Get to Know the Growers: Rob Tate
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 “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.
Rob Tate, MCGA board member
Cannon Falls, 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?
My farm was settled by my grandfather’s family in 1856, and I am the fifth generation to run the farm. We grow corn and soybeans and raise a few head of cattle and a little bit of hay. I have two boys, Logan (14) and Jonathan (12), that help a little bit on the farm, and my wife Kelly helps in a supporting role. I partner with another farmer for harvesting. We combine together and share labor. In addition to farming, I work from an office in my shop as a crop insurance agent.
How does what you do as a crop farmer affect the average consumer?
The things that we do—efficiently and sustainably produce a crop that goes into food products, the feed industry, and the ethanol industry—benefit the consumer in the end.
The efficiencies that we have as individual producers to produce a bountiful crop ultimately benefit the consumer. If you go back to when my grandfather farmed, I remember stories of him picking corn by hand, with a team of horses. It took him a month to pick all his corn, and it was probably only 20 acres. We harvest a lot more than that in a day now. If we couldn’t utilize the technology we have today, if we weren’t as efficient as we are today, our costs would be higher, and food would cost more.
How do you feel about being a crop farmer?
I like it. It’s a good feeling to see a crop grow. You start off with a small seed, and at the end of the year, you have the crop, and you see what you produced. It’s a good feeling. Being able to watch that growth and transformation over the course of the season is rewarding.
How have you become more sustainable as a corn farmer?
It depends on how you are looking at sustainability. If you are looking at it from the standpoint of ‘are we doing more with less?’ then absolutely! Every year, I think we become more sustainable and efficient. The fact that we can get more crop out of acre than 10 or 15 years ago—or even in some cases just a couple years ago—in my mind is part of the sustainability discussion. If we put the same inputs into the same acre of ground and we don’t get as much out of it, we are going backward in terms of sustainability.
From a conservation standpoint, I practice no-till on some acres. That’s a very labor-efficient, machine-efficient system, and is probably the least impactful to the environment and the soil. But, there are other areas where I do some tillage because the conditions require it.
Who has inspired you by their example? What did you find inspiring about them?
One of the past board members who really encouraged me to participate in MCGA is Les Anderson. He brought into perspective a lot of the things that Minnesota Corn has done. Outside of Minnesota Corn, we have to look to our leaders in Washington or St. Paul. I don’t know if I have a good one to point to and say, ‘This one is a good inspiration to me.’ They all have a role to play.
On the Minnesota Corn board, we have some very good leaders. Everybody on that board is very talented, and it’s kind of humbling to be a part of that, and to work with them. They are very dedicated and bring a lot of perspective and good history to it. Whether it’s immediate past president Richard Syverson, current president Dana Allen-Tully, or former president Bryan Biegler, all of them have put a lot of time into it, and they are all examples of good leaders, in my opinion.
Do you have particular issues or goals that interest you as a grower-leader?
It’s important for us to advocate for the future of corn, work to make the industry better, and provide better opportunities to the next generation. If we don’t have policies and situations that support the industry, we run the risk of the industry changing so much that we don’t recognize it anymore.
The consolidation in agriculture is very real. If we don’t focus on making our industry better and more viable, we’ll have a difficult time attracting the next generation and keeping them involved, so that’s got to be the number one focus. We have to make sure that we keep the opportunities and develop new opportunities to go forward with.
How do you like to spend free time? Do you have hobbies? Play a sport? Like to travel?
With kids at the ages they are, we spend a lot of time providing taxi service to them. Jonathan played baseball and also does skiing. Logan and Jonathan are both involved in 4-H and FFA activities. We show cattle for both of those, which can be very time consuming in the summer when we take them to shows. But it’s something they enjoy doing, and it’s a good learning experience for them.
