Rural Life 2014

June 11,12, & 13, 2014

Rural Life2014

PAGE 2 VALLEY RURAL LIFE Wednesday, June 11-Friday, June 13, 2014

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By Pat Beck • [email protected]

Lonnie Boettcher used to raise Belgian horses, but he prefers mules. Boettcher, who has 10 in his pasture along High-

way 99 in the eastern edge of Le Center, likes mules better because of their disposition.

Boettcher doesn’t believe in the old saying, “stubborn as a mule.”

Instead, he thinks mules are just smarter than horses and won’t respond to unsafe com-mands.

“People say they’re more stub-born, but that’s not true at all,” Boettcher said. “A mule is a self-preserving animal. If they think they’re going to get hurt, they just won’t do it.”

He also likes mules because, “�ey’re way more personable,

and pound for pound, they’ll out-work a horse. �ey eat less. �ey get your trust from them, and theirs in you, you’ve got a really good partner. And they’re more surefooted.”

And they like to work.“�e more you use them, the

more they like it,” said Boettcher’s “right hand mule skinner” (driv-er), his granddaughter, Ashley Genelin, of Le Center.

Lonnie Boettcher pets one of his 10 mules on his farm in Le Center. (Pat Beck/St. Peter Herald)

A lot of

PULLLe Center area farm puts mules to work in �elds

See PULL on 3

Wednesday, June 11-Friday, June 13, 2014 VALLEY RURAL LIFE PAGE 3

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Everyone in the family has been on a wagon a time or two. Both of his daughters, Christa and Becky, drove mules. As far as handling, Boettcher and Genelin do most of it.

“I like to just help,” Genelin said. “I couldn’t do it by myself, but I like to go with him.”

Boettcher raises mules as a hobby. In addition to driving them around the neighborhood pulling a wagon, he brings them to special events including pa-rades, church festivals, funerals, anniversaries and weddings — including his granddaughter’s

where they had six pairs of mules.“We just got a call from a

young man, and we’ll do their wedding a week from Saturday,” Boettcher said.

“I’ve hauled seven people to the grave over the years as a hearse. I lot of them were Posse members and friends of mine.”

See PULL on 4

PullFrom Page 2


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His mules can be seen pull-ing a wagon for Le Sueur County Sheri� ’s Posse, at Bullhead Days in Waterville, Barbeque Days in Belle Plaine, St. Patrick’s Day in Le Center, Kolacky Days in Montgomery and the Giant Cel-ebration in Le Sueur.

Boettcher and his grand-daughter also compete with the mules in the farmer’s class driv-ing competition obstacle course at Le Sueur County Fair.

“It will be a fun day when she beats me, but she hasn’t yet,” Boettcher said.

Rasing mules is not a mon-ey-making venture. He does it because he loves mules and he wants to share them with others.

“Although I do train a lot of mules and horses to drive over the years, I’m kind of slowing down now,” said Boettch-er, 63, who retired two years ago from Le Sueur County Highway Depart-ment. “I used to train a lot of horses and mules for people to drive.”

He started out farming alfalfa,

oats and corn and milking cows until 1976.

He also initially began raising Belgian horses, but John Stender in Le Sueur convinced him to switch to mules.

“ H e h a d mules and a Jack (male) donkey,” Boettcher said of Stender. “And he worked with my wife at Queen of

Peace Hospital. Every year at the Christmas party, he said ‘I’m going to breed a couple of your mares with my Wilbur,’ his Jack

donkey. A� er about four years, � nally he talked me into it, and I’ve never looked back since.”

Mules are produced by the mating of a female horse (mare) and a male donkey.

Some of the mules Boettcher has sold over the years are work-

ing mules.“I’ve had three pair of mules

that came from this place down at a church group in Oklahoma called Dry Gulch USA,” Boettch-er said, “and they use them for

PullFrom Page 3

See PULL on 5

With her grandfather, Lonnie Boettcher, by her side, Ashley Genelin drives drives the mule team of Bunny (left) and Jewel on the Boettcher farm in Le Center. Their mom was an Appaloosa horse and their dad was a donkey. (Pat Beck/St. Peter Herald)

MORE ONLINEFind more photos from the Boettcher farm at stpeterherald.com


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PullFrom Page 4

Lonnie Boettcher drives his mules plowing. (Submitted)

rides and as dude mules for kids to come there for summer camps and they use them for rides. � ey also use the teams for puling wagons for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

“We’ve had them on about every kind of machinery in the � eld. We’ve cut and raked hay with them, bi� ed, harrowed, plowed, planted corn and

hauled corn.”Genelin added: “We can ride

some of them, too. � e ones who are broke to ride.”

