When Andrew Boyum's grandfather Knute left Fjaerland, Norway, in 1881, he chose to settle near Utica in southeastern Minnesota. He had relatives farming nearby, but the biggest draw was the land itself. Boyum felt at home in the forests and hills, and he knew how to tend them—where he could clear trees and which way to plant the rows to minimize erosion.
And so the Boyums stayed, caring for the same land for more than 100 years. Andrew and his wife, Rachel, were proud of that legacy of stewardship. Their daughters Andrea and Britta always planned on someday being involved with the 560-acre century farm. But neither expected that day would come so soon.
"When Andrew died five years ago, we had four options," Rachel says. "We could sell the land, cash rent it, share-crop or farm it together.
"Andrew took pride in the farm, and the girls wanted to maintain it," she adds. So despite the obstacles, the three Boyums decided to take over the farm themselves.
"I'm glad we're doing it this way," Rachel says, looking across the kitchen table at her daughters. "It feels right."
REFOCUS THE FARM. It wasn't an easy decision. Both Andrea and Britta were in college, and Rachel worked as a full-time public health nurse for Olmsted County. To succeed, they had to rethink the focus of the farm.
That process started when Andrew was diagnosed with cancer, Rachel explains. "We sat down and asked 'Well, now what do we do?' His comment was, 'We'll continue as we have.'"
To do that, the Boyums had to lower the manual labor requirements. That meant selling the hogs and downsizing the cattle operation. They now run about 15 head, plus calves, that they feed out. Fieldwork is all custom hire.
"My husband and I started that probably 20 years ago," Rachel says, "and after he was diagnosed with cancer, we went almost totally to custom hiring."
The Boyum women also had to get up to speed on farming practices.
"When Andrew died, we told [the neighbors] we wanted to continue on. Their support helped us survive; now they help us thrive," says Rachel.
"But in the long term, you have to learn how to do it yourself. No matter how you do it or what kind of plan you have, you have to learn how. And we're all on a steep learning curve here."
Rachel had always handled the operation's accounting and marketing, so she understood the ins and outs of the farming business. But all three had to immerse themselves in the agronomic practices.
"Some of it, crop-wise, was just being up on disease and insects because Dad kept up on that," Britta says. "We also had to get our rotational practices back in sync."
Managing rotations on their 500 tillable acres, some of which are highly erodible, can be challenging, largely because they grow some peas and sweet corn for Lakeside Foods.
The Boyums can't use residual chemicals on fields that may be rotated to the specialty crops. Peas also can be rotated only once every seven years, and they are highly susceptible to root rot.
Last year the Boyums planted 55 acres of sweet corn and 27 acres of peas, which are a particularly good cash crop because they're harvested early enough in the season for planting double-crop soybeans. The rest of the farm is planted to corn and soybeans.
AN ONGOING EDUCATION. "[Farming] is a continuing learning process," Andrea says. "You really have to be on top of whatever research is out there."
"Especially when you're small," Britta adds.
The Boyum women attend conferences and field days to keep up with the latest trends and technology.
Andrea recently took a sustainable agriculture course through Minnesota's Land Stewardship Project, where she developed a vision for a grass-fed beef operation. All three attended the Iowa Women in Agriculture's "Taking Charge of Your Farm's Future" last summer.
One of the sessions focused on goal planning, something the Boyums are keenly interested in since Andrea and Britta became more financially involved in the operation.
"I think it's really beneficial for families [to talk about their goals] because sometimes [farming] is a really informal business," Andrea says. "I think you can be a lot more successful if you really treat it as a true business."
The three work as a team, each developing an area of expertise. Rachel, who lives on the homeplace, oversees the operation as a whole.
Andrea, who lives just down the road in an 1880s brick house she restored with her sister, takes care of the cattle. She also works in the