Fifth-generation farmers to be honored at Gophers football home opener
by Jonathan Eisenthal
Kirby Hettver represents the fifth generation of his family to farm in Chippewa County, 20 miles west of Willmar. Kirby, wife Mandi and daughters Amelia (8) and Hazelee (6) will be honored Thursday night as the Minnesota Corn Growers Farm Team Family when the Gophers open their football season against Eastern Illinois at 6 p.m. on Thursday at TCF Bank Stadium.
The Hettver’s are being honored because of their commitment to take care of the land they farm. A different family will be honored as the Minnesota Corn Growers Farm Team Family during every Gophers home football game this season.
“My family all along has believed that we are stewards of the land while we are here,” Kirby said. “We have to look out for the next generation.”
Conservation is an important part of the farmer’s role as steward of the land, Hettver believes. And that belief is reflected in a host of practices he undertakes on his farm.
“We’ve implemented buffer strips along waterways, added alfalfa into the rotation, and implemented use of variable-rate technology for plant nutrients as well as seeding populations,” Hettver said. “We’ve also started to split-apply nitrogen to enhance efficiency there.”
Buffer strips help filter runoff, so inputs like fertilizer don’t flow into surface water and soil particles are kept in place.
Alfalfa bestows a bounty of nitrogen on the soil, so once it’s taken off corn can be planted in its place and it will require a lower volume of additional fertilizer. Alfalfa also disrupts the lifecycle of pests like corn root worm, meaning the farmer can lower the amount of pesticides needed.
Variable rating of fertilizer and seed is both more efficient and less likely to cause the loss of nutrients into surface and groundwater. The same goes for split application of fertilizer, which doles out portions of nutrients at the moment the plant is ready to use it.
Many members of the Hettver family will be on hand Thursday night. Kirby farms with his two brothers, Kerry (who will be at the game with his wife Becky and daughter Alana) and Chris (who will have wife Ashley and daughter Mackenzie with him).
Their parents Floyd and Bev will also be there, representing the family that has farmed in Minnesota since Minnie and Albert Payne purchased land in Grace Township in 1902.
The Minnesota Corn Growers launched the Farm Team campaign this spring to coincide with the start of the Minnesota Twins season. The Farm Team is a fun and unique way for corn farmers to show the non-farming public what they’re doing on their farms to protect land, water and soil resources.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzah26lHqqA&feature=youtu.be
