The auctioneer

The farm sale and auction is a part of the local culture. Here you can see Lenny working at getting top dollar for this slightly used pickup. With a little paint and a set of new tires it is sure to run for another 40 years.

A farm auction

The farm auction is a place where the farmer hopes to buy a piece of equipment that he needs at a fair price. It is also a time when farmers meet to talk and discuss local issues. With all this rain we have been getting lately, Jimmy is probably looking for some fishing gear and waders to use in his bean field.

The mechanic

This farm boy keeps our vehicles running. When you go looking for Dave, you'll usually find two boots sticking out from under a car and his young son running off with his tools. But he can fix just about anything that has a nut or screw on it. By the way, Dave does his best work from about midnight to 4:00 in the morning.

What would grandpa say?

This local farmer is talking on the cell phone with his wife while he is driving across the field in a heated cab with his favorite CD playing. He is also keeping one eye on the computer monitor. Farming has become high tech. Randy's grandfather farmed with a super "C" farmal tractor which he keeps stored in his garage as an antique.

Local meeting place

A town is not really a town without a local bar. It is a place where farmers meet to discuss and solve farm problems, as well as world problems. This bartender is a local boy who is discusing politics with a couple of guys from Chicago. The grandfather of the gentleman in the center imigrated from Germany and settled in Elkton. His father grew up on a farm west of town.

Fred's calf

Fred is trying to get his pet calf back in the pen, but the calf is showing him who the boss is on this feed lot. Most feeders raise cattle for the market, but this calf knows he is a pet.

Thielen's garden

This farmer is no longer with us. When I took this picture, it was the last time that I ever saw Leonard. On that day, I drove Sister Ben and my mother out to his farm to get some vegetables. He not only gave us most of his garden, but also about half of his farm. Leonard had a unique way of cleaning the veggies. He put them into an old Maytag washer he had in the grainery, and they washed up real well.

The dairy farmer

This dairy man has to get up before dawn so he has the cows milked by breakfast. Mike wants to be sure Lenny has cream for his 8:00 o'clock coffee. I heard through the grapevine that when Mike was a kid he went by the name "The Bear." The name suits him even better today.