<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2VYJ7h_1FPN1oDf00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2VYJ7h_1FPN1oDf00" width="800" height="447" ></figure>The difficulty of getting young people started in agriculture is not a new subject. It is an issue that magazines covered over 20 years ago and it continues to be a topic in podcasts and other forums where the state of agriculture is discussed.One young couple living west of the city of Winnebago has been working at building their farming operation, one piece at a time, to the point where they now have 120 mama cows that they calve every year.The story of Adam and Theresa St. Germain may not be a typical example of how someone gets involved in agriculture. After all, Adam didn’t even grow up on a farm.“But it was always my dream to be involved in production agriculture,” Adam says. “From the time I was a little kid, that is what I wanted to do.”Adam was originally from Poplar Grove, Illinois, a town with a population of around 5,000 people in the 2020 census.“I got my first heifer from my FFA advisor when I was 15-years old,” Adam comments. “My parents didn’t know so I talked my sister into getting a heifer too. I figured our parents couldn’t hate both of their only two children.”Adam would also get runt pigs and raise them while also finding other jobs which were ag related, whether it was washing a hog barn, rock picking or helping out a neighboring farmer.“I didn’t get to operate nice equipment,” Adam recalls. “The one guy I worked for had old White tractors with no heat or air conditioning. But I loved it.”He ended up taking a job with the city of Poplar Grove and eventually became the Parks and Water manager.Circumstances led him to tire of that job and his desire was still strong to be involved with agriculture so he found a job on a Registered Angus Farm near Peoria, Illinois.“That lasted about a year. I didn’t like the way the owner did some things so I decided to move on,” Adam says. “I went back home and pumped septic tanks for eight months along with doing installs and septic management.”After eight months of doing that job he made a decision that would change his life – even if he didn’t know it at the time. “I packed up and left for South Dakota,” Adam states. “I didn’t tell anyone I was going except my parents.”Over the years of being involved in livestock in Illinois, Adam had made some connections. One of those people, a friend from Oklahoma, had told Adam he should go to Bushy Park Farms, a big cattle operation at the time which was located near Mitchell, South Dakota.About three days after arriving at Bushy Park Farms, Adam met his future wife and farming partner, Theresa Claeys. That was in November of 2012.Theresa grew up on a farm in the Winnebago area, the daughter of Roger and Deb Claeys. She graduated from Blue Earth Area High School in 2010 before attending South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota, where she got a Bachelor of Science degree in animal science.“During my freshman year at SDSU I was asked to work at a cattle farm in Marion, South Dakota,” Theresa says. “I was good help so I was asked by another worker to go to Bushy Park Farms and that is where Adam and I met.”Adam and Theresa may have met in 2012 but it was still a long journey to get to where they are today.After leaving his job at Bushy Park Farms, Adam took a job for three years with Freking Cattle Company near Jackson. Meanwhile, Theresa graduated from SDSU in 2014 and came back to her home area where she worked at various ag-related jobs from banking to ag production.“I also managed a feedlot near Trimont for one year before taking a job at a fertilizer plant in Winnebago beginning in November of 2015,” Adam remarks. “I needed some stability in my life – and health insurance. I ended up working for the fertilizer company for five to six years. I joined the Winnebago Fire Department and began putting money away and looking for a place to buy.”He came across a farm site for sale while he was at the Minnesota State Fair.“I had been looking at online auctions and other places that listed farms for sale,” Adam says. “Then I saw a farm for sale by Tom Golly and it was near Winnebago.”Both Adam and Theresa already knew Tom.Tom had been a customer of Adam’s when he worked at the fertilizer plant and Tom had served on a township board with Theresa’s mom.“It was the farm where Tom was born and raised,” Adam comments. “It essentially had everything we needed. We mostly had to remodel the insides of the buildings so we could use it for a cattle operation.”But the sale did not happen right away.“We were working with the FSA (Farm Service Agency) through their beginning farmer program,” Adam explains. “That process stretched out to one-and-a-half years.”Adam and Theresa closed on the property in July of 2018 and moved in a month later in August.The only piece of farm equipment they had when they started was Adam’s old skid steer loader that they brought to the farm from Illinois.“Since that time we have a newer skid steer, a manure spreader, a hay mower and a tractor,” Theresa shares.They use Theresa’s father’s round baler to bale their hay.“I give a lot of credit to Roger for the help he has given us to help us get our operation going,” Adam says. “He has let us use his equipment when we needed it.”Their operation that now has 120 cows began with 32.“I am a transplant to this area but there have been so many people who gave this transplant a chance,” Adam states. “There was a farmer who wanted to downsize his cattle herd. He gave me the opportunity to buy 10 of his cows each year for three years at an agreed price. I helped maintain his pasture as part of the agreement and then I also got the pasture.”Adam and Theresa’s operation, St. Germain Simmentals, sells show heifers though online sales.“Our heifers are professionally photographed and videoed for our online sales,” Theresa comments. “Every October is when the online sale of our show heifers takes place. We are also part of a consignment group that puts on a sale in January. That is when we sell bred heifers. We also do various private sales for bulls or other cattle.”The couple also had an opportunity in the last two years to purchase an additional 80 acres of adjoining cropland to give them a total of about 200 acres including their pasture and building site.Adam and Theresa supplement their ag income with local off-the-farm jobs. Adam works for Country Farm Supply and Theresa works for Everidge.“If you have a hope or a dream, they are achievable,” Adam says. “It is scary. You are going to get knocked down. Don’t be afraid to ask for help or advice.”“I like creating something that allows us to give back to the industry we love,” Theresa adds. “It is especially rewarding to be able to do that with my partner.”Adam and Theresa both had thoughts on working with each other as a husband and wife team in their business.“It is fun to have a partner,” Adam states. “Yeah, we butt heads sometimes – but at the end of the day we have the same goals.”“It is great to work alongside someone who is willing to work as hard as you do,” Theresa comments. “We have had some wonderful help but we have also worked hard.”“I am basically living my dream from when I was three or four years old,” Adam concludes.</div></body>

Block Source: Faribault County Register

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The difficulty of getting young people started in agriculture is not a new subject. It is an issue that magazines covered over 20 years ago and it continues to be a topic in podcasts and other forums where the state of agriculture is discussed. One young couple living west of...

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The difficulty of getting young people started in agriculture is not a new subject. It is an issue that magazines covered over 20 years ago and it continue

They are living their dream

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