Saturday, September 7, 2024 | Country Acres • Page 1
Country Acres Saturday, September 7, 2024
PRSRT STD ECR U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT #861 Sauk Rapids, MN 2 Second Ave S Suite 135 Sauk Rapids MN 56379
Focusing on Today’s Rural Environment
Volume 11, Edition 12
Country MORNING
feast
Anderson family host Pope County Breakfast on the Farm BY EMILY BRETH STAFF WRITER
BELGRADE — From the mooing of cattle and squealing of pigs to the hums of irrigators and tractors, something can always be heard on the Anderson farm established in 1889. This year, the Anderson family — Grant, Noah, Isaac, Sue, John, Erin Krug and Wyatt Krug — welcomed the community to their crop and livestock farm for the Pope County Farm Bureau Breakfast on the Farm. “The (breakfast) committee has been asking for a couple of years, and we finally agreed,” Grant said. The committee has been
having monthly meetings at the farm since February, organizing different activities that are being planned. The event took place Monday, Sept. 2, with breakfast served from 8-11 a.m. and activities going on until noon. “There is a lot of work the committee puts into it,” Grant said. “They try to make it as painless as possible for the host farm.” Farm visitors had the opportunity to view a collection of equipment, see how aerial drone sprayers operate, learn about cow and horse hoof care and enjoy a hayride. There was also a play area for the kids and more. “I think it is good to educate the public,” Grant said.
“Fewer and fewer kids grow up on farms. It’s good to do some education and give back to the community.” The timing of the event pairs with the beginning of kidney bean harvest season for the Andersons. The family started experimenting with kidney beans in the ‘80s, and they switched fully from soybeans to kidney beans in the ‘90s. “We farm in what people call the Bonanza Valley,” Grant said. “The kidney beans and the sugar beets seem to do really well in our soil.” Sugar beets were added to the farm in 2000 when they bought a share in the Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative in Renville. When it comes time to harvest them, typically in October, they are brought to the Belgrade Receiving Station.
PHOTO BY EMILY BRETH
Hog barns overlook rows of sugar beets July 11 at the Anderson farm near Belgrade. Sugar beets were added to the farm in 2000 when they bought a share in the Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative in Renville.
Every year, the Andersons donate a plot of land to the Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa FFA chapter. The FFA gets all of their own seed and fertilizer to put in a test plot of their choice. The Andersons help them with any parts of the process, including weighing and checking the moisture of the crop during harvest.
Andersons page 2
PHOTO BY RAE LANZRATH
Isaac Anderson talks to a group of visitors on a tour of the farm Sept. 2 during the Pope County Breakfast on the Farm at the Anderson farm near Belgrade. Grant, Noah, Isaac, Sue and John Anderson, with Erin and Wyatt Krug, welcomed the community to their crop and livestock farm for the Pope County Farm Bureau Breakfast on the Farm.
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Watch for the next edition of Country Acres on September 21, 2024
Publications
COUNTRY:
5
One man, tractor, mission Upsala
7
Sitting still Tiffany Klaphake column
11 Customizing cattle Watkins
21 Country cooking Miltona
15 The power of produce Browerville
25 Beer, nature and community New London
19 Wildly cute critters Sauk Centre