. And it keeps—it’s like a forest succession, right? People die, but there’s middle growth, the middle-aged, and these people age and then they age out, unfortunately. So there’s continuity. It’s ever renewing. It’s like a forest. It’s self-reproducing, I guess. So the future of it just depends on keeping up the nominations over the years, which is a peer-to-peer thing, by the way. The invitation to nominate goes out in Wallaces Farmer. It’s restricted to that publication. It’s not something out of the university or out of the state of Iowa. So I would guess another supporting thing would have to be the continuation of Wallaces Farmer as a publication with an audience, with subscribers, because it is the subscribers who do the nominations.

Yeager: I appreciate your time, Rob. Thank you so very much.

Fleming: Thanks. I appreciate the opportunity to talk to you.

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Yeager: Steve, where do you farm?

S. Johanningmeier: Allamakee County, around Waukon.

Yeager: Is that your home area?

S. Johanningmeier: Yeah.

Yeager: You grew up there?

S. Johanningmeier: I did.

Yeager: How many generations of farms before you on that line? That’s your family.

S. Johanningmeier: Where our dairy is, we’re the first generation. Where our beef is would be the second generation.

Yeager: When did you decide farming was something you wanted to do?

S. Johanningmeier: Oh, I always wanted that, yeah.

Yeager: You waited all the way until you were 14? I thought it was always a seven-year-old thing when they got excited about it. Tell me—was it your father or your mother’s father that was involved in farming?

S. Johanningmeier: My father.

Yeager: What was that farm like?

S. Johanningmeier: We had 50 cows, had farrow-to-finish pigs. You know, that was about it then.

Yeager: I can’t shake the dairy farming. You still do dairy farming?

S. Johanningmeier: Yep.

Yeager: Can’t shake it? You like that? Are you to an automated milker yet, or are you—

S. Johanningmeier: Still no. We have employees there, you know.

Yeager: What else is on the farm? We talk about beef, we talk about dairy—crops up there?

S. Johanningmeier: Yeah, we’ll probably farm around 2,000 acres of corn, 700 of alfalfa, and a few soybeans. Not too many—400.

Yeager: Is that just more of a rotation thing?

S. Johanningmeier: Yeah.

Yeager: Because the corn—you harvest some for silage and then some for feed. Then you sell?

S. Johanningmeier: Yeah. Silage, and then grain.

Yeager: And you’re pretty close to the Mississippi River if you need to ship any downstream.

S. Johanningmeier: Yeah. We are about 20 miles.

Yeager: What was your first real farming moment—your welcome to farming, you’re doing this on your own moment?

S. Johanningmeier: Probably when I was about 19.

Yeager: What was the experience?

S. Johanningmeier: My dad kind of moved over and left me. We had machinery back then. I guess we were probably about 18 then. And then we had a third of the expense and a third of the personal property as far as cattle and feed.

Yeager: What year was this?

S. Johanningmeier: We moved off that farm. We got married in ’71, and we moved off and built a milking parlor on a different farm. My brother was coming up behind me, so yeah, it was a big move.

Yeager: Does your brother still farm?

S. Johanningmeier: No. He doesn’t.

Yeager: Do you have any other family that still farms?

S. Johanningmeier: No. No, we don’t.

Yeager: Any of your kids interested in it?

S. Johanningmeier: Oh yeah. Mike is our son. Mike farms, and his wife Lori. And our daughter and her husband Cole are farmers.

Yeager: When you received communication about this Master Farmer thing, what was your first thought?

S. Johanningmeier: Not for me, to be honest with you. I don’t know, I kind of like to stay out behind everything. I don’t really want to be up front.

Yeager: So sitting for interviews and wearing a tie is not necessarily the line you like to be in.

S. Johanningmeier: No.

Yeager: You’re extremely uncomfortable right now, is what you’re telling me. When you found out, did you know anything about the Master Farmer program?

S. Johanningmeier: I didn’t know. I really didn’t know.

Yeager: What do you know about it now?

S. Johanningmeier: It’s quite an honor. It’s very much an honor.

Yeager: Why do you think you were nominated? I’m sure you’ve probably heard about the nomination, but why do you think someone nominated you?

S. Johanningmeier: Well, a friend of ours who had been a friend for over 30 years maybe asked if he could nominate us. And I didn’t think so. But he was pretty persistent. He finally got my daughter involved in writing something up for us, and then we thought, well, we’ll try it.

Yeager: And here you are.

S. Johanningmeier: You’re right. Here we are.

Yeager: Now that you’ve had a little time to put some reflection on it, what’s it mean to you?

