Sirrina Martinez
Multimedia reporter
smartinez@pipestonestar.com

Around five miles south of Pipestone sits the sheep operation owned by Andrew and Kiah Berg. Berg, a native to the area, grew up on a farm with Red Angus, and just down the road, his grandfather, Marlin Berg, raised sheep.  Marlin, who is a retired Ag teacher from the Jasper and Pipestone school system, raised Suffolk sheep, and eventually, Berg bought his first few head from him. The sheep operation he currently runs is around five miles east of his grandfather’s farm. The Berg’s started their sheep adventure around the time they were married, he said.

“My wife and I bought the place in about 2021, I think, then we bought our first ewes that fall,” Berg said. “It was kind of a crazy year, we ended up getting married, buying a place, and buying some sheep all at the same time.”

Currently, Kiah works as a nutritionist at Pipestone Systems, and Andrew is a consultant in the wean-to-finish side of the business. The couple has one daughter, Harper, who is almost two, and another child on the way, who is expected to make an appearance in the next two weeks or so, Berg said.
While he was raised with cattle, Berg decided to start raising sheep because the infrastructure on his farm allowed him to run more head with sheep.

He started with around 50 ewes, which he bought from his grandfather.  He has since grown his flock.
“We are probably at about 120-125 ewes now that we lamb out,” he said. “We started making our own replacements and bought the purebred Suffolks and started selling some rams.”

The majority of what the Bergs raise are white-faced commercial ewes, and the rest are Suffolk ewes. While their herd is sold primarily for meat, the Bergs will sell the majority of their lambs through the Pipestone Lamb and Wool Management Program at Minnesota West. The couple practice accelerated lambing, aiming for around 2-3 lambings a year.

“One group in January-February, one group in April-May, kind of late spring and one group in the fall,” he said. “I had about 30 to 40 head last year that lambed twice.”

One of the biggest challenges of raising any animal, Berg said, is time management and keeping feed costs down.

“My wife and I both work in the pig world and so we try to keep it (their sheep operation) as structured as we can,” he said. “So, at this time we do this and that, we try to keep it repeatable. For us, it is continuing to do time management with both of us having full-time jobs. We also try to reduce feed waste, which is the biggest cost associated with raising any animal.”

In the next few years, Berg hopes to continue to grow his herd of purebred Suffolks and, down the road, work more with club lamb producers (show lambs) on selling “recip”(recipient) ewes. A recipient ewe is one that is chosen to carry an embryo from a donor ewe.

For those who are considering raising sheep, Berg has one piece of advice.

“Find animals that are going to do what you want them to do and find producers that have like-minded goals when purchasing that first set of females,” he said. “I’d say that’s probably the most ideal, and that is what I have tried to do.”

Sirrina Martinez
Multimedia reporter
smartinez@pipestonestar.com

Around three miles as the crow flies northwest of Holland sits the farm of Matt and Kelly Brinkmeyer. Their operation, known as Brinkmeyer Farms, has been family-owned and run for four generations, Matt said.

Among the helping hands are Matt’s father, Harold, Matt’s wife, Kelly, his son, Tate, 19, and his daughter Aleryn, 16. The family is fortunate to have great help from hired men like Dalton Kor and Doug Bonine.

With spring planting quickly approaching, the Brinkmeyers are preparing to do business as usual, planting around 4,500 acres of corn.

“We could be planting corn as early as April,” Matt said. “It is all dependent on the conditions. About the April 10-15 mark, around that neighborhood, we will start planting if the ground and soil are fit and the temperature is decent.”

The family has been prepared for the planting season since December, Matt said. “We have had corn in the seed shed since December ready to go.”
The key to planting a successful crop is patience and yet knowing when it is the right time, he said.
“You want the soil to be fit as far as moisture-wise and not be out there when it is dry and tacky,” he said. “You want to plant about two inches deep and get the seed into some moisture. You don’t want to get too carried away going too deep either. Usually at about 2-2.5 inches is where I’ll end up planting most of the corn I guess. We kind of like to have the soil at around 50 degrees before we get started.”
The Brinkmeyers do not rely too heavily on instruments to help them know when the time is right, he said.

“You know, just by knowing it’s hard to explain,” he chuckled. “Just years and years of experience, you kind of just know when it’s fit.”

The Brinkmeyers have been planting Pioneer Seed for as long as Matt can remember. Their local seed dealers, father and son, J.B. and Troy Bouman, have provided them with excellent customer service over the years, he said.

Aside from raising corn, the Brinkmeyers also plant around 800 acres of alfalfa and raise around 180 stock cows and calves, and they raise around 4,000 feeder calves to finish every year to go to market in the fall.

Having the opportunity to work alongside family has been a blessing, Matt said. For almost his entire life, aside from when the family has gone on vacation, Matt has had the opportunity to talk to his father and work alongside him.

