Posted: 8/2/05
Troendle family works together on the farm
 James Troendle, five, admires a cow that his brother Leo is holding. |
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
The Troendle farm is a family affair, and one that works despite the ups and downs of the business.
Edward Troendle and the Ronald and Monica Troendle family were recently named the 2005 Houston County Farm Family by the Houston County Extension Committee.
The award is based on their leadership and outstanding contributions to agriculture, but a visit by this reporter with them revealed some other commendable attributes.
Seven children who are polite, respectful, and hard working. A mother who is dedicated to seeing them raised right. Two brothers who work well together as a team, who honestly express their joys and frustrations.
And a grandmother who is, well, a grandmother. Thatís Agnes Troendle, and although she threatened to skin me alive if I even mentioned her name in the article, Iíll take my chances, because she is a big part of the glue that holds it all in place. She cooks, she watches and teaches the kids, she helps with the books, and she gives a sense of history to the farm.
That history aspect came out several times during the 90 minutes we all visited on July 28 in Agnesí kitchen. Agnes was telling me the lineage of the farms that they have bought in the area over the past 50 years.
ìShe used to be a school teacher,î Ronís daughter, Johanna, said during a pause. There was a hint of admiration in her voice. ìThatís why she knows so much.î
Everybody laughed. Agnes described her role on the farm as nothing. ìIíve had my day in the sun,î she said.
ìGrandma!î Johanna said.
Grandmaís knowledge came out a little later when Ed asked to see the milk prices that she had written down on the back of an envelope. Agnes retrieved the slip of paper. It showed monthly milk prices from 1998 to 2000. Only a grandma would do something like that, and would know right where to find it.
Fickle milk prices
That envelope verified a lot of what Ron and Ed talked about during our interview. One of Ronís main points, seconded frequently by his mother, was the uncertainty of milk prices, and how it affects things.
For example, in December of 1998 Agnes had written down $18.08 as the price per hundred weight that the Troendles received for their milk. The next year it had dropped to $12.00, and in November of 2000 it bottomed out at $10.11.
You canít bank on high milk prices, Ron said. ìThat is where you're really caught in a rough spot, when you do that,î he said.
And itís one of the things he doesnít like about dairy farming. It would be a more appealing profession, and less stressful, if you knew what you would end up with. ìIf you could price what youíre selling,î he said.
Prices are falling now too. ìItís simply moving down,î Agnes said.
ì13.95 a hundred,î Johanna said.
ìLast time it was 14 and a quarter,î Agnes said. ìSo itís been dropping by 20 to 25 cent increments.î
ìItís been a lot lower,î Ron said, trying to add some optimism to the conversation. Then he added, ìThe inputs havenít dropped, thatís the whole story.î
Inputs are things like feed, protein concentrates, electricity, gas, and seeds, Agnes explained. ìYour toys out there,î she said with a smile to Ron.
ìMy machinery, Mother,î he corrected.
The ideal thing?
I asked Ron if he likes his job. He responded with frankness that he sometimes questions his decision to become a farmer, especially when he looks at what some of his siblings are doing. ìReally, was that the ideal thing for me to be doing?î he asked.
His answer perhaps revealed some of the integrity of the Troendle clan. Many farmers have left the industry for financial or lifestyle reasons. The work involved in farming is legendary.
But these guys stick with it, and go with the flow of a fickle market. The demise of hog farming is another example of that.
The Troendles raised hogs for many years. Ed said his ranked with the best that competed at markets in Albert Lea. He enjoyed the work too. But prices fell drastically. ìWe were milking the cows to pay the pig bills,î Ed said. So like many farmers, he shifted to beef, and now has a 110-cow/calf operation.
Packers contracted with farmers to provide labor for raising pigs that were owned by the packing company. The Troendles were approached a couple times to do this. ìWe werenít inclined to work for someone else,î Ron, 52, said.
Ed, 51, said he finds farming interesting and challenging. He manages the animal end of things, while Ron concentrates on machinery and field work. ìBut we both interchange,î Ron added.
