Checking in with a Minnesota 4-H kid, 30 years later
MPR News editor Lorna Benson interviewed Ryan Mackenthun in 1994. We check back with him 30 years later.
Courtesy Ryan Mackenthun
When we last heard from Ryan Mackenthun in 1994, as an FFA and 4-H kid at the Minnesota State Fair, the then-18-year-old was confident farming was in his future.
Nearly 30 years later, it’s still his passion.
MPR News guest host Tim Nelson catches up with Mackenthun about where life has taken him.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Ryan Mackenthun operates a 2500-acre crop farm near Brownton, Minn., and sits on the board of the Minnesota Soybean Growers association and United Farmers Cooperative.
Courtesy Ryan Mackenthun
What do you remember about going to the fair as a kid? Is it still a big part of your life?
There are so many good memories about going to the State Fair. A lot of kids spend all 12 days at the fair, and I was one of them. I was there every day and working with the cattle and growing new friendships with other farmers.
And what did you exhibit? How did you get ready for that?
Growing up on a dairy farm, my dad was very invested in dairy. It was just part of my life and going to the county fair and State Fairs was just something we always did.
Did you always know farming was your passion?
Like most kids, you grew up in that lifestyle and just kind of becomes part of you. So I always knew I wanted to be a farmer. And we kind of pivoted away from the dairy industry around 2000 and now we do row crop farming.
Have you ever felt like you made the wrong decision sticking with farming?
Ryan Mackenthun spent his childhood at the Minnesota State Fair with 4-H.
Courtesy of Ryan Mackenthun
No, the lifestyle is, you know, something as everchanging as the seasons. There's new tasks, new challenges coming out throughout the entire year. So being a row crop farmer we diversified and joined a couple other farms here after my father passed away 10 years ago.
My brother-in-law, Nathan, started farming with me and we've helped mitigate some of the equipment costs and labor issues we're seeing today. I have no regrets for being a farmer. It's been a terrific experience.
How has the job changed over the last 30 years?
It's amazing how technology has come along. My wife is an engineer, and it's amazing to see our two career paths kind of colliding here recently with technology moving into the agricultural industry. You know, it's presented new opportunities and new methods and new ways of new ways of doing things.
Audio transcript
INTERVIEWER: For Minnesota's 4-H kids and Future Farmers of America, the state fair is a marathon. Some kids are there all 12 days, showcasing farm animals and crops from a year's worth of hard work. In 1994, nearly 30 years ago, MPR News reporter Lorna Benson interviewed a few teenagers about their future plans. Let's listen.
[COW MOOING]
LORNA BENSON: 18-year-old Ryan Mackenthun stabs a pitchfork into a bale of straw and shakes it around the stalls of his 12 Holstein cows. Mackenthun is preparing a foot-deep pile of bedding where his animals can rest in clean comfort after their 75-mile trip to the fair from his parents' farm near Brownton in Southwest Minnesota. Mackenthun is proud of his cows and thinks they all have a good chance of winning prizes. He describes what it takes to impress the fair judges.
RYAN MACKENTHUN: Well, you like to have a tall cow and lots of body capacity. But mainly the important thing is the udder and, you know, how much boom to the udder you got and how much it milks.
LORNA BENSON: Mackenthun has lived on a farm all his life. His family owns 75 milking cows, 1,400 hogs, and farms 2,000 acres of crops. He says it's hard work with a lot of financial pitfalls, but he's going to stick with it for now.
RYAN MACKENTHUN: I just graduated this last year and I don't plan on going to college at least for another year. I'll stay on the farm and see how it works out. And I'll probably end up farming, though.
LORNA BENSON: Mackenthun's friend, Nathan Bipes, also from Brownton, says he'd like to farm, too, but he probably won't get the chance. Bipes is 15, and he already owns 60 acres of crop land, given to him by his father. Bipes says it's a start, but it's not enough to turn into a farm these days.
NATHAN BIPES: Out towards Stewart, there's basically two large farmers that run over 3,000 acres each, and the little ones-- the smaller farmers, like under 500 acres, are struggling. And then there's more and more larger farms instead of a lot of small ones. That's what I see around there.