“We’re definitely very lucky. I am able to work alongside my dad, and I have worked alongside my grandpa over the years. He has passed since, but now I’m working with my son coming into the operation and my daughter. My wife Kelly and I work hand in hand on the business side of things, and she helps with everything on the farm, every aspect. It’s great having a good team to work together. It’s got its moments once in a while; I think everything does, but for the most part, we have a great relationship doing it.”

With the busy spring planting season around the corner, Matt would like to remind everyone, farmer or not, to be patient when they are out on the roads.

“I would just like to remind everyone to be patient with equipment,” he said. “Just be patient, give the farmers space around the equipment on the highway and be aware of flashing lights. Be aware of what side signal they do have on for turning wise because there are a lot of flashing lights, and it kind of gets crazy, but just take your time, and everybody will get to where they need to be safely.”

 

Sirrina Martinez
Multimedia reporter
smartinez@pipestonestar.com

Don’t let the name Doom Seeds fool you, this company is not selling anything that will usher in the apocalypse anytime soon.

After graduating from the University of Nebraska in 2017 with a degree in agronomy, Chris Reagan, a partner in Doom Seeds, moved to the area that is home to his wife, Sara, and started helping at the company which was founded by his father-in-law, Kevin Doom, in the late 80s. Today, Reagan and his brother-in-law, Steven Doom, operate the business that is located on the family farm just South of Canby on Highway 75 in Yellow Medicine County.
The company has carried seeds from different producers over the years, Reagan said, and for a long time it was a Dekalb Asgrow dealer. Today, they sell Beck’s Hybrid seeds.

Reagan and his brother-in-law share duties, he said, ranging from  salesman to logistics. The majority of their customers are in the Canby area, but they do have people they serve outside of that area.
“We do have a spread between Balaton and Clarkfield to the north and out to east to Porter but not much west of Canby,” Reagan said.

Corn and soybean sales is a big part of their services, Reagan said, and as a farm dealer rather than a bigger retailer, having a smaller operation allows them to focus heavily on customer service.
“We try to focus mostly on customer service as much as we can,” he said. “Delivering to the customer instead of making them come pick it up from us. Throughout the growing season if there are any issues we try to figure out the problems, offer agronomy advice. We try to give them everything they need.

Doom Seeds also offers seed treatment, Reagan said.

“We treat seed too if a customer has a specific seed treatment that he wants put on we can do that too,” he said. “We have a treater and a bulk system for beans.”

The industry is seeing changes in technology that make more options available to growers, Reagan said.

“There’s definitely more traits for corn,” he said. “I think the newest ones are call Bore Seed and SmartStax Pro. There is more root worm and insect protection. There are also a few more spray technologies with beans. There’s more coming in a year or two if they get approved. Seed treatments are getting a little bit better for insecticides, fungicides and biologicals. Everybody wants to plant as early as possible and sometimes the soil may not be not quite warm enough so that helps with germination and protecting the seedling before it gets out of the ground.”

Although not a major concern in this area as of now, growers should keep an eye on the rise of root worm cases, Reagan said, and tart spots which has been observed in states south of Minnesota.

“Root worm populations have been up, probably for the last two or maybe three years,” he said. “So guys have been switching more to fully traited corn instead of Double Pro’s above ground protection. We’ve seen a shift more toward SmartStax Pro’s and Bore Seeds to try to combat the root worm issues. Tar spots (Rhytisma acerinum) is something to be on guy’s minds. I  don’t think it is as big of a problem in our area yet but it’s definitely coming. Iowa and Illinois, they’ve been dealing with it for a long time it is just a really nasty fungal disease that can decimate things if you’re not treating it or planting varieties of corn that are tolerant.”

As dealers, Doom Seeds has had the opportunity to develop an eye for spotting potential problems with seed, soil and established crops, which allows them to further serve their customers.

“When you’re a dealer you get to look at a lot more acres,” he said. “You know, one farmer might farm 800 acres and that’s the only acres he looks at. When you’re going out and looking at other guy’s stuff you see different things and you have to put it in your knowledge bank.”

With the potential for a dry spring, Reagan encourages producers to look at hybrid seed that is more water efficient, and to check out the Beck’s Hybrids seed brand.

“I would encourage people to check out Beck’s hybrid, they offer a lot and they are a unique company,” he said. “They are a family owned company, the biggest one in the U.S., family owned anyway. They sell genetics from the big three corn companies. There’s a lot of different options as far as trait packages and genetics and stuff like that. They have a lot of good programs that at first might seem a little too good to be true but once you become a Beck’s customer and you learn more about the company, a lot of our customers quickly realize that they can do a lot of stuff that other companies who have share holders cannot do.”

For anyone looking to get in touch with Reagan and the rest of the Doom’s Seeds crew, they can stop by the shop on Highway 75 or find their contact information on Google.