Both Sides of the Fork

           The end of August is a time of transition. The days are getting shorter, kids are back in school. As a matter of fact you may notice a change in the writing style of the blog. Cory has gone back to Dordt for his senior year of college. As a result the blog may have fewer words and more pictures.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          In late August there begins to be a sense of urgency to finish projects that we had “all” summer to get done.           One major project was to take down an old farrowing house we no longer use. Jerry and his track hoe made short work of the building. I tried to not get to sentimental about it being torn down, but it is where I learned the discipline of daily chores and the basics of pig care. It is important to not let no

          A few years ago, I remember sitting at the table eating breakfast when a man I did not recognized pulled up on the yard. This wasn’t an uncommon occurrence on the farm, we had new guys start working for us every so often. I called down to my dad if we had hired a new guy to work for us. “Oh”, he responded, “that’s Ron Vande Wall – he definitely isn’t new.”            As I Ron and I sit down, I ask him if he remembers when he started working for VG Farms. He chuckled and tells me in complete honesty that he wasn’t sure exactly how he started working for us, or even what year for that matter. “I think I started plowing fields for your grandpa probably over 45 years ago now”, he estimates. (For some perspective, VG Farms incorporated only 44 years ago.) While Ron hasn’t been with us for all those years, he has logged quite a few – over 20 years full-time and 10 part-time.           As we branch off and travel down Ron’s memory lane of VG Farms he recalls a few thing

          If anyone has ever told you that the farming life is easy, they weren’t being honest. It is not for the faint of heart. In complete honesty, how would you respond if someone promised you a livelihood that often depended on things far from your control? That it was possible to work 80 hours a week for an entire growing season only to lose the entire crop because it flooded, dried up, or withered due to disease? A sane person would probably decline such an offer. Yet across this great land farmers beat the sun out of bed every day to put food on the plates of the world.           This blog is not intended to throw a pity party for the American farmer, rather I want to bring to light something incredible about this life. It’s people and the bond that forms amongst them. Every farmer can empathize with each other on the basic understanding of how one setback can ruin a year’s work. That is why when trouble arises for one farmer, a whole community of farmers stands up to

          All-American Pork Producer. The title given to Ken Van Gilst in 1975 when he was nominated as Iowa’s representative for top-class pork production. At the time VG Farms had been incorporated for only two full years. We had three employees (two of whom still work here), 830 acres of land, and a sow herd of 300 head. Compare that to today’s numbers – a dozen employees, 1,400 acres, and 1,400 sows – and you can see the growth that has occurred as a result of those original years of operation.           When talking about the recognition he had received from the National Pork Producers Council, Ken explained that it was started to acknowledge and motivate young producers under the age of forty. “It was designed to promote leadership and the future of the industry”, says Ken. Once he received the award, doors began to open for him; news reporters made visits and calls to the farm, conventions were held in both Sioux City and Kansas City, and lasting connections were made wit

You care for the land and water it;     you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water     to provide the people with grain,     for so you have ordained it. [ d ] You drench its furrows and level its ridges;     you soften it with showers and bless its crops. You crown the year with your bounty,     and your carts overflow with abundance. The grasslands of the wilderness overflow;     the hills are clothed with gladness. The meadows are covered with flocks     and the valleys are mantled with grain;     they shout for joy and sing.                                       Psalm 65: 9-13           This is Psalm 65; written by David to give glory to God for his power and goodness. These last few verses of the psalm proclaim God’s sovereignty over nature and man’s work within it. As a farming household, we understand the praises being given better than most. In bumper crop years, it is all we can do to give thanks for the blessings we have received.