Saturday, June 7, 2025 | Country Acres • Page 1
Country Acres Saturday, June 7, 2025
Volume 13, Edition 08
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
Changes
over time Ryberg reflects on advancements in farming their land, sugar beets take the most time,
PHOTOS BY RAE LANZRATH
Brian Ryberg smiles May 21 at Ryberg Farms in rural Buffalo Lake. Ryberg took over the farm from his father, Howard, in 1997. (Top) A planter waits to be used May 21 at Ryberg Farms in rural Buffalo Lake. Brian Ryberg hires help for fall harvest.
ST R
Publications The newspaper of today is the history of tomorrow.
BY RAE LANZRATH STAFF WRITER
BUFFALO LAKE — As times change, operators must adapt to new equipment, new technology and new management techniques. Brian Ryberg has experienced many of these changes throughout his life and career as a farmer. “I remember when we had an 8-row planter and a 40-foot sprayer,” Ryberg said. “Now, we have two 36-row planters and 132foot sprayers.” Ryberg Farms currently manages 6,500 acres of tillable land, growing corn, soybeans and sugar beets. While corn covers most of
Ryberg said. “The way (sugar beets) are harvested makes them much more time-consuming,” Ryberg said. “In our 900 acres of sugar beets, we’ll spend way more time doing that than in our 3,500 acres of corn.” Crops like corn and soybeans are more efficient because of the way they are harvested and stored, Ryberg said. Technology advancements in equipment have brought both challenges and benefits to operations. Ryberg said that, because equipment is more technology-based, it is harder to repair on the farm. 5
Lifestyle change Glenwood
COUNTRY:
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Little collections Tiffany Klaphake column
Watch for the next edition of Country Acres on June 21, 2025
11 Wheeling into dairy Alexandria
This month in the
“We can fix some things,” Ryberg said. “Most of the time, we have to call John Deere because we can’t work around the computers.” While this makes for challenges, the pros far outweigh the cons for Ryberg and his employees. Ryberg said his equipment is fitted with auto-steer and GPS, two things he did not have
when he was younger. “The auto-steer goes out, and you almost forget that you can manually steer,” Ryberg said. Because repairs can be more difficult on newer equipment, Ryberg said he works closely with his local John Deere implement dealer.
Ryberg page 2
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