Get to Know the Growers: Angela Guentzel
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.
Angela Guentzel, MCGA board member
Kasota, 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?
I moved back to the farm in 2014 to work. I work with my brother, Jon, who is the farm manager now—and my parents are still active—but, my brother has been taking on more duties. We are in the Mankato area—parts to the north, east, and south of the city are the areas we farm. My brother and I are the sixth generation of our family to farm here. The land has been in the family for well over 100 years. While corn and soybeans are our main crops, we do a few other small crops, trying a few different things. We have a few animals, just for fun: a mini-donkey and peacock and some others.
What do you love about farming? What do you find to be the most challenging aspects of it?
Every day is different. You could be outside, or you could be working in the shop. And yet every year is the same: spring is planting, summer you tend the crop, and every fall you are going to harvest. I also like that farming is very tangible. At the end of the season, you have something physical in front of you to show the work that’s been done for the year.
There’s always something more to learn. That’s one of the challenges, I guess. You finally feel like you’ve got a grasp of one thing, but there’s so much more to learn. It’s a challenge, but it’s also a positive.
Why is it important to you to participate in the Minnesota Corn Growers Association?
With my role at Minnesota Corn, I have been more involved with membership development and consumer engagement. Reaching out and talking to consumers is important because if we don’t tell our story, our story will get told for us. Telling our story is critical when it comes to advocacy in public policy, or with consumers, to represent ourselves.
[More: Read about Minnesota Corn Research & Promotion Council Chair Gary Prescher in our “Catching up with the Council!” interview series.]
Do you have particular issues or goals that you would like to pursue as a grower-leader?
Now that I have gotten through my first term, I feel more established in my role, so I can be a lot more comfortable and a lot more valuable to the team. (Editor’s note: Guentzel joined the MCGA board in 2020.) Like any other group, there is so much to learn and so many facets that I really didn’t understand going into the board. I really enjoy being a member of MCGA’s Government Relations team. The fly-ins, the meetings with representatives, the listening sessions, and various meetings with our elected leaders have been very important to me. With the Farm Bill, making sure that the conservation title and the crop insurance title remain separate, and that they don’t place qualifications on participating. Every farm is different based on geography and other factors. We need to make sure they have the tools they can use and that conservation practices are not so prescriptive, not one size fits all.
Another concern comes from our business as a seed company. Having clean, clear rules about coatings and other issues is important to that side of our business. EPA makes rules and regulations regarding what can and can’t be used and the rules for using each product that is registered. Now we are finding that individual states are trying to come through and say, ‘We don’t want this, we don’t want that, or we have to use a product only at a certain time.’ A seed treatment is one example. The vast majority of units of corn have such coatings. Bills have been offered in the Minnesota Legislature to make rules against using seed treatments. It becomes a big question: How seed companies are going to go about that, and how will it affect the seed dealer trying to get seed? Can you bring it in from another state? Do you need to apply and show that you need it? Is there a timing set in this rule and what does that look like? If it’s a wet year, when can you use it and how long does it take to apply for it—planting season is already fast paced. We just want the EPA’s regulations to be the regulations because they have done thorough and rigorous testing on every registered product. When states start doing their own product regulations, it gets messy and confusing.
Who has inspired you by their example? What did you find inspiring about them?
Mankato has an organization called Greater Mankato Growth. One of its leaders, who passed away from cancer in 2019, was Jonathan Zierdt. Jonathan was extremely charismatic. He really did a lot for the area and brought many people and groups together. He was always enthusiastic, and he always valued the things that built Mankato—so he really recognized agriculture, he really recognized education, and manufacturing—all the things that made our community our community. He was just excellent at uniting people. Even in the way he battled cancer, he left a positive impact in the community.
How do you like to spend free time? Do you have hobbies? Play a sport? Like to travel?
We have full-time people on the farm throughout the year. My husband, Andy Cramblit, is a contractor, so in the off-season I join him and help with remodeling work. People joke that we are like Chip and Joanna Gaines because my husband does the building stuff and I always help get the materials and then put it all together. And we have been playing a lot of pickleball together.
What do you think is something about farming that might be surprising to the average consumer?
You don’t just plant in the spring and come back in the fall. There is a lot to do during the growing season, and all through fall and winter, too.