S. Johanningmeier: It’s a great thing. I guess we’re really honored.

Yeager: Is farming a good thing still?

S. Johanningmeier: Oh yeah.

Yeager: Why?

S. Johanningmeier: Well, you’re your own boss. You can kind of set your schedule. I don’t know, I just like it. It’s peaceful, and you’ve got to work hard—some days, some weeks, or most weeks, seven days. But I like it.

Yeager: Especially when hay is down and it rains and Mark Schnackenberg gives you the wrong forecast, you probably get a little—

S. Johanningmeier: Oh yeah. Yeah.

Yeager: I know up there that’s a big thing. He’s always giving the hay forecast for every meal. When you see or hear the list of nominees today that are going in with you, have you read much about them?

S. Johanningmeier: I did read a little bit one time, yeah.

Yeager: This is a club. This is a very exclusive club. This is the best of the best Iowa farmers to be in there, and to have your name and get it presented today is kind of a big deal.

S. Johanningmeier: Oh yeah, it’s a big deal. It’s a great thing.

Yeager: What makes a Master Farmer in your eyes?

S. Johanningmeier: Oh, you know, I think—I don’t know for sure. We weren’t trying to be a Master Farmer. We just wanted to do things right. And I’ve got really good help. It’s a farm. It’s not me, it’s the farm.

Yeager: When you say do it right, what does that mean?

S. Johanningmeier: You know, I don’t know for sure.

Yeager: Conservation.

S. Johanningmeier: Yeah. Well, we believe in sustainability.

Yeager: Planning.

S. Johanningmeier: Yeah. Everything.

Yeager: Not just profits and production.

S. Johanningmeier: No. That comes with it. But conservation—and really a big thing for us—we want to make sure the next generation has the soil.

Yeager: If I’m just going to assume I know your topography, I’m guessing there’s not much tabletop around you.

S. Johanningmeier: We’re not real steep, but it’s not flat, no.

Yeager: So you have to preserve things. You need terraces, you need buffers. Otherwise there would be nothing left.

S. Johanningmeier: Right. That’s right. That’s correct.

Yeager: Did your father tell you to do that?

S. Johanningmeier: He always made sure. He built a lot of terraces himself. But the terraces today are different. We’re more on the contour, and we’re blocking the waterways and stuff.

Yeager: Your wife is here with you. Was she a partner with all of this—with you on the conservation and the production and the planning? Tell me about her role with you. You have to say something nice with her watching you on the other side of this camera.

S. Johanningmeier: She’s always been there. Yeah, and she always backed it. We never really had any disagreements or anything like that. We pulled together.

Yeager: So now that you’re in this club, you’re going to keep an eye out for a Master Farmer. Does this now become—not necessarily Master Farmer—but like a godfather farmer? People are going to come to you for advice, or they’re going to view you as a sage. Do you think that’ll happen now?

S. Johanningmeier: I don’t know. Maybe the younger farmer—it’s, well, I don’t know. Hopefully we—I don’t know.

Yeager: If you could talk to that younger farmer who might not come to your facility to see your operation, give me a message for them on what maybe they should be trying to do for themselves.

S. Johanningmeier: It takes a lot of hard work, takes a lot of time. And the technology and stuff today—we never had it when we started—but it’s important. That’s important.

Yeager: Well, congratulations.

S. Johanningmeier: Thank you.

Yeager: Jane, did you grow up on a farm?

J. Johanningmeier: I did. We lived by Lycurgus. We had 11 brothers and sisters, and we just had a great life on the farm. We loved cows. We had pigs and sheep and everything that came with it. And we all helped out back then. We milked cows with buckets and cream cans.

Yeager: Did you know Steve growing up?

J. Johanningmeier: No, no, I did not.

Yeager: So did you think that farming was going to be your future even when you were young? Were you destined to depart?

J. Johanningmeier: Yes, I was.

Yeager: You were going to leave the farm in the rearview.

J. Johanningmeier: That’s what I said. I don’t know why. I just figured there would be something else. But when Steve came along, that was it.

Yeager: So what’s been your role on the farm with Steve?

J. Johanningmeier: We had five children, so together we helped take care of them and went to the barn, usually every day, to milk. We brought the kids along with us, and they all grew up to milk cows and take care of the cows on the farm with us. And they’re all very dedicated to the ag industry. Our daughter is with us. She’s in the partnership. And then the other two girls, Angela and Amy, are both with John Deere, so they’re in ag also. And Mike, our son Mike, definitely—and his wife Lori—are on the farm with us.

