Sixth-generation family farm still going strong

Nowadays it seems like fewer and fewer farms are family operations, but one family that’s proud to be running its farm as a family operation is the Herbsts.
Brian Herbst is in partnership with his son who represents the sixth generation of farmers in their family and the third generation on their farm near Kasson, established by Brian’s father in 1958.
Together they grow corn and soybeans on 2,200 acres and cus- tom finish approximately 5,800 hogs at a time.
The hogs are kept inside, but the weather has a direct impact on the crops and thus his profit. He said this year’s mild win- ter has helped his finances.
“One way it affects us is we had to buy less liquid propane to heat the hog barns,” he said. “Generally speaking, the rela- tively mild winter was a bless- ing compared to what we had last year.” However, Herbst said there are some benefits to freezing temperatures. “Sometimes it’s nice when you get a deep freeze in the ground because that acts like tillage in that it breaks up the soil that’s been compacted,” he said. “In 2019, we had 53 inches of precipitation and when you have that amount of water in the soil, there are fewer air pockets in the soil so it doesn’t aerate itself as well and that aids in soil compaction.” 
 
For the rest of the story, SUBSCRIBE to The DCI!