TONY KURTH: 16-year-old Tony Kurth lives on a small dairy and hog farm near Hutchinson, Minnesota. Kurth hopes to take over his dad's farm someday, but he says he'll have to expand the business. If his family's dairy farm gets bigger, Kurth says they'll have to buy more milking equipment and build larger barns. Those costs could run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
TONY KURTH: Our milk price keeps dropping, and in the store, it keeps going up, so something somewhere ain't balancing out right, but being that our milk price keeps going down, it is a disadvantage to our farmers, because they can't update their equipment and get newer equipment all the time either. So they've got to work with what they got, and the farmers are getting smaller, and they're getting pushed out a lot because of the price.
LORNA BENSON: Crop farmers must also invest thousands in tractors and equipment. Nathan Bipes doesn't think he could risk that much money with no guarantee his crops will be good.
NATHAN BIPES: I noticed a lot in corn and bean prices. I think my grandpa said something about the bean prices now are the same as they were 20 years ago or something like that, or it was a large number. And I was just amazed that you'd think they'd go up or something, but they're the same price as they were a long time ago. So with the flooding and the rain and the hail-- my uncle's farm was hit by hail. Took most of his beans out, so it's going to hurt.
LORNA BENSON: Bipes, Mackenthun, and Kurth cite many of the same concerns heard from seasoned farmers. Nathan Kurth, who hopes to take over his father's farm, also speaks with a familiar optimism of someone convinced farming will get better.
TONY KURTH: Right now, the way it stands, the future may not be very good for farming, but I think it'll have to turn around sometime, because sooner or later, I think the basic people should realize that there's a bigger need for farmers than what they realize right now. And I think in a few years down the road, that the farming industry would be a lot better than what it is now.
LORNA BENSON: I'm Lorna Benson, Minnesota Public Radio.
INTERVIEWER: Now, Ryan Mackenthun was 18 years old when he talked to Lorna back in 1994. As you heard, he knew even back then he had a passion for farming. We wanted to catch up with him and see where life has taken him. Ryan's on the line now. Thanks for being here.
RYAN MACKENTHUN: Well, thanks for having me.
INTERVIEWER: So you grew up on a farm near Brownton in Southwestern Minnesota. What do you remember about going to the state fair as a kid? Was it a big part of your life, and is it still part of your life?
RYAN MACKENTHUN: Oh man, there are so many good memories about going to the state fair. Like you said in the interview, about 12 days a lot of the kids spend at the fair, and I was one of them. I was there every day and working with the cattle every day and growing new friendships with other people, other farmers around there.
INTERVIEWER: And what did you exhibit? How did you get ready for that?
RYAN MACKENTHUN: Well, growing up on a dairy farm, my dad was very invested in dairy. You know, he's a past Holstein president of the state, so growing up on the dairy farm was just part of my life, and going to the county fair and state fair was just something we always did.
INTERVIEWER: And even as an 18-year-old, you seemed to have a clear path. Did you always know farming was your passion? Was it a family expectation, given it was a tradition? And did you fulfill it?
RYAN MACKENTHUN: Well, like most kids who grow up in that lifestyle, and it just kind of becomes part of you. So I always knew I wanted to be a farmer, and we kind of pivoted away from the dairy industry around 2000, and now we do row crop farming, so I'm a row crop farmer out here in Brownton. I grow soybeans and corn, and I am continuing to farm, yes.
INTERVIEWER: As we heard on that tape, you and some of the other kids at the fair even then talked about how difficult farming was-- tight margins, even 30 years ago, and it's gotten worse. As you said, you've changed farms or changed industries. Has it ever given you doubt you made the wrong decision sticking with farming?
RYAN MACKENTHUN: No. I mean, the lifestyle is always something-- it's ever-changing. The season's ever-changing. There's new tasks, new challenges, coming up throughout the entire year. So being a row crop farmer, I've diversified and joined a couple other farms here after my father passed away 10 years ago, and my brother-in-law, Nathan, started farming with me, and so now together with a couple other farms, we've helped mitigate some of the equipment costs and labor issues we're seeing today. So you know, I have no regrets about being a farmer today. It's been a terrific experience.
INTERVIEWER: And you're not just a farmer, either. You are involved in the industry, right?
RYAN MACKENTHUN: Correct I've become what I like to call a row-life advocate. So I'm on the United Farmers Co-op Board-- local co-op board based in Winthrop, Minnesota. Been on that board a couple of years. I served nine years on my local county soybean and corn board, and now I serve as treasurer as of MSGA, the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association.