Theyíve been doing it a long time and it works well, Agnes said.
Is it hard to work together as a family? ìIíve never seen them come in bruised up,î Agnes responded, which brought more laughter from the folks around the table.
The word ìbruisedî got Ed to mention a few close encounters he has had, once with a cow protecting its calf, and another time when he was ìreeducated by a horse.î
ìIf you call riding into an electric fence a close call,î he said. He proudly added that he stayed on for four bucks.
ìHeís a man with nine lives, and most of them are gone,î his mother said.
There was a little more laughter, but Agnes was quick to add that farm safety is a serious subject. ìItís a dangerous life,î she said.
Any future farmers?
I asked Ron if he would like any of his seven children to go into farming. He paused for several seconds before saying, ìIím not going to press my kids into taking farming as an occupation.î
Itís an enjoyable life, but a person can get stressed out by having enough money to pay the bills. Or deciding when to sell crops. ìItís very stressful,î he repeated. Itís the same with selling milk, not knowing what you will get for it.
Will the Troendles expand from their 120-cow milking herd size? Thereís no reason to, Ron answered. ìItís hard to find good, loyal help,î he said. Maybe that will happen when the kids get older and show a desire to farm.
And do the kids like it? Johanna, 15, answered diplomatically and honestly that some days she does and some days she doesnít. ìWe learn what hard work is,î she said. She said she knows when she does a good job, and gets a sense of pride from that.
Leo, 10, said he likes to help his dad haul corn, and likes working with calves for the county fair. He likes feeding calves and chasing calves.
ìLeo has a good instinct for mechanics, for putting things together and figuring them out,î Ron added. Could be a future farmer there.
A big operation
The Troendles have a big farm operation. They own more than 1,000 acres of land, most of it adjoining, on the beautiful rolling landscape south of the Wilmington Church.
Ron and Monica live about 10 miles away on a farm that adjoins the MaCalGrove Golf Course. ìI am commuting,î Ron said. ìItís not as handy as it could be.î
But they have made some good adaptations. Ed and his mother live on the farm where the milking is done. Their beef herd is on Edís farm kitty-corner to the dairy farm. The cows are out on pasture, but he feeds them from the silo so they come in to eat every day. ìThatís half the battle, if you donít have to go after them,î he said. His cows had six sets of twins this year.
They also are certified seed dealers. Ron said he was going to finish combining certified barley that day, then clean out the machine so that he could harvest the certified oats. The grain is cleaned and bagged in a state-certified facility, then the Troendles sell it to elevators and farmers. Fields have to be inspected in order for the seed to be certified.
The Troendles raise all their own Holsteins for milking. When a calf is born, it stays on the home farm until it is about 400 pounds, which is age 4-5 months. Then it is taken to Ronís farm until it weighs from 875-900 pounds, which is age 14-16 months. Then it goes to another Troendle farm that adjoins Edís farm (the former Ed Weymiller farm), where it runs with a bull and stays for seven or eight months to within four weeks of calving. Then it goes back to the home farm to become a milker.
Monicaís role
Monica Troendle wasnít at the farm during the morning interview, but I had a chance to ask her a few questions that evening when I returned to take some pictures. She said she is not too involved with the farm, since they live 10 miles away. ìWhen the children are little, I need to be home,î she said. Itís a safer environment there too.
Her son Joseph has Downs Syndrome and takes more attention, she said. ìYou just have to watch him more,î she said.
Joseph, 8, goes to Caledonia Elementary School. ìJoseph gets one-on-one [attention] all day [at school],î she said. ìI couldnít do that for him at home.î
The rest of the kids are home-schooled. That takes a lot of time, Monica said, and the farm helps. She feels her children learn life experiences there on a daily basis. They can watch their dad and help him. ìThereís tons of problem solving on a farm, thatís real life problem solving,î said Monica, who is veterinarian.
Many of the problems are weather or seasonal-related. ìTheyíre living life in the real world, in our little niche,î she said.
ìThe family bonds that are formed here I hope are strong enough to last a lifetime,î she added.
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