MN Agriculture: Paul and LeAnne Syring, A Farm Family Working Together 

Day 26 of my “30 Days of MN Agriculture” is Paul and LeAnne Syring from Granite Falls. Granite Falls is located in west central Minnesota. The Syrings farm together with their extended farm family. They grow corn, soybeans, wheat and also raise cattle. Along with farming, they also operate a trucking business – a diversified farming business. 

 

Tell me a little about your farm and/or business?

“We raise corn, soybeans, and wheat on our family farm. Paul is the third generation of Syring’s on the home farm, our son David partners with us as the 4^th generation, with his two boys Tyler, 12 and Ryan, 8 coming in at 5^th generation. We also have a cattle feedlot business with our son David in which we raise Holstein feeder cattle. For the past 30 years we have also owned and operated a trucking company, which employs 6 drivers.”

How long have you farmed or been in business?

“Paul began farming with his grandfather and father. At the age of 12 he rented 80 acres of land. He has always wanted to farm and enjoys living and working on his family farm. Our son David joined us in the farming operation officially when he graduated high school. He had always worked outside since he could walk and decided that farming was what he wanted to do.

Currently, Paul’s father is retired, but still helps out driving tractor, helping with repairs, and mowing around the farm. In the fall after the corn harvest, we bale the cornstalks for cattle bedding.”

Tell me a little about what you grown/raise/produce or service provided.

“We grow corn, soybeans, and wheat. We also raise feeder cattle.”

Where do you sell or provide services to? Who is your end consumer?

“We use some of our corn crop to feed our cattle. We also bale the corn stalks for bedding as well as baling the wheat straw. Our remaining produce is marketed. Our feeder cattle are also marketed as fats.”

What makes your farm/business unique or special? What are you proud of?

“In the fall after the corn harvest, we bale the cornstalks for cattle bedding. Our crew consists of four generations working together. Darrel, 84, Paul, 55, David, 34 and David’s two boys Ryan, 8, and Tyler, 12, can be found all working to get the stalk chopping, baling, picking up and hauling the bales done together.”

If there is one thing you could change about farming it would be . . . 

“We would like to receive a fair market price for our crops. The production costs and market price leave a small margin making the risk of farming great. We have had to diversify and keep three businesses going in order to keep everything afloat.”

What do you love most about farming/business?

“We love having the family work together. Dad, Son, Grandson, and Great-grandsons working together to plant a crop, pray for good growing conditions, and harvest in the fall. The time spent together is a blessing.”

What is one thing you wish consumers knew about what you do or your farm/business?

“We wish that people would realize the dedication that goes into farming. It is not a 9 to 5 job with weekends off. We work 7 days a week and put in long days. This lifestyle is our choice and we are grateful, but we work hard. There are sacrifices and joys, but we do the best that we can. Every decision made is made in good faith to produce the best product that we can.”

What makes Minnesota the place to farm/grow/raise/produce/service?

“Minnesota is a place of four beautiful seasons. To farm in this beautiful place is a blessing. Each season brings about different duties and responsibilities, but also brings variety and challenges.”

What is one thing about Minnesota that people from other areas do not know about or are missing because they don’t live here?

“People hear about Minnesota nice, but unless you come here to experience it first hand, you have no idea. When a neighbor is sick people turn out with food and supplies to support the family. When a tragedy strikes people band together to help each other out. We have been a part of two of our cities as they went through natural disasters. Our farm tractors and loaders have helped city clean-ups after tornadoes and helped in preparation of floods. Service to neighbors and community is a part of who Minnesotans are. We are proud to say we are from Minnesota.”

What is your favorite Minnesota location?

“One of our favorite Minnesota locations is the farm. At night, when you stand outside and look to the sky, you see millions of stars, and here the quiet of the country. It is a peace that knows no measure.”

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Read the other people featured in my “30 Days of MN Ag. ” 

There are others that are also participating in the 30 Days of Blogging Challenge. Feel free to check these out:

• Janice Person aka JP Loves Cotton: A Month of Memories
• Rural Route 2 – 30 Days of Farm Girl Faith
• Prairie Californian – 30 Days of Food 
• Mackinson Dairy – Women in Dairy

Follow these topics: 30 Days of MN Ag, dairy

 

MN Agriculture: Matt Braun and Moving From Sod to Corn/Soybeans 

Day 4 of my “30 Days of MN Agriculture” is Matt Braun. Matt is from Dennison, MN. Dennison is located southeast of Minneapolis. Matt is a beginner farmer and owns about 70 acres near Hollandale, MN. Matt comes from a Sod/Turf family farm. On his land, Matt grows corn and soybeans. Besides farming, Matt is very involved in his local Corn and Soybean board and the local Lions club. 

