Brownfield

Finishing cattle in a hoop barn

The Coalition to Support Iowa's Farmers/Brownfield Ag News Doing Things Right Farm Tour kicked off on the Bryan Reed farm near Albia. We were welcomed to the farm by Bryan and Amber Reed, their three children Jaycee, Brayden, and Ashlyn, and Bryan's parents Ron and Sharon Reed.Bryan and Amber have lived on the farm we visited today for ten years. A 1997 Iowa State University graduate, Bryan worked for a neighbor farmer until 4 or 5 years ago when he started on his own. Bryan's dad and mom live down the road on the 80 acres where he grew up ...

Passion for agriculture shared with family

Amber Reed's dad was an ag teacher in Albia. She grew up showing horses, hogs and cattle, developing a passion for agriculture that she shares with her husband.Appreciation for nature and livestock and the environment are qualities that Amber believes she and husband Bryan will instill in their children. As a special education teacher at the local high school, Amber has summers off so once her children are older, she'll be able to get back "outside" to help with the cows. She looks forward to the days when her children will exhibit livestock at the county fairs. The Reeds appreciate the ...

Coming back to the family farm

One of our visits during the Coalition to Support Iowa's Farmers "Doing It Right" Farm Tour was on a family farm near Pleasantville.Working together is key to success on the Sutter Family farm, whether working with crops or with livestock, according to Tyler Sutter, the oldest son of Kenny and Leanne, and one of the members of the Sutter family that is a partner in the family farm.As stewards, Tyler believes his family improves every year. He cites new technology as one of the important tools that helps his family achieve its stewardship goals. Technology prevents the over-useage of seed ...

Being part of the community important to Sutter family

Sutter Family farm near Pleasantville, Iowa, is very much a family farm. Kenny and Leanne Sutter, their sons Tyler, and Jacob, along with Kenny's parents Don and Margene, Kenny's nephew, and a brother-in-law who works there sometimes have plenty of work to do on this farm. Kenny told me that many of his sons' friends also come to work on the farm from time to time.The farm corn, soybeans, wheat, alfalfa hay, cattle, and hogs. Collectively, Kenny explained, they farm quite a few acres, but no more than 1100 acres per family entity that works on the farm. They do ...

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Corn biotech usage continues to climb

A new USDA report shows the usage of biotech seed by corn producers has increased another five percent in 2009, now covering 85 percent of all corn acres. While South Dakota continues to lead in the percentage of biotech corn acres, at 96 percent, the... Read More...

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Featured: Doing It Right Farm Tour

Mother, wife, farmer

Leanne Sutter identifies herself as a mother, a wife and a farmer. She grew up on a family farm and has been married to her husband for 25 years, and is living on his family’s home farm, a farm that has been in his family since 1965.Being a farmer... Read More...

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Managing For Profit

Monitoring distillers grains in swine rations

Dr. Tim Loula of the Swine Vet Center, St. Peter, MN is considered to be one of the top swine veterinarians in the U.S. Dr. Loula spoke at a distillers grains conference in Des Moines earlier this year. After his presentation, we talked to Dr. Loula about how distillers grains have changed swine nutrition and swine management, pro and con. Dr.... [Read more of this review]