Boettcher, who has raised mules for 35 years, grew up on the three-generation family farm settled by his grandparents, Herman and Hen-rietta, and then his parents, William and Albina. Boettcher and his wife,

Mary, reared their seven children there.

Over the years, the Boettcher farm has had a combination of about 10 horses and mules at a time.

“We had to have a mare and jack donkey to produce these mules,” Boettcher said. “So we usually had 10 head on the place most of the time, a combination.”

Boettcher doesn’t do any breed-ing anymore, so these will probably be his last mules.

� e oldest pair is in their 20s, and they typically live from 30 to 35.

“They live little longer than horses on an average,” Boettcher said. “� ey take that a� er the don-key part.”

Boettcher still helps friends farm, planting and harvesting crops and driving gravel and grain trucks and tractors.

He experiences the best of both the old and new ways of doing things.

“It’s quite a changing world,” Boettcher said. “A few weeks ago, I helped a friend of mine, an old mule skinner from Decorah, Iowa, where we hitched eight mules on a disc, and the follow-ing week I was helping a buddy

of mine farming. I was in a 400-horse John Deere with a GPS.”


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Lonnie Boettcher, with his wife Mary, leads a mule team in his grandchildren Mike and Ashley Genelin’s wedding. (Photo courtesy of Jillian Raye Photography)


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By SAMANTHA [email protected]

Jeremy Hanks was nearly side-swiped multiple times on I-35 last fall by travelers surprised by the alpaca sitting in the back seat of Hanks’ car.

Hanks styles hair for a living at JDH Hair Design located between Janesville and Mankato, but the residents who call Hanks’ front yard their home don’t need hair prod-ucts. �e �u� on top of their heads is all natural.

Hanks added a line of alpaca products — Luxury Alpaca — to his salon business last year. �e eight alpacas he keeps on his farm provide the �ber for the roving and yarn sold at Luxury Alpaca.

“It all started with my love for alpacas,” Hanks said. “�ey’re a unique animal.”

Hanks started his own farm a�er visit-ing an alpaca farm seven years ago.

“I was hooked,” Hanks said, joking at the time, that he’d someday own an alpaca.

Hanks �nally acquired his �rst alpaca in 2010 and continued with the farm because alpacas are a relatively easy to care for and don’t require much money to raise. De-pending on genetics, the initial investment can be anywhere from $500 to $60,000, Hanks said.

“It was great advertising,” Hanks said of the experience driving down I-35 with his new alpaca in his back seat. According to Hanks, Alpacas travel sitting down, much like a dog does when in the back seat of a car.

According to Nancy Walz, co-manager of the Minnesota Alpaca Expo, when it comes to alpaca farming, there’s a lot that can be done on a small acreage. Eight alpac-as can comfortably live on one acre. �ey’re also considered an eco-friendly animal due to their gentle grazing.

Alpacas don’t rip grass out from the root, Hanks said, they just nibble the tops.

Area hair salon adds new alpaca retail store

Jeremy Hanks, owner of JDH Hair Design and Luxury Alpaca, talks about some of the alpaca products sold at his salon. Here he displays an alpaca circle scarf. (Samantha Maranell/Waseca County News)

LOCAL THREADS

See ALPACA on 8


14,0007

Alpaca From Page 7

Alpacas are a well-tempered animal that hum, answering the age-old question: What does the alpaca say? (Samantha Maranell/Waseca County News)

LUXURY ALPACALuxury Alpaca is

located at 20811 Ocean Road, Janesville. Traveling west from Waseca, Luxury Alpaca is past Smith’s Mill just o� of Highway 14.

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at Luxury Alpaca at (507) 381-2230

�eir waste can also be used as com-post.

“�ey’re not as harsh on pasture

as a horse or goat,” said Walz.Not only are alpacas relatively

easy to raise, their product is on par with cashmere and is better than wool. According to Hanks, alpaca �ber is “as so� as cashmere, warmer and lighter weight than wool and without the prickle-factor that some wools carry.” �e price of an alpaca product is also comparable to the price of something made of cashmere. Alpaca �ber is also hy-poallergenic because it contains no lanolin, so it’s an option for people who are allergic to wool.

“Alpaca �eece is one of the stron-gest natural �bers in the world,” said Walz.

Walz said alpacas at the Minne-sota Alpaca Expo are judged on the �neness, brightness and strength of their �eece. Judges also look for the animal’s balance when walking. She said alpacas are popular because of their mellow disposition.

Hanks likened alpacas to cats be-

cause they “live on their terms” and each animal has its own personal-ity. �ey are herd animals, so farms must have more than one alpaca.