Matt’s family’s sod and turf business is unique to Minnesota. Minnesota is not known for the sod or turf business. Braun Turf Farms grows over 600 acres of Mineral (Highland) sod all of which is irrigated for uniform color over the hot summer months.

Social Media Sites:

Facebook: Braun Turf Farms

Website: Braun Turf Farms

How long have you farmed?

In 2007, Matt purchased his first acreage. Prior to that purchase, Matt has helped his family’s farming business for as long as he was old enough to work. 

 

Where do you sell or provide services to? Who is your end consumer?

“I sell my corn to the POET ethanol Plant in Glenville, MN and my soybeans go to Hayward Coop in Hayward, MN.”

What makes your farm/business unique or special? What are you proud of?

Matt is just starting out on his own farming. He was part of his family’s 4,000 acres corn and 800 acre sod farm but working with family is hard sometimes. It was a difficult decision for Matt to start farming on his own. 

Why do you grow/raise/produce? What went into your decision to do what you do?

“I enjoy growing corn and soybeans because it gives me a challenge. I have two different soil types on my farm heavy clay and peat soil so you have to be able think outside the box when making decisions on what to do on the farm.” This is just an example of the complexities of farming. It’s not just about putting a seed in the ground and letting it grow. Much thought has to be put in on what crop grows best for the soil types and then what kind of care does that seed need through the growing season.   

If there is one thing you could change about farming it would be . . . 

Matt would like to see a better informed consumer and how farmers work with the chemical and seed companies. Most non-ag people think farmers are owned by the chemical companies and they tell use what to do. And, of course, this is not true.

What is one interesting fact about your farm/crops/livestock/business you would like to share.

What is one thing you wish consumers knew about what you do or your farm/business?

“I wish consumers knew the hard work and dedication farmers put in, even if it looks like we have everything perfect, things still break or mother nature can wreak havoc.” 

What is one thing no one knows about your farm/business/product that you would like to share?

“I am just getting my feet wet and still care about what I am doing. I am learning as I go and want to improve my land and take better care of it.”

Who are your customers? Or what would you like to tell your customers?

My customers are the coop and the Poet plant my goal is to never give them a bad product.

What makes Minnesota the place to farm?

“Our weather is so different and the changes in the soil is so cool.”

What is one thing about Minnesota that people from other areas do not know about or are missing because they don’t live here?

“We have more farmers who are passionate about agriculture and the land.”

What is your favorite Minnesota location?

“I like the Brainerd International Raceway watching the NHRA drag races.”

What is one ag-related place in Minnesota that others need to know about. What is one non-ag related place in Minnesota that others need to know about and why?

For ag – it`s Hollandale, Minnesota. Hollandale has so much ag history because of all the onions, carrots and other canning crops produced there. There is a story and history around every corner.

Non-ag –  it would also be Hollandale, MN.  Located next to my farm is the Hollandale municipal pool and used to be the largest outdoor pool in the state.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Growing up on a sod farm which my grandpa started in 1952 and my dad grew to 1500 acres, I have learned to work with customers. You have one shot to make a good impression and do it right. And that same relationship ties in to farming. If you care about the customers, they will return and be happy. 

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Read the other people featured in my “30 Days of MN Ag. ”

There are others that are also participating in the 30 Days of Blogging Challenge. Feel free to check these out:

• Janice Person aka JP Loves Cotton: A Month of Memories
• Rural Route 2 – 30 Days of Farm Girl Faith
• Prairie Californian – 30 Days of Food 
• Mackinson Dairy – Women in Dairy

 

MN Agriculture: Chris and Kelly Fleming

Day 3 of my “30 Days of MN Agriculture” is the Chris and Kelly Fleming From Garden City, MN. Garden City is near Mankato, MN and located southwest of Minneapolis. Kelly works as an accountant along with working along side her husband, Chris on the farm. They are a young farm family with two children. They are also a fifth generation farm family. I personally know Kelly as she lived in our farming neighborhood while growing up. 

Tell me a little about your farm and/or business?

“I am an accountant at Andring, Collins, Norman & Co. Chtd in Mankato.  I work full-time during tax season and part time the rest of the year, so that way I am able to help out with our farming operation.  At my job I work mostly with farm tax and accounting clients.  I am currently in the process of getting my CPA license, I am half way there with two tests done and I have two tests to go.  I help out on the farm where ever I can, my husband Chris and his Dad do most of the day-to-day stuff together on the farm.  I spend a lot of time running the books of our operation.  In the spring and fall, I help where ever I can. I run the combine, grain cart, tillage, and yes I can even drive a semi to help out when I need to.  I also help my husband when customers’ needs to come and pick up seed from us in the spring.

