Sauk Rapids farm family to be honored at Saturday's Gophers football game
written by Jonathan Eisenthal
Sauk Rapids farmers Brian and Brenda Kaschmitter will be honored at the Sept. 7 Gophers football game as the Minnesota Corn Growers Farm Team Family of the Game.
The Kaschmitter’s were selected 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.
The Kaschmitters have four kids: Colby, 19, who studies GPS/GIS technology for agricultural applications at Ridgewater College in Willmar; Sarah, 17, a senior at Sauk Rapids High School, who enjoys hockey and softball; Ben, 15, who raises chickens on the farm and Emma, three and half years old and keeping everyone in the house on their toes. The three older children belong to FFA and all enjoy helping out on the farm.
Brian and Brenda farm about 1,000 acres of corn and soybeans with Brian’s brother Glen. They also raise 25 acres of alfalfa and have meadowland devoted to raising grass hay. In addition, the Kaschmitters raise 40 beef cow-calf pairs, and 120 sows in a farrow-to-finish operation.
“We’ve been farming since 1974,” said Brian. “Dad was an insurance adjuster for 25 years and our parents bought the place as a hobby farm because my two older brothers wanted to get on a farm. Years later, my brothers took over the dairy and I took over the hogs. We expanded and added beef after that.”
The Kaschmitters do no-till planting for their corn and soybeans on about one-fifth of their land. By using a chisel and field cultivator instead of mold board plowing, they leave more roots and organic matter in place to hold the soil and maintain moisture as well as helpful insect and microbial activity.
“We’ve done no-till on certain land where we’ve got heavy, rocky soil,” Brian said. “We also do a manure management plan, following the University of Minnesota recommendations for spreading and incorporating the manure to keep odor down and to help prevent nutrients running off into the creek and the ditches. We do filter strips along the creek — 50 feet of grass along each side. That was farmed right up to the edge before. We do no-till on some of our sloped land to prevent erosion. It’s handy for us, too, because the land is rocky, so going to no-till allows us to not have to do so much rock picking.”