INTERVIEWER: A very distinguished career for a 4-H'er there. How's the job changed over the last 30 years? Would you even have imagined where you are back at the fair back in 1994?
RYAN MACKENTHUN: No, it's amazing how technology has come along. My wife's an electrical engineer, and it's amazing to see our two career paths kind of colliding here recently with technology moving into the agricultural industry. You know, it's presenting new opportunities-- new opportunities and new methods and new ways of doing things.
INTERVIEWER: And you heard yourself from 30 years ago back at 4-H-- what would you tell a 4-H'ers that-- it's still going on. They're still showing pigs and rabbits and everything else. What would you tell them now?
RYAN MACKENTHUN: If I were to go back then, I'd tell them now, get involved in your local boards. At MSGA, we're always looking for younger individuals to step up to a board. And get started on your county boards and just become active. I mean, it's your livelihood, so have a voice in it. Don't be afraid to have a voice in it. We all want to know what your thoughts are, because if they're your thoughts, you're never wrong.
INTERVIEWER: Well, thanks so much. That was Ryan Mackenthun. He operates a 2,500 acre crop farm near Brownton and sits on the Board of the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association and United Farmers Co-operative.
[COW MOOING]
LORNA BENSON: 18-year-old Ryan Mackenthun stabs a pitchfork into a bale of straw and shakes it around the stalls of his 12 Holstein cows. Mackenthun is preparing a foot-deep pile of bedding where his animals can rest in clean comfort after their 75-mile trip to the fair from his parents' farm near Brownton in Southwest Minnesota. Mackenthun is proud of his cows and thinks they all have a good chance of winning prizes. He describes what it takes to impress the fair judges.
RYAN MACKENTHUN: Well, you like to have a tall cow and lots of body capacity. But mainly the important thing is the udder and, you know, how much boom to the udder you got and how much it milks.
LORNA BENSON: Mackenthun has lived on a farm all his life. His family owns 75 milking cows, 1,400 hogs, and farms 2,000 acres of crops. He says it's hard work with a lot of financial pitfalls, but he's going to stick with it for now.
RYAN MACKENTHUN: I just graduated this last year and I don't plan on going to college at least for another year. I'll stay on the farm and see how it works out. And I'll probably end up farming, though.
LORNA BENSON: Mackenthun's friend, Nathan Bipes, also from Brownton, says he'd like to farm, too, but he probably won't get the chance. Bipes is 15, and he already owns 60 acres of crop land, given to him by his father. Bipes says it's a start, but it's not enough to turn into a farm these days.
NATHAN BIPES: Out towards Stewart, there's basically two large farmers that run over 3,000 acres each, and the little ones-- the smaller farmers, like under 500 acres, are struggling. And then there's more and more larger farms instead of a lot of small ones. That's what I see around there.
TONY KURTH: 16-year-old Tony Kurth lives on a small dairy and hog farm near Hutchinson, Minnesota. Kurth hopes to take over his dad's farm someday, but he says he'll have to expand the business. If his family's dairy farm gets bigger, Kurth says they'll have to buy more milking equipment and build larger barns. Those costs could run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
TONY KURTH: Our milk price keeps dropping, and in the store, it keeps going up, so something somewhere ain't balancing out right, but being that our milk price keeps going down, it is a disadvantage to our farmers, because they can't update their equipment and get newer equipment all the time either. So they've got to work with what they got, and the farmers are getting smaller, and they're getting pushed out a lot because of the price.
LORNA BENSON: Crop farmers must also invest thousands in tractors and equipment. Nathan Bipes doesn't think he could risk that much money with no guarantee his crops will be good.
NATHAN BIPES: I noticed a lot in corn and bean prices. I think my grandpa said something about the bean prices now are the same as they were 20 years ago or something like that, or it was a large number. And I was just amazed that you'd think they'd go up or something, but they're the same price as they were a long time ago. So with the flooding and the rain and the hail-- my uncle's farm was hit by hail. Took most of his beans out, so it's going to hurt.
LORNA BENSON: Bipes, Mackenthun, and Kurth cite many of the same concerns heard from seasoned farmers. Nathan Kurth, who hopes to take over his father's farm, also speaks with a familiar optimism of someone convinced farming will get better.