According to Walz, there are about 150 to 170 alpaca farms in Minnesota. Hanks said their are farms in Elysian, North Mankato, Le Sueur, Lakeville and Owatonna, to name a few. Although that may seem like a large number, Walz said Ohio, Washington and Colorado are likely the states with most alpaca ranches. However, Owatonna is home to the largest alpaca show in the Midwest, second only to Colorado.

Luxury Alpaca also o�ers board-ing for alpacas owned by those living in the city.

“You don’t have to be a farm owner to own an alpaca,” Hanks said.

Hanks said his goal with the farm and store is to educate the public that alpaca �ber is a usable product.


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By MARK STEILMinnesota Public Radio News

Minnesota farmers may be looking at a finan-cial squeeze this year.

The wet spring has eliminated drought in much of the corn belt, suggesting a big crop could be on the way. That’s helping drive down prices be-low the break even level for a lot of producers.

In southwest Minnesota, Michael Wojahn is among those who may feel the punch. As he prepped his equipment recently to plant soybeans, he said was making good spring planting progress so far this year. One reason for that is because of the continued mod-erate drought conditions in the southwest corner of Min-nesota. While the dry weather is a concern, it’s also allowed farmers plenty of planting time in the fields.

Sodden spring spells uncertainty for crop pricesMichael

Wojahn gets his equipment ready to plant

soybeans on his southwest

Minnesota farm on May

14. It’s been a mixed bag so

far this spring for state farm-

ers. (Minnesota Public Radio

News)

See SODDEN on 10


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That’s in contrast to much of the rest of Minnesota, where heavy rains have delayed field-work. In some cases, there’s been so much d e l a y t h a t farmers could miss key plant-ing deadlines and risk los-ing some crop i n s u r a n c e benefits. But Wojahn said t h at d e s pi t e the dryness on his farm some 1 0 0 m i l e s southwest of the Twin Cities, he’s still opti-mistic.

“Forty-plus years of farming

and I haven’t lost a crop yet,” Wojahn said.

So far, he said he likes what he sees. In one corn field, he

gots down on his hands and knees, and dug up a corn seed that wil l be-come part of M i n n e s o t a’s $5 billion corn crop, checking to see if the seed is ready to pop a new sta lk out of the ground.

“Here you go, it’s just really getting start-ed,” Wojahn said. “You’ve got that little shoot heading up and

the root heading off down the side there.”

That shoot should produce an ear of corn by fall contain-ing hundreds of kernels ready to be sold. Exactly what sort of price Wojahn will get for that corn though is a big ques-tion. Commodity analyst Darin Newsom at DTN, said it almost

certainly will be nothing close to the record $8 a bushel price of a couple years ago. Newsom said if good weather produces a big U.S. crop, already low corn prices could go even lower.

“We could see the corn fu-tures drop down into the low four-dollar range, and cash prices drop into the upper

threes,” Newsom said. “And that would certainly get a lot of attention.”

Wells Fargo Agricultural Economist Michael Swanson said those sorts of low prices would spell big financial losses across farm country.

“That’s not going to be a real winner for a lot of producers,”

he said.Swanson said that with sim-

ilar prices last year, many farm-ers lost money on their corn. That fits with the findings of a team of academic researchers in Minnesota who collect finan-cial data each year from more

SoddenFrom Page 9

“It’s just going to be a real tough

decision, can I get big enough to

compete or do I have to exit the business.”

Agricultural economist Michael Swenson

See SODDEN on 11


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than a thousand farms in the state. Last year, they found low corn prices meant most farm-ers lost money on rented land. About two-thirds of the acres in the data were rented.

A sustained run of high corn prices has pushed up rents, as landlords tried to capture some of the wealth their land was

producing. But with grain prices on the downswing, those higher rents are grow-ing red ink.

Some especially hard hit farmers lost more than $200 per rented acre last year. Swanson said that, especially for small farmers, a repeat of those losses again this year could push them to the eco-nomic brink.

“It’s just going to be a real tough decision, can I get big enough to compete or do I have to exit the business,” Swanson said.

Getting bigger could help because it would spread the

costs of machinery and labor over more income producing acres. But there’s also risk in the strategy. It could mean even higher rental prices, because the farmer would have to out-bid others who are also eager to have more crop land.

As Wojahn finished work-ing on his planting rig recently, he said that even with the dry weather and the troubling out-look for corn, he’s still happy to be farming. For one thing the last few years have been good to him.

Even though the outlook for corn is gloomy, Minnesota’s $4 billion soybean crop should be profitable, offsetting some of the poor returns on corn. If things get really bad, Wojahn said there are always non-fi-nancial benefits to his job.

