Summer '22 Cross Country - Day 38
A tribute to the American farmer
Tuesday, 12 July 2022
As a Navy Public Affairs Officer, the biggest thrill I could ever give a fellow American was a tour of an aircraft carrier. Most folks leave in awe after experiencing something so totally unlike anything they have ever seen before. Well, today was an aircraft carrier-like experience for me and Frieda — to see up-close a large multi-generational family farm in Cascade, Iowa.
Ralph Manternach’s grandfather immigrated to the United States in the mid 1800’s and purchased a farm that had been established as part of the original westward expansion of the United States. Ralph and Rita Manternach have been married 64 years, and Rita is the sister of Mark Deppe’s mother, Mark and Deb being our longtime Navy friends we are camping with.
After almost an hour driving deep into farm country, the final 10 miles or so of our drive to Cascade was on a county-maintained gravel road. Road dust is a way of life around here and pickups and sturdy crossover vehicles are the norm.
As we got close to the Manternach’s, Deb received a text from Rita, “Would you like coffee when you arrive?” Frieda and I simultaneously said “Yes Please!” and knew immediately we would be having a wonderful day with Ralph and Rita.
After coffee and the most amazing zucchini bread we’ve ever had, we were off to see how the farm works.
This family farm is focused primarily on field corn production along with hog and beef cattle finishing. They also grow a fair amount of soy beans, alfalfa and wheat. Young hogs and cattle are purchased as juveniles, then placed in large finishing pens where they consume tremendous amounts of field corn and other farm products until they are fattened up sufficiently to be sent to auction. All manure is collected and serves as a major source of fertilizer for the crops. So it’s a full-cycle operation where the crops grown feed the animals while the animals provide the fertilizer to help grow the crops. And if the price of corn is down, perhaps the price of hogs or cattle will be up and vice versa.
Once upon a time, Mark and I were Naval Flight Officers operating the weapons systems in the E2-C Hawkeye and EA-6B Prowler respectively. We were therefore quite impressed with the level of technology in a modern tractor or combine, including fully automatic self-driving capability using GPS so that each row of crops is precisely put down. This includes not dropping a seed where one has been placed before when crossing over rows. It’s simply astonishing.
A modern corn combine is an amazing piece of machinery. The points at the front go down the middle of the corn rows.
As the corn is driven between them, feelers steer the combine.
Then pure magic happens. The ear of corn is cut off, husked, all corn is cut off the cob, the cob and stalk are left in the field, and the corn is offloaded to another vehicle while driving across the field just like a Navy supply ship offloads cargo to an aircraft carrier while both are moving through the ocean.
After seeing a wide variety of other amazing farm equipment, we took an up-close look at the corn storage silos.
Corn must be at a precise level of moisture for both storage and then when it is sent to market to sell. Too moist and it could mold. If sent to market, the buyer will charge the farmer for drying it. Too dry and it weighs less, causing the farmer to loose money since corn is sold by weight.
Seeing a challenge, there really was no choice but to climb to the top of the tallest silo.
Ralph’s oldest son Brian along with his wife LuAnn were also wonderful hosts. Thank you!
After several hours of touring, we had dinner back at Ralph and Rita’s house.
To say the meal was amazing would be an understatement. Rita cannot remember ever buying beef because they raise their own. And the homemade pie we had for desert featured a crust made with lard that was also from the farm. Incredible!
After dinner, Ralph gave us a tour of his “museum” where he has collected hundreds of farming antiques.
Finally, we enjoyed some time on a beautiful patio area right next to one of their corn fields.
Overall, an amazing day of gaining a new appreciation for our hardworking American farmers. Thank you Ralph, Rita, Brian and LuAnn. And thank you Mark and Deb for arranging this wonderful visit with your aunt and uncle. I leave you with some interesting corn photos.
