Keeping the families down on the farm
Century farms '09
LITTLE FALLS - They each have a different story to tell, but they all have a common thread - 100 years of family living on the farm.
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The farm families - Janice and Kris Olson of Pine River, James and Joyce Ringwelski and John and Lori Kokett, both of Little Falls, and Lorna K. Siefke-Harber of Pequot Lakes - were among those on 114 farms in Minnesota that have been named 2009 Century Farms by the Minnesota State Fair and the Minnesota Farm Bureau.
Qualifying farms have to be in continuous family ownership for at least 100 years and are 50 acres or more. Since the program began in 1976, more than 8,700 Minnesota farms have been recognized as Century Farms.
John and Lori Kokett of rural Little Falls Tuesday stood in the cow pasture. The Koketts' dairy farm was recognized as a 2009 Century Farm by the Minnesota State Fair and the Minnesota Farm Bureau. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls » Purchase reprints of this photo.
All of Janice Olson's aunts, uncles and her father were born on the family homestead in Pine River. Olson has many great childhood memories of the farm her grandparents, George and Eva Olson, built in Oct. 21, 1907. When Olson's grandparents died her uncles, Frank and Walter Olson, ran the homestead as a dairy farm.
"The only time Frank left the farm was when he left to fight in World War II," said Olson. "He was born there and he died there in 2007."
Olson said Frank gave her and her husband the farm before he died. Olson said her father was killed in a motorcycle accident 23 years ago.
James and Joyce Ringwelski posed for a photograph Tuesday next to their windmill on the vegetable farm in Little Falls. Ringwelski's farm was recognized as a 2009 Century Farm by the Minnesota State Fair and the Minnesota Farm Bureau.
Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls » Purchase reprints of this photo.
"He (Frank) wanted the farm to remain as is and he didn't want it to be split up," said Olson. "Walter and Frank didn't have kids and we were always up there taking care of things.
"We (Olson and her brother) went up there a lot as kids. I'd live with grandparents and help out and drive tractor, do hay. I adored the farm."
Olson, who lives in Rosemount, leases the 417-acre farm homestead to neighbors who use it for hay and beef cattle. Olson decided against farming herself because "the small town dairy farmer is not making it these days. I can't see being able to make it in farming, maybe I'm wrong ... I know a ton of neighbors up there and it's rough for the dairy farmers."
Olson plans to move back to the family homestead when she retires.
James and Joyce Ringwelski stood by one of their antique tractors in their field Tuesday in Little Falls, along with their daughter, Jessica, who sat on the tractor. James Ringwelski said all the tractors on their property sit where they died and most the tractors were from the '20s. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls » Purchase reprints of this photo.
"I tell people I'm here (in Rosemount) because this is where the work was, but my heart is up there (on the farm) and someday I'll be where my heart belongs," Olson said.
Olson said she and Frank talked about getting the farm recognized years ago, but unfortunately he died before the farm turned 100.
"He was excited about it," Olson said of the recognition. "But then he died and I didn't get to submitting anything because there was too much to do ... Frank was more than an uncle to me and I did this in his honor and I'm really honored that I still own my grandparents farm."
James Ringwelski's grandfather Bart, who was born in Poland in 1860, came to America from Germany by ship and built a barn in 1909 in Little Falls where he farmed and worked for the railroad at the brickyards. Bart died in 1938 and Ringwelski's father, Thomas, took over the farm in 1941 and Ringwelski took over the farm in 1987, a year after his father died.
This is a photograph of Bart and Anna Ringwelski, who built the farm in 1909 in Little Falls. Bart came to America from Germany on a ship and he farmed and worked for the railroad in Morrison County. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls » Purchase reprints of this photo.
"I took over because of the proximity I was to the farm and I always helped out at the farm," said Ringwelski. "I thoroughly enjoy doing this and I credit many of my life skills to growing up on the farm.
"Our farm is different from the others."
Ringwelski said when Bart started the farm he owned pigs, cattle and chicken. Then Ringwelski's father grew vegetables and had chickens. Today there are five acres of apples, 15 acres of evergreens, 15 acres of walnuts, five acres of grapes and small vegetables and chickens are still raised on the farm. The farm sits on about 87 acres off the Great River Road, south of the Charles A. Lindbergh State Park.
Ringwelski said the family sold their produce at the farmer's markets in Little Falls, including the one on Kidder Street, which moved several times. Ringwelski said his generation sold produce at farm markets in Brainerd, St. Cloud and Minneapolis to make a living.
Last year, Ringwelski and his wife began growing fruit and nuts to prepare the farm for future generations, their four children, who'll take over the farm when they retire.
Ringwelski said his main mission in farming is to educate people, especially the youth and get them involved in growing and selling food locally.
John and Lori Kokett of rural Little Falls Tuesday posed for a family photograph at their 100-year-old farm. The children are Daniel (left), Lydia, Martin, Raymond, Gerald and Carolyn. The Koketts also have a son named Vince. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls » Purchase reprints of this photo.
The Koketts' 254-acre dairy farm is located about eight miles southwest of Little Falls. John Kokett said his great grandfather, Peter, bought the property that was then 100 acres in 1905 on a three-year contract for deed for $2,800. He built the farm in 1908 and Kokett's grandfather, Martin, took over the farm from 1917-1965. Kokett's father, Ben, bought 154 acres across the dirt road from his grandfather's property in 1952 and when Martin died Ben acquired the entire farm property and now it is in the hands of Kokett.
Kokett said he has three brothers and they each have their own farms to run.
"A 100 years goes by fast," said Kokett. "Being recognized as a Century Farm is nice. Today it's a test of the times, with all the economic turmoil. But we've always made a living out here and we still do."
JENNIFER STOCKINGER may be reached at jennifer.stockinger@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5851.