“There’s a lot of satisfaction too in producing something from the ground, and watch-ing it grow,” he said.

Minnesota Public Radio News can be heard in Southern Minnesota on 103.9 FM or online

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910 Old Minnesota Ave.507-931-4070 • 800-657-4802 HOURS: M-Th 8-7 | Fri 8-6 | Sat 8-4

DanWegscheid

MikeChmiel

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JeffBrand

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Jeep®

Lager’sSt. Peter

Lager’sSt. Peter

2014 DODGE DART SE AERO

2014 DODGE CHARGER SXT AWD

2014 JEEP CHEROKEE LATITUDE

2014 TOWN AND COUNTRY TOURING-L

2014 DODGE AVENGER SE

2014 DODGE JOURNEY SXT

2014 JEEP COMPASS SPORT 4X4

2014 CHRYSLER 200 TOURING

2014 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE LAREDO 4x4

2014 CHRYSLER 300 AWD

2014 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN SXT

2014 DODGE DURANGO CITADEL AWD

2014 RAM 1500 CREW CAB SLT 4x42014 RAM 1500 QUAD CAB ST 4x4 2014 RAM 2500 CREW CAB SLT 4X4

LAGER’S ST. PETER IS HELPING DODGE CELEBRATE THEIR 100 YEAR EVENT WITH OUR OWN EVENT! WE’RE HAVING A NEW CAR CLEARANCE ON OUR OLDEST INVENTORY IN STOCK. THESE 16 VEHICLES HAVE BEEN DRASTICALLY REDUCED. PRICES ARE FOR THESE VEHICLES IN OUR INVENTORY ONLY- NO SUBSTITUTIONS!

1.4 Turbo, 6 Spd., 8.4” Touch Screen Controls, Alloy Wheels

3.6 V6, Remote Start, 8.4” Touch Screen with Back-up Camera, NAV

2.4 4Cyl., Auto, PW, PDL, Remote Entry, Alloy Wheels

5.7 Hemi, Tow Pkg, Heated Seats & Steering Wheel, Remote Start, Back-up Camera, 20” Wheels

5.7 Hemi, Tow Pkg, Remote Entry, Trailer Brake, Back-up Camera, 20” Wheels

4 Cyl., Auto, PW, PDL, Rallye Appearance Group

3.6 V6, Dual Zone A/C, 4.3” Touch Screen Controls, Alloy Wheels

2.4 4 Cyl., 9-Speed Automatic, Remote Start, Heated Seats, 8.4” Touchscreen Controls

6.4 Hemi, Tow Pkg., Heated Seats, 5th Wheel Prep, Back-up Camera

4 Cyl., Auto, 6.5” Touch Screen Controls, S-Appearance Group

Leather, Heated Front & Middle Seats, DVD, NAV, Back-up Camera

3.6 V6, P. Seat, PW, PDL, Tow Pkg., Satellite Radio, Alloy Wheels

3.6 V6, Heated Leather, Remote Start, Back-up Camera

P. Doors & Liftgate, P. Seat, Back-up Camera, Blacktop Appearance Pkg.

5.7 Hemi, Heated & Cooled Leather, NAV, Moonroof, 20” Wheels

$17,976*

$28,953*

$19,993*

$35,964**$29,979**

$15,996*

$19,988*

$26,997*

$39,981**

$16,992*

$30,979*

$31,970*

$29,998*

$23,991*

$44,943*

MSRP MSRP MSRP MSRP

MSRPMSRPMSRPMSRP

MSRP MSRP MSRP MSRP

MSRPMSRPMSRP

EVENT PRICE EVENT PRICE EVENT PRICE EVENT PRICE

EVENT PRICEEVENT PRICEEVENT PRICEEVENT PRICE

EVENT PRICE EVENT PRICE EVENT PRICE EVENT PRICE

EVENT PRICEEVENT PRICEEVENT PRICE

$20,990

$34,535

$23,985

$45,600$37,735 $49,715

$29,575 $34,585 $49,970

$25,990 $36,710 $29,670

$21,985 $25,480 $36,540

*Includes � nance cash. Must � nance with Lagers Finance Source to qualify. WAC. See salesperson for details. **Also includes current truck owner incentive. See salesperson for details.

#10606

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LAST OF THE NEW 2013’S! DODGE CHARGER SUPERBEE.. $37,996*

DODGE DURANGO CREW AWD. $39,941*

DODGE DART SXT.................. $16,987*

JEEP WRANGLER SAHARA...... $33,962*

Documents

Rural Life 2014