Get to Know the Growers: Dana Allen-Tully
The Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA), the state’s grassroots organization for corn farmers, is led by 18 board members with a wide range of backgrounds and experiences. In our new “Get to Know the Growers” interview series, we’ll learn about their farms, work with Minnesota Corn, and thoughts on agriculture. Interviews for the project are by Jonathan Eisenthal.
Dana Allen Tully, MCGA president
Eyota, Minnesota
Tell us about your farm: Where is it, what do you grow, how long have you farmed, who do you farm with, how long has your family farmed this land?
We have a dairy farm and we also grow all our forage and corn for the cows. We grow alfalfa, some soybeans, and we do canning crops—sweet peas and sweet corn. We are doing cover crops. And then we have corn, and we harvest our corn in the form of dry corn, high moisture corn, or corn silage. A portion of our corn is a cash crop, and all of our soybeans are also a cash crop. I farm with my parents, who are retiring, and my older brother. And, we just brought in two new owners who are not family members, but who are going to be our next generation. They will be partners, but right now they are just getting their feet wet.
My grandfather bought this farm in the 1950s. My dad grew up here, and then my brother and I grew up here. I have been back since 2003. I did a lot of schooling: I have an undergraduate degree in farm business management, and then a masters and PhD in ruminant nutrition, with a focus on dairy. After that I was a fellow for the Federation of Animal Science Societies in Washington, D.C., for one year.
What do you love about farming? What do you find to be the most challenging aspects of it?
What I love about farming is that I get to work outside every day, and every day is different. Which is good, and bad, because you have different challenges and you get to solve different problems or have different rewards. Watching something that you planted, or delivered as a newborn calf, and watching those things grow and prosper is really the reward for farming. Another reward is having employees who decide to spend their career with us and watching them grow and figuring out together what we can do together to make it a rewarding venture for all of us.
The challenges can be the same things. This year we were in a D-3 drought in my farm area, so the weather has been our challenge. We don’t have irrigation, so we are just kind of watching our corn die in the field. We’re just hoping we will still be able to meet our forage needs and feed our cows. And I think we will. It’s just that we won’t have the cash crop to sell that we usually would. If we have a disease that goes through the animals that can be a challenge, watching how that impacts them. It can be an emotional struggle for me.
Why is it important to you to participate in the Minnesota Corn Growers Association?
I have a ton of respect for the corn growers organization and everything that it represents. During my time as a fellow in Washington, D.C., I watched the grower-leaders interact with us as staff or with other legislators, and I saw their effectiveness at participating in policy changes, or helping farmers get through red tape, or deal with legislation that is going to impact us in the future. I think the corn growers have a fantastic reputation of being an organization that is looking for solutions to problems.
[More: Tell Congress to pass a Farm Bill that supports corn growers]
Do you have particular goals that you would like to pursue as a grower-leader?
Agriculture has a great sustainability story to tell. It is a goal of mine to help every corn farmer embrace this concept. Our non-farming neighbors do not know the details we are already implementing to protect our soil, water, and air. I am really excited about the potential of sustainability best practices have to address the concerns of our consumers, legislators, and regulators.
Who has inspired you by their example? What did you find inspiring about them?
My parents, Gary and Linda. They have built a successful farm business that we are able to be a part of, and they have given their kids who wanted to come back an opportunity to follow in their footsteps. My dad was involved outside of the farm, too. He was on the governor’s Generic Environmental Impact Statement Committee back in the late 1990s that was setting rules for feedlots in the state of Minnesota. There was a working group convened by the State Legislature that included members of all the different interested groups — there was an environment member, a water member, a public health member and he was one of the ones on the agriculture side—he might have been the only farmer. He understood the need for us to be involved in agriculture, and to fight for what we need from a policy perspective or a regulatory perspective to be successful.
How do you like to spend free time? Do you have hobbies; play a sport; like to travel?
We love travel. We love new experiences. My husband and I don’t have children and so we are open to opportunities that we haven’t experienced yet. We just did an event where we went up to the NHRA drag races at Brainerd International Raceway. I had never been there before. It was amazing. So much fun to watch people who are passionate about what they do and who excel at it. Our next trip will be to the Kentucky Derby.
What is something about farming that might be surprising to the average consumer?
The amount of technology in farming today, and all the education it takes to put all those pieces together.
