Fore! Minnesota farm family combines passion for agriculture, conservation and golf
On their family farm near Northfield, Mike and Kay Peterson raise corn, soybeans, hogs and…golf balls.
Yes, golf balls.
Since 1991, a public driving range occupies a low area of land that once was home to soybeans on the Peterson’s nearly 100-year-old third generation family farm. A ball dispenser spits out a small or large bucket of balls to any wannabe Jack Nicklaus who wishes to work on his or her swing.
With farm fields that feature conservation practices such as zone-tilling, no-tilling and pollinator habitat surrounding the on-farm golfing oasis, it also gives a whole new meaning to the term “green.”
“What we do isn’t extreme, but it makes sense for our farm,” Mike said about his family’s conservation efforts.
Farm Family of the Game
Mike and Kay, along with their sons Shane and Blake, will be honored for their farming and conservation efforts during Saturdays Minnesota Gophers vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers football game at TCF Bank Stadium. The Petersons are the latest family selected to participate in the Minnesota Corn Growers Association Homegrown Farm Family of the Game promotion, which recognizes conservation-minded farmers during all Gophers football home games.
By zone-tilling or no-tilling their soil, the Petersons significantly reduce erosion and keep valuable nutrients on their fields and out of nearby waterways. Participating in USDA’s Conservation Stewardship Program also helps the Peterson’s protect some vulnerable acres along hills on their farm.
Mike also remembers when migrating monarch butterflies would cover entire trees on his property. Today, the Petersons have several acres of polliniator habitat on their farm to help build back up the population of pollinating insects like butterflies and bees.
“If you get a chance, plant a little milk weed,” Peterson said. “Every little bit of habitat helps pollinators.”
Golfing and farming
Since 1963, the Petersons have also managed the tillable farm acres on the campus of Carleton College in Northfield. Years ago, students would tee-up golf balls on the nearby athletic fields and whack them into the campus soybean fields.
Mike’s father, Don, picked several five-gallon buckets of golf balls out of the farm fields every summer. When Don was in his 60s, he got sick of just picking up golf balls and decided to take up golfing himself.
Since Kay comes from a golfing family, and because the nearby public course in Northfield is landlocked and doesn’t have a range of its own, the idea of starting a driving range on their own farm was born.
“It was another venture for us,” Mike said. “It’s been a lot of fun and definitely worthwhile.”
Today, golfers can work on their swings at the Peterson’s range surrounded by a farming landscape that includes corn fields, soybean fields, wildlife habitat and nearby hog barns.
Eat your heart out, Augusta National.
Other ventures
The Peterson’s farm is also home to a fabrication shop and a farmer’s market. Blake, Mike and Kay’s youngest son, has cerebral palsy and requires assistance from a computer to speak. The farmer’s market — specifically a new venture selling stone ground wheat flour — is one of the ways Blake remains involved on the farm.
“Saturday is going to be an awesome experience for Blake and the entire family,” Mike said. “We’re really looking forward to being out there. It’s important for farmers to do things like this to connect with non-farmers.”
