Caledonia Argus

Piepers named Outstanding Conservation Farmers of the Year

Posted: 10/1/02

by Jane Palen
Managing editor

The thing about a family farm, says Wanda Pieper, is that every spot on the place has a story of its own. On the Pieper farm east of Caledonia, that story would be one of how a tradition of good land stewardship was established and maintained through three generations.

Bernhard (Bernie) and Wanda Pieper have been selected as this yearís Outstanding Conservation Farmers for Houston County. Their farm in Mayville Township has been in the Pieper family since January 7, 1896 when it was established by Bernhardís grandfather, also named Bernhard but called ìBarney.î He purchased 80 acres of land for $1,500, and had to pay $800 down. He lived in a log cabin when he first moved to the farm, and later built the house and barn for $2,500.

Bernhard said he believes the first conservation measures were put in by his grandfather in 1933. The seven structures were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps and used to control gullies. They are still in use today.

Bernhardís father, Milton, bought the farm in 1945, after several years of renting land nearby. He contributed to the cause of soil conservation by adding contour strips on 30 acres.

ìI think Dad was more conservation-minded than most,î said Bernie.

By the early 1960s, conservation efforts were becoming more widespread. Milton put in ponds and added grade stabilization structures. The Pieper farm drains into Crooked Creek, and the big flood of 1949 had underscored the need for such measures.

Even with a concern for conservation, Bernhard still remembers some practices that were widely accepted then, but are avoided today due to the detrimental effects on the land. For instance, cattle were often allowed in the woods to graze, but in later years it became evident that grazing the woodland was not economical. Bernhard also remembers that his grandpa would make the woods ìhog tightî after the sows went in to farrow.

Corn checking, cultivating corn from five different directions, was a common practice on many farms, including the Pieper farm. Fields were planted fence to fence. And in the spring, the ditches had to be plowed shut before any planting could begin.

Back to the farm

Bernhard wasnít thinking about becoming a farmer when he left Caledonia in 1957. He attended college, and then spent 17 years teaching math and physical education, and coaching football and wrestling. Most of those years were spent in Roseville, a Twin Cities suburb.

In 1978, when Milton was 64, he asked Bernhard if he would be interested in taking over the farm. Bernhard thought it might be time for a change, and left his teaching career and the city for his boyhood home.

ìIt was time for a change,î said Bernhard.

When he and Wanda moved back to the home farm Bernhard began the conservation work started by the previous two generations. He added crop strips on the contours, built a retention pond, and put the valley into production.

ìWe tried to do the best with what we had,î said Bernhard. We maintained strips and contours.î

Bernhard rotated three years of corn with three years of alfalfa, and took advantage of set-aside programs when available.

The Piepers had 48 acres enrolled in the Reinvest in Minnesota Program, and completed a Timber Stand Improvement plan on all 48 acres and planted 21,000 trees. In addition, they had 57.5 acres in the Conservation Reserve Program. Of that amount, 41.4 acres were cropland and 16.1 acres were marginal pasture land.

Wildlife management is an important part of any conservation program, and the Piepers have helped provide wildlife habitat on their farm. They have planted wildlife packets containing chokecherry, crab apples and plums to establish food plots for wildlife. And through the years, wildlife has increased.

ìI can remember when my dad and uncle started in the 1940s, you were glad just to see a deer,î said Bernhard. Today, deer, turkeys and other wildlife are plentiful. Buffer strips along the stream keep the water clean and free of sedimentation.

The Piepers retired from farming last year and now rent 273 acres to Joe Burg, who continues the conservation-minded farming measures started by the Piepers. Burg uses the land for alfalfa. After the first crop is taken off, he plants beans. Once the beans are harvested, he reseeds for alfalfa.

The Piepers sold their dairy herd a year ago, but still have 19 springing heifers to care for. Their son David, who now lives in Oakdale, will be taking over the farm in 2004. Bernhard is glad that after three generations, the farm has been preserved enough so that a fourth generation can make a living from it.

ìIf they wouldnít have come in with that (soil conservation programs), there would not be any farming today,î Bernhard remarked. In his grandfatherís time, farming was more a way of life than a way to make a living. Families raised what they needed to live on, and sold only enough to purchase a few necessities. Now, a person has to make a living from the land, and conservation helps make that possible.

ìIf you can leave it a little better than you got it, youíre doing okay,î he said.

Enjoying retirement

Now that he is semi-retired, Bernhard is enjoying his farm in a different way. He went turkey hunting for the first time this year, and enjoys hunting mushroom and ginseng as well. He has always enjoyed deer hunting, and opens his land to hunters who ask.

The Piepers also enjoy having more time to spend with their family. In addition to their son David, they have a son Jon who lives in Lanesboro and another son, Michael, in Woodbury. Daughter Lori lives in Verona and Heidi in Holmen. They are also kept busy with 15 grandchildren, 14 of who are age 6 or under.

In another month or so, the Piepers will be moving into a house in town, and they are looking forward to the change knowing that the Pieper farm will stay in the family for at least one more generation nad continue the tradition started in 1896.

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