Steve and Jodi Roelofs live in a garden spot of Minnesota.

The couple raised their family in a farmhouse next door, where Steve grew up and still raises hogs. That house serves as Steve’s farm office and Jodi’s workshop. The former kitchen and living room are filled with projects in various stages of re-purposing, including chalk-painted chairs to be sold at Hilltop Florist and Greenhouse in Mankato, where Jodi has worked for more than 20 years.

Jodi studied graphic arts at South Central College in Mankato where she met Steve, who studied ag production. She says she began working part-time at flower shops when her kids were small because it allowed her to enjoy adult conversation and provided her with a creative outlet. The scale of Jodi’s gardens grew along with her children.

The Roelofs are the proud parents of four sons: Tony, Christopher, Bryant and Matthew. Jody recalls good times serving as a 4-H leader from the time their oldest son was 10 years old until their youngest son graduated in May 2017.

“We had so much fun at the fair with our kids,” said Jody, who grew up on a Minnesota dairy farm and belonged to 4-H.

Now these empty nesters have adjusted to a new way of life. When their oldest son went to college, the family stopped farrowing. Jodi had been working in the farrowing barns, so this change gave her the opportunity to return to work in a floral shop. Steve and his brother, who had been farming together in a family corporation, decided to split the operation. Steve raised feeders and his brother raised the finishers.

The Roelofs in 2005 stopped farrowing and transitioned to a wean-to-finish operation. Since 2010, they have been custom finishing feeder pigs.

“This arrangement works well for us,” Steve says. “We’re responsible for the day-to-day care of the feeder pigs but we don’t have to assume any of the risk.”

Raising pigs, as well as selling Latham® brand seed, complement the family’s grain operation. Both enterprises allowed the Roelofs to cut expenses while increasing income to allow their son an opportunity to farm.

“We really liked the idea of working with a family-owned seed company,” Steve says.

The Roelofs enjoy outdoor activities all year long, from snowmobiling to water skiing. They also enjoy family dinners — especially this recipe for Crunchy Pork Chops.

Growing Latham’s high-quality soybeans has become a legacy for many farm families, as Steve and Karen Bruns demonstrate from their North Central Iowa farm.

“I have enjoyed working with everyone at Latham Seeds,” says Steve Bruns, who’s been a contract grower of Latham® seed beans since 1999. While he was in high school, Steve worked on weekends and during the summer for Latham grower Hugh Porterfield. Steve later custom-farmed Hugh’s ground for 20 years.

“The people I work with at Latham are the ones I’ve known since grade school,” adds Steve, who grew up northeast of Alexander, Iowa, on a farm his grandfather purchased in 1949.

Finding Farming Again

Like many young people, Steve left the area for a few years before he decided to choose farming as his livelihood. Sadly, Steve’s father developed cancer around that same time.

“I had to quickly take over the farm, right in the middle of the Farm Crisis,” says Steve, whose father, Dean, was just 44 years old when he passed. “Luckily, I didn’t have the chance to accumulate a lot of debt, which forced a lot of our farmers out of business during those turbulent years.”

What’s Next for Pork Producers

During the 1980s and 1990s, the pork industry changed a lot. Contracts to hog producers allowed for a steady income and took away the market swings. Steve got back into the pork industry in 2000 and operated a 4,000-head site for 20 years. As a top Iowa pork producer, his family’s photo was displayed outside the Animal Learning Center at the Iowa State Fair in 2005.

Although he’s no longer producing pork, Steve uses hog manure for fertilizer on as many acres as he can.

“Hog manure gives an extra yield bump if conditions are right when it’s applied,” he says. “We’ve seen a 10- to 20-bushel yield bump when manure has been applied under the right conditions.”

The Bruns Family

Now that he has retired from pork production, Steve hopes to have more time for golfing, fishing and hunting. Karen retired from the postal service after 21 years. She enjoys sewing, walking, gardening, traveling and spending time with family. The couple has three grown children: Eric, Jami and Lindsey.

The Bruns family enjoys gathering at the farm for great meals like this Ground Pork Casserole, a recipe passed down by Steve’s grandmother Elsie.