‘Grassroots’ is the future of farm leadership, Neumann says
Written by Jonathan Eisenthal
The Minnesota Corn Growers Association and Minnesota Corn Research & Promotion Council are farmer-led grassroots organizations focused on identifying and promoting opportunities for corn farmers. This “Grassroots Leaders” series introduces you to the grower leaders who are working on your behalf as corn farmers.
Both sides of Brad Neumann’s father’s family and have farmed in Redwood County, Minnesota, for more than a century, along with his mom’s parents. Neumann hopes to continue this tradition and pass it down through his family.
Grassroots leadership from organizations like Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA) will be the key to a strong, continuing farm economy, he feels. Neumann joined the MCGA board of directors in January, filling the post formerly held by Jean Knackmus.
Neumann, 37, works full time as director of seed sales and seed operations for Meadowland Farmers Cooperative in Lamberton while also farming in partnership with his father, David. His wife, Kim, and his mother, Shareen, also play important roles in the family farming operation. The farm site where Brad and Kim live came down through David’s mother’s family and was homesteaded in 1918.
Asked what keeps him farming despite its many challenges, Neumann said, “It’s a lifestyle, the way you were raised, the work ethic that was instilled in you. The thing I like about (farming) is the occupation is very diverse. There are a lot of things you need to learn and know to be a farmer. There are always new challenges.”
He notes that his generation has wholeheartedly adopted precision agriculture technology, which he utilizes to vary the rate of plant nutrition and plant population according to the volumes that best suit the soil conditions in a particular part of the field.
“We are all about how to raise the crop with the highest efficiency, utilizing the inputs better and being a good steward of the land,” he said. “The thing that I like is that Corn Growers is a grassroots organization. We are striving to be good stewards of the industry, and to allow all farmers to have a voice, to represent them. MCGA is driven by the farmers, and the organization really gets the farmer’s sense of the issues and brings it accurately to the state and national levels of the government.”
Realities that impact farmers every day include everything from the strength of the markets for their products to the health care system, the ability to use their grain locally in livestock operations and the production of farm-based renewable fuels. Grower-leaders of MCGA convey these needs to elected officials and government policymakers, based on the information MCGA gets from direct communication with its 6,500 farmer-members and with the leaders of county corn grower boards across the state.