Chris and I have two children, that God willing, will hopefully take over the farm one day.  The kid’s favorite time of year is in the fall during harvest, because with both parents out in the field, our family time is spent in the combine and tractors.  We are fifth generation farmers, and we are farming together with my husband’s parents, and we all live on the same building site on the farm.”  

How long have you farmed or been in business?

“I have been in the farming business my whole life.  I grew up on a dairy and crop farm in Martin County.  I married my husband in 2004 we have lived on the farm since then.  We used to be a farrow-to-finish hog farm, but we were still doing our breeding in outdoor barns, so we stopped farrowing, and then we were just finishing hogs, until the hog and grain market turned, and then decided it was more cost effective to rent our barns out to other producers.  We now sell our corn that we were previously feeding to our hogs.  We still take care of the pigs that our in our barns, by doing the daily chores, and checking to make sure the pigs are healthy and that everything is working properly in the barns.  We also take the manure from the hog barns, and spread that on our fields in the fall and this provides fertilizer for our next year’s crop.”

Tell me a little about what you grown/raise/produce or service provided.

“We currently raise corn and soybean crops, and we also sell products for DuPont Pioneer, corn, soybean, and alfalfa seed.”

Where do you sell or provide services to? Who is your end consumer?

“The corn we grow is delivered to a few different places.  The local cooperative, where it is either ground for hog feed, or loaded on to trains that are headed west, either for domestic use or to be exported to other countries.  The other place we sell a majority of our corn is the Ethanol plant, just west of Lake Crystal, MN.   Where it is ground for ethanol and once they are finished with ethanol production the remaining mash is dried into a product call Dried distillers grain (DDG’s).  The DDG’s are a high protein animal feed, similar to soybean meal that is used in many feed rations for hogs, cattle, and poultry.  The Ethanol plant also loads railcars of DDG’s to head to the western states and even as far south as Mexico.  All of our soybeans are delivered to one of the two crushers in Mankato, CHS or ADM, where the oil is extracted for cooking and vegetable oils, and similar to Ethanol production the remaining solids are dried and sold as soybean meal, another high protein animal feed.  In hog feed, DDG’s and soybean meal are added to ground corn in different amounts to help balance a feed ration.”

What makes your farm/business unique or special? What are you proud of?

“I believe our farm is special because it’s OUR farm.  We have invested blood, sweat, and tears into building it, by investing money in our farm we are trying to build a sustainable business for two separate families today, but for possibly more in the future.  There are thousands of farms in the country similar to ours that produce corn, soybeans, hogs, but we believe that what makes our farm special is the generations that came before us, one bought the land where are farm stands today, one generation built the original farm house, the barn, multiple other sheds, one built the hog barns, the modern grain handling system that continues to be expanded and improved upon today.  My husband and I are contributing to our farm by adding larger machine storage sheds and hopefully a larger shop for the next generations to enjoy, and by purchasing farmland to grow our crop, and for the next generations to enjoy.”

Why do you grow/raise/produce? What went into your decision to do what you do?

“My husband and I decided to be farmers, because it is in our blood, we love it, and I love raising our kids on the farm.  Farming makes us happy, it is amazing to watch the crop grow over the summer, it starts as just a little seed, and grows into something that is helping feed the world.  You will find my husband several days a week during spring and summer out counting the number of plants that came up, and the numbers of pods on the beans, and the number of rows on the ears of corn.”

“My husband and I believe that God made us Farmers, and we intend to preserve this great land that he created.  We like to consider that we are steward’s of our land, we are here to take care of it for a little while, and we want to leave our land in better shape than we received it.  We want our land to be well preserved, so that we will be able to grow crops, and future generations will be able to grow crops on this same land.”

What makes Minnesota the place to farm?

“Minnesota is a great place to grow corn and soybeans, the ground is rich in nutrients, and has a lot of nice deep black dirt.  It also has a good growing season for the crops, but all crops rely on the weather patterns that southern Minnesota receives.  We have close markets for our crops, and don’t have to haul them long distances to find a buyer.”

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There are others that are also participating in the 30 Days of Blogging Challenge. Feel free to check these out:

• Janice Person aka JP Loves Cotton: A Month of Memories
• Rural Route 2 – 30 Days of Farm Girl Faith
• Prairie Californian – 30 Days of Food 
• Mackinson Dairy – Women in Dairy