DES MOINES, Iowa (August 21, 2024) – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig will present the Wergin Good Farm Neighbor Award to the Isreal (Is) and Kristin Noelck Family of Franklin County on Friday, August 23. The presentation will take place at an event beginning at 11 a.m. at the Hampton Golf and Country Club, 1620 Country Club Lane, Hampton.
Noelck Farms was established in the 1960s by Ivan and Karen Noelck. Their son, Is, joined the farming operation in 1992. Now, more than three decades later, the multi-generational family farm includes Is and his wife, Kristin, and their three children: sons Isaiah and his wife Reann and their daughter Halston; Noah and his fiancé Maci; and daughter Isabella. An additional farming partnership includes Is’ brother Issac and his family. Though Ivan and Karen have since retired, at one point, three generations of the family were farming the land together.
“Multi-generational farm families like the Noelcks are key to the continued strength and resiliency of our rural communities. Not only do the Noelcks demonstrate care for their land and livestock, but they are also deeply embedded into the fabric of their community through service to others,” said Secretary Naig. “I am pleased to present the Noelck Family with the Wergin Good Farm Neighbor Award.”
Livestock production is an important part of the Noelcks’ farm. They own a cow-calf herd, feed as well as finish cattle, and finish hogs. They keep numerous health and production records on their registered purebred Angus herd. They are Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) certified. Their hog barn is outfitted with the latest technology to ensure the pigs are raised in a comfortable environment to ensure maximum efficiency and productivity.
The family grows corn, soybeans and hay. They incorporate conservation on their fields to protect the soil and improve water quality. They also utilize no-till and strip tillage to minimize disruption to the soil. For the past eight years, they have planted cover crops, including rye and various brassicas depending on the crop rotation.
The family also owns or co-owns two area businesses: Noelck Ag Services and Franklin Grassland Seed, both of which trace back to area farmer and businessman Dennis Strother. Dennis and Is started feeding cattle together at the farmstead that the Noelcks eventually purchased and now live on. But the partnership between the two men extends much further. Now known as Noelck Ag Services, which is co-owned with Kristin’s cousin Ross Enslin, the business started as Strother’s Pioneer Seed dealership in 1997. Is started as an associate and the business eventually transitioned to his ownership even as they continued to work together for a few years. Today, it continues as a retailer for Pioneer Seed as well as Titan Pro Crop Protection products. Franklin Grassland, a feed and seed business, sells lawn, CRP, and cover crop seed. Strother started the business in 1987 and transitioned it to his son Scott in 2000 before it was purchased by the Noelck family.
The Noelcks are big proponents of serving their community as well as the agricultural industry. Is has served on the Franklin County Cattlemen’s board for many years and was a youth baseball and football coach. He also has served in a leadership capacity with Pheasants Forever. Kristin was on the school’s Quarterback Club to raise funds for the football program. Family members are also members of the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association, Iowa Farm Bureau, Iowa Corn Growers Association, American Angus Association, American Hereford Association, and American Maine-Anjou Association.
The Wergin Good Farm Neighbor Award is made possible through a partnership with the Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers (CSIF), The Big Show on WHO Radio and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. Now in its 20th year, this award recognizes Iowa livestock farmers who take pride in caring for the environment and their livestock while also being good neighbors. It is named in memory of Gary Wergin, a long-time WHO Radio farm broadcaster who helped create the award.
