An ideal farm and ideal job
Teacher Ron Moen happy with his Black Angus operation
Posted: 5/4/04
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
It was love at first sight for Ron Moen and his 220-acre farm in section seven of Caledonia Township.
And itís easy to see why, both from his farmer point and view and that of anyone with a beating heart.
The farmer in him saw rolling hills with good grass on Lee Svehaugís farm back in 1991.
ìThe second I saw it, I thought, ëThis is a beef farm,íî Ron said.
He knew the steep hills shouldnít be in row crops, but rather in grass to hold the hills in.
Thatís the other thing about the love at first sight comment. Itís a gorgeous spot, with neatly groomed hills, contoured farmland across the way, and the hardwood forests and valleys of Beaver Creek Valley State Park just beyond that. Throw in the deer and bluebirds, rabbits and turkeys, and youíve got some serious paradise.
The rolling land is now dotted with registered Black Angus cows and their calves. A walk in their midst demonstrated Ronís computer-like memory. He ticked off the sire and its good qualities with virtually every calf. Heíll tell you that those two calves over there are out of sires that rank in the top one percent of Angus breeds for growth rate. And they are rated high for quality rib-eye. Mothers got equal billing on their calving and maternal habits.
During our walk, Gail said, ìThis is living.î The comment came out of the blue, and it was accompanied by a contented smile that backs up the paradise theory.
Most people in the Caledonia area know Ron Moen as a high school social studies teacher, and a darn good one. Heís been at it for 34 years.
But a visit with Moen on his farm will reveal that heís an accomplished beef farmer as well. He calls it a relatively small seed stock operation. He had 72 cows bred this year.
Most of the offspring will be sold as bulls or heifers to other beef farmers. A few lower end animals are sold to feed lots. This is his 25th year doing it. (He had a farm near Harmony before buying this one 13 years ago.)
Moen gave this reporter a crash course on beef farming while sitting on the concrete steps of his house with his wife, Gail, and their dog, Max. (More about Max later.)
Several times during our talk, Ron pointed out turkeys in the field across the road. I told him I had almost hit one turning onto Rustic Road from Beaver Ridge Road, a half mile from his house.
ï Successful farming: Moen talked about farming with sincerity and enthusiasm. One main goal is to have a high success rate in calving when he isnít there. Calving takes place in April, and Moen is away from the farm for much of the day at school. Heís been successful that way, because he raises animals that have light birth weight.
For example, this year 15 heifers calved. Moen saw only one birth, and he didnít need to give any assistance. The previous two years he didnít see any calves born, but they all survived.
The key is that his bulls have below-average birth weights. ìThat is why Iíve had just an extremely trouble-free calving time.î He said it is a big reason why his customers like buying from him.
About 20 years ago there was a trend to make the angus breed bigger. But farmers started losing a lot of calves at birth, so now the focus is on the type of animal that Moen is raising. It makes sense, Moen said, because more than 50 percent of farmers have day jobs. ìThey count on the off-the-farm jobs for their bread and butter,î Moen said. ìAnd a dead calf isnít worth much in the fall.î
Moen naturally detects the cows during their heat period, a job that starts at 5:30 in the morning. Then he calls on Aaron Osterhaus, who works for Genex in Mabel, to do artificial insemination. This year Moenís herd had better than 90 percent conception rate. ìHeís had tremendous success in settling [impregnating] cows,î Moen said.
Cows are bred in June. ìJune is when I become a widow for a month,î Gail said.
Once that is done, Moen turns out a bull to settle the cows that didnít conceive. He uses a yearling bull for this because they are easier to handle. ìA five-year-old bull, you just hope he does what you want him to do,î Moen said. ìHe knows you canít make him do anything.î
A farmer buys better genetics with artificial insemination, Moen believes. Almost all of his animals are in the top five percent of all registered bulls for performance traits, which is a light birth weight and a lot of growth up to yearling weight.
ï Rotational grazing: Intensive pasture management., more commonly known as rotational grazing, is another big part of Moenís beef operation. Fellow beef farmer Vernon Fruechte told him about it. Moenís pasture is divided into paddocks of about eight acres in size. He moves the cattle from one paddock to another every four or five days. They wonít go back to the same paddock for about a month.
ìYou can graze a lot more cattle per acre,î he said. He received cost sharing assistance to help set up all the fences and do the seeding. The electric fences are flexible, and easy to move, and effective. ìThey donít want anything to do with a thin wire,î Ron said. ìItís a psychological barrier.î
Another thing that has helped his operation is having fresh water run through pipes on the ground out to pasture. ìWhich really helps prevent erosion because cattle are notorious for making cow paths.î There are two water tanks per paddock for the cattle. Moen figures the fresh water adds 50 pounds per calf in the fall. He drains the pipes in the fall so they donít freeze and crack.
Moen said farming gives him a lot of satisfaction. ìWhen I raise a really nice calf, when I raise a whole crop of really nice calves, I get a really strong sense of accomplishment,î he said.
And he always sets goals to become better, Gail added.
You never get to where you want to be, Ron said.
ìWe believe in the type of cattle we have,î Gail said. ìWe like the black angus breed.î
ìThey do things on their own better than any other breed,î Ron said. Plus the demand for seed stock is high, and carcass quality is good.
ìGood tasting meat,î he explained.
ï Farming and teaching: I asked Moen if farming was good therapy from the stress of teaching. He said yes. ìBut teaching is good therapy from farming too,î he quickly added.
Farming is not a very profitable business, he explained. ìAnd thatís stressful. And when Iím in school I seldom give the farm a thought.î
The opposite is true too. When he comes home after a difficult day, he feeds the cattle and does other chores. ìGenerally by the time Iím all done feeding, Iíve forgotten about the problems at school.î Then heís more apt to tell Gail about calves or the deer he saw than anything else.
Ron didnít think he would be a farmer, after growing up on a dairy farm between Granger, Minnesota, and Kendallville, Iowa. But the itch to farm hit him after he started teaching in Caledonia. ìI just love being around beef cows with their baby calves Itís such a peaceful arrangement.î
Gail helps Ron with the beef farm in promotional ways. She mostly spends her farm time working with her 50 head of sheep. She grew up on a dairy farm in Fredericksburg, Iowa, and works as an teaching assistant at Decorah Schools. Gail and Ron were married five years ago.
One other helper on the farm is Max, their five-year-old border collie. They almost lost him last year. He was missing for three days. Ron searched for him, and finally found him caught in a snare. And when Ron freed him, he was immediately ready to out and help Ron with the chores, Gail said.
Max is a natural at herding animals, and understands several commands from Ron. For example, when Ron opens a gate and drives through on his tractor, he says, ìMax, watch the gate,î and Max will not let any animals get out.
ìMax, get them in,î will get Max bringing the cattle to the pen.
ìGet them outî will have Max doing just that.
ìIím done nowî will tell Max to let the cattle come to the feed bunkers. (The cattle understand that one too, and will come charging in when Ron says it.)
Gail said she relies on Max a lot too. She can say, ìBring me the sheep,î and he will accomplish that task all by himself.
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