TONY KURTH: Right now, the way it stands, the future may not be very good for farming, but I think it'll have to turn around sometime, because sooner or later, I think the basic people should realize that there's a bigger need for farmers than what they realize right now. And I think in a few years down the road, that the farming industry would be a lot better than what it is now.
LORNA BENSON: I'm Lorna Benson, Minnesota Public Radio.
INTERVIEWER: Now, Ryan Mackenthun was 18 years old when he talked to Lorna back in 1994. As you heard, he knew even back then he had a passion for farming. We wanted to catch up with him and see where life has taken him. Ryan's on the line now. Thanks for being here.
RYAN MACKENTHUN: Well, thanks for having me.
INTERVIEWER: So you grew up on a farm near Brownton in Southwestern Minnesota. What do you remember about going to the state fair as a kid? Was it a big part of your life, and is it still part of your life?
RYAN MACKENTHUN: Oh man, there are so many good memories about going to the state fair. Like you said in the interview, about 12 days a lot of the kids spend at the fair, and I was one of them. I was there every day and working with the cattle every day and growing new friendships with other people, other farmers around there.
INTERVIEWER: And what did you exhibit? How did you get ready for that?
RYAN MACKENTHUN: Well, growing up on a dairy farm, my dad was very invested in dairy. You know, he's a past Holstein president of the state, so growing up on the dairy farm was just part of my life, and going to the county fair and state fair was just something we always did.
INTERVIEWER: And even as an 18-year-old, you seemed to have a clear path. Did you always know farming was your passion? Was it a family expectation, given it was a tradition? And did you fulfill it?
RYAN MACKENTHUN: Well, like most kids who grow up in that lifestyle, and it just kind of becomes part of you. So I always knew I wanted to be a farmer, and we kind of pivoted away from the dairy industry around 2000, and now we do row crop farming, so I'm a row crop farmer out here in Brownton. I grow soybeans and corn, and I am continuing to farm, yes.
INTERVIEWER: As we heard on that tape, you and some of the other kids at the fair even then talked about how difficult farming was-- tight margins, even 30 years ago, and it's gotten worse. As you said, you've changed farms or changed industries. Has it ever given you doubt you made the wrong decision sticking with farming?
RYAN MACKENTHUN: No. I mean, the lifestyle is always something-- it's ever-changing. The season's ever-changing. There's new tasks, new challenges, coming up throughout the entire year. So being a row crop farmer, I've diversified and joined a couple other farms here after my father passed away 10 years ago, and my brother-in-law, Nathan, started farming with me, and so now together with a couple other farms, we've helped mitigate some of the equipment costs and labor issues we're seeing today. So you know, I have no regrets about being a farmer today. It's been a terrific experience.
INTERVIEWER: And you're not just a farmer, either. You are involved in the industry, right?
RYAN MACKENTHUN: Correct I've become what I like to call a row-life advocate. So I'm on the United Farmers Co-op Board-- local co-op board based in Winthrop, Minnesota. Been on that board a couple of years. I served nine years on my local county soybean and corn board, and now I serve as treasurer as of MSGA, the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association.
INTERVIEWER: A very distinguished career for a 4-H'er there. How's the job changed over the last 30 years? Would you even have imagined where you are back at the fair back in 1994?
RYAN MACKENTHUN: No, it's amazing how technology has come along. My wife's an electrical engineer, and it's amazing to see our two career paths kind of colliding here recently with technology moving into the agricultural industry. You know, it's presenting new opportunities-- new opportunities and new methods and new ways of doing things.
INTERVIEWER: And you heard yourself from 30 years ago back at 4-H-- what would you tell a 4-H'ers that-- it's still going on. They're still showing pigs and rabbits and everything else. What would you tell them now?
RYAN MACKENTHUN: If I were to go back then, I'd tell them now, get involved in your local boards. At MSGA, we're always looking for younger individuals to step up to a board. And get started on your county boards and just become active. I mean, it's your livelihood, so have a voice in it. Don't be afraid to have a voice in it. We all want to know what your thoughts are, because if they're your thoughts, you're never wrong.
INTERVIEWER: Well, thanks so much. That was Ryan Mackenthun. He operates a 2,500 acre crop farm near Brownton and sits on the Board of the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association and United Farmers Co-operative.
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