Yeager: It’s a family situation.

J. Johanningmeier: It is very much, yep.

Yeager: Is that important to you?

J. Johanningmeier: Oh yes.

Yeager: Why?

J. Johanningmeier: Oh, I guess because I just grew up, you know—back in the day we didn’t have much. Everybody worked together and got along, and it just continues. It’s in my blood.

Yeager: You’re just a little bit younger than my mother, and I know what she went through in the ’70s and ’80s. What did you go through in the ’70s and ’80s trying to keep the farm together? How did those conversations go—both probably on your family farm where you grew up, plus your house where you were living?

J. Johanningmeier: How did that go?

Yeager: Not easy, was it?

J. Johanningmeier: No, it wasn’t easy. No, it wasn’t easy. Every extra dollar we got, we went to the bank to pay off our notes, and we just kind of rolled with it. We just kept growing and growing. And the ’80s were a hard time. People told us, they said, you’re not going to make it. Steve was destined—we were going to make it one way or another. And of course we did survive. And we just kept growing. And the kids helped some, for sure.

Yeager: So at that point, was Master Farmer ever in the vision, or was it just survive day by day?

J. Johanningmeier: You know, I didn’t really know much about the Master Farmer at that time. I guess we just kept working at it, and we just knew we had to make it.

Yeager: Now that you know a little bit about the Master Farmer, do you think you were living those values back then?

J. Johanningmeier: I would say we definitely tried to keep everything going. It’s been a great honor, that’s for sure, to be recognized as a Master Farmer. We never dreamed of being honored with this award. So very grateful.

Yeager: So I’ll ask you the same question. When the notification came that you had been selected, what went through your mind?

J. Johanningmeier: Like here, I don’t think this is for us. We didn’t know for sure how to get it, what we were going to get into. But our daughter, who is in the operation with us, she helped us out. I mean, she kept pushing for us to do it. And so finally we said yes, we’ll go for it. We didn’t know what a big undertaking it was, but it worked out good. We’re glad we did.

Yeager: When you look back at what happened from then to now, I’m not going to say save yourselves or Master Farmers, but what makes a good farmer in your definition?

J. Johanningmeier: Oh, I guess every day is different, that’s for sure. You never know what you’re going to come into. And every day you take those things, and you work with them and get through them every day, I guess. I guess that’s about it.

Yeager: Do you value sustainability? Yes. And family—we’ve already talked about that a lot. The production side—what’s your favorite job in the production side of things?

J. Johanningmeier: It was in the milking, the dairy for me. I did the bookwork and stuff, you know, and helped out on the farm, did the errands and stuff, kind of knew what was going on all the time. Tried to some days, but we did.

Yeager: Let’s do a little legacy here. You mentioned your family. What do you hope that they maintain and take from you? But also, what have they maybe brought in on their own for a new idea? You know, those crazy kids and their faith and their crazy ideas, right?

J. Johanningmeier: Well, their faith, yeah. We’ve always gone to church and had the Catholic Mass—the first rural Mass at our farm a year and a half ago. And they’ve all just gotten right into everything, wherever they needed to. Our grandkids too. Now we’ve got 15 grandkids, and they are also right into it. They love the farm.So we’re glad. We’re very thankful and blessed that we’ve got them. And whoever wants to work there can do their share, and they all do. So yeah, that’s what I know. All the kids, you know—when they were mowing hay, even little Emma would be mowing hay with her little hay behind, and they just grew up doing that. Even our daughter Angela—she had third shift sometimes. She and Steve would go up and do the third-shift milking. She was going to Northeast Iowa College at that time, and she would put all her homework into a little cassette tape and play that while she was milking the cows. She was listening to that homework, you know, learning, and then she was there until four in the morning. And then we’d wake her at seven for class. She was very, very, very helpful and dedicated. Dedicated.

Yeager: Yeah. To do all that.

J. Johanningmeier: Those nights at nine, she was there milking until four. So, yeah.

Yeager: Well, congratulations.

J. Johanningmeier: Thank you, Paul. It was an honor meeting you. I watch you on Market to Market, but I didn’t think I’d ever get to meet you.

Yeager: And now you get to be on the other side of all my crazy questions. All right, thank you. Thank you. The production supervisor for Iowa PBS is Sean Ingrassia. His crew is David Feingold, Julie Knutson, Neal Kyer, Kevin Rivers, and Reed Denker. The executive producer of Market to Market is David Miller. I’m Paul Yeager. We’ll see you next time. Thank you.