BOONE — Bill and Sharon Sturtz are carrying on the 60-year-long tradition of the Sturtz family operating their livestock business out of their barn. Bill Sturtz said his parents moved to the farm in 1959, officially purchasing it in 1965, adding that he and his wife moved to the farm in ...
Corn growers have been eyeing the markets warily, considering the 2019 growing season didn’t treat many of them kindly. From the delayed planting season to a cold, rainy stretch of weather to heavy flooding, crop losses and very late harvests in many areas, the markets showed just how much of ...
Business owners in Fort Dodge are collaborating to bring an event to the downtown on Saturday which could leave one lucky customer with lots of gift cards. The event called, Sister Saturday, is this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fourteen businesses, including Rush Hour Clothing Co., ...
The Best Western Starlite Village Inn & Suites has new owners. The hotel at 1518 Third Ave. N.W., which has been a fixture in Fort Dodge since the1960s, was purchased by Crossroads Partners LLC, a locally-owned private investment group. The group purchased the property from A & B ...
STORM LAKE — Round barns have become an endangered species in Iowa, especially in the western half of the state, where relatively few round barns were built. The striking round barn that graces Clyde Krause’s farm south of Storm Lake, however, is an exception with a unique story. It ...
When Fort Dodge was hammered by a strong snowstorm last February, Kyle Johnson and his crew spent hours on end trying to dig out residents and businesses. “We plowed for 60 hours straight, no stopping,” said Johnson, owner of Johnson Bro’s Snow and Mow. “It was like 13 inches (of ...
LAKOTA — The farm of Eldon and Nancy Haas is located north of Lakota on the west side of U.S. Highway 169. From the highway a passerby can see the red barn with its white steel roof. It’s an indication of the significance of the barn to the farm. “That barn provided a lot of income ...
DES MOINES – Touted as North America’s largest winter swine trade show and conference, the Iowa Pork Producers Association held the 2020 Iowa Pork Congress last week, Jan. 22 and 23 at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. In addition to daily seminars and the youth swine judging ...
GOWRIE — The colorful silk scarves created by Karen McCubbin, of Gowrie, go through a special process before they become a finished product. The scarves are put in a bowl of water and then heated up — in a microwave. “When I tell people I make the scarves in the microwave, they ...
AYRSHIRE — If one didn’t know it was there, a person would drive right past the acreage of David C. Loomis. West of Ayrshire on the Highway to Heaven (420th St), you can find a quarter-mile long lane that, when the corn is tall, seemingly goes nowhere. Follow that lane and you will ...
ALTOONA — Is your fuel killing you? It was no accident the 2020 Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit raised this provocative question right before consumer advocate Erin Brockovich took the stage. “This is a price we shouldn’t be willing to pay, especially when there are accessible, affordable ...
Keenan Schuur, who has been an agent at Coldwell Banker Associated Realtors for five years, has joined Troy Anderson as co-owner of the Fort Dodge brokerage. Schuur, a 2007 St. Edmond High School graduate, obtained his broker’s license about a year ago. He became a co-owner on Jan. 2. ...
AUBURN — A walk through Jeff and Ellen Frank’s barn west of Auburn is like getting a glimpse of history up close, if you know how to interpret the clues. While the interior looks a lot different than when the barn was new in 1909, traces of the past remain. “Horses used to be on ...
Kelly and Heather Sayer have always felt a calling to help others connect and make positive changes in their lives. And they have been able to accomplish that through their work at Sayer Counseling, 1728 Central Ave., Suite 10. The couple opened their office in May of 2017. They ...
During a recent Iowa Learning Farms’ webinar, Randall Cass, Iowa State University Extension entomologist, gave an overview of some of the research that is being conducted in Iowa with bees, including the implications for farmers, beekeepers and landowners. Cass said oftentimes, people are ...
VARINA — Nancy Kelly has the privilege of working in her grandfather’s barn on a daily basis. Kelly, who partners with Dick Farrell, owns and operates “Grandpa’s Barn” in the town of Varina in Pocahontas County, where they have done extensive repair to the structure, turning it into ...
An elderly woman drove her van next to one of the gas pumps at Anderson Station on a mild winter day Thursday morning. And out from the office walked Colten Anderson, a mechanic who asked the woman how she was doing before he filled the tank of the vehicle with gas. He then popped the ...
LIDDERDALE — The letters, written in pencil more than a century ago, may seem more like diary entries from rural Iowa at first glance, with details of a blizzard that dumped a foot of snow and how corn yielded 30 bushels per acre the previous fall, despite dry conditions. But read a bit ...
SPENCER — For Ryan and Amanda Bare, entering into the distillery business means more than simply creating a brand of whiskey or vodka. The Bares own and operate Century Farms Distillery in Spencer where they pride themselves on celebrating the American farmer, using corn to make their ...
Although Bruce and Ed Shimkat have retired as owners of Shimkat Motor Co. — the longtime Fort Dodge car dealership — they are still very much a part of how the business operates, according to current owners Ed Shimkat Jr. and Bill Shimkat. Bruce Shimkat and Ed Shimkat serve as ...