Story County Celebration of Farming

10-30-2014 in Communications Internship

By: Adelai Swanson, CSIF Communications Intern

Hundreds of friends, neighbors and community members joined Lucas and Krista Tjelmeland in a celebration of agriculture on Tuesday.

After ten months of planning and constructing, the Tjelmeland family was excited to showcase their new hog barn with an open house and dinner. The Tjelmelands are the fifth generation to be raising livestock and farming in Story County.

“It feels really good,” Lucas Tjelmeland said about continuing his family’s farming legacy. “It’s been a very long process and I’m so glad to be at this point. I can’t wait to get pigs in the barn and get started.”

At 24 years old, Tjelmeland is grateful for the opportunity to return to the family farm at an early point in his farming career.

“There’s not very many young farmers so this is another tool for me to get my foot in the door and get more involved.”

He encourages other young farmers to start considering transitioning back to the farm.

“Do it and be persistent,” Tjelmeland said. “If I wouldn’t have done that we would not be standing in this barn today.”

The Tjelmeland’s utilized the services provided by the Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers (CSIF) while building the 3,600 head hog barn. CSIF Senior Field Coordinator Kent Mowrer helped the Tjelmelands site the barn and enhance relationships with neighbors.

“Kent came out to our farm several times,” Tjelmeland said. “He was a great guy to turn to. I would recommend anyone call the Coalition.”

The Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers was honored to help the Tjelmeland family grow their family farm.

“Lucas and Krista are great representatives of the livestock industry in Iowa,” CSIF Executive Director Brian Waddingham said. “Their dedication to raising healthy, high quality animals while focusing on the environment is reflective of today’s Iowa livestock farmers. We would like to extend our congratulations and best wishes to the Tjelmeland family. We are proud to have worked with a couple so passionate about the future of agriculture.”

CSIF is a non-profit, non-lobbying organization that assists livestock farmers who want help interpreting rules and regulations, guidance on identifying good site locations for barns, counsel on enhancing neighbor relations and tips on how to protect the environment at no cost.  This positive, solutions-based approach to helping livestock farmers grow is a collaborative effort involving the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association, Iowa Corn Growers Association, Iowa Farm Bureau, Iowa Pork Producers Association, Iowa Soybean Association, Iowa Turkey Federation and the Midwest Dairy Association.  For more information, call 1-800-932-2436 or visit www.supportfarmers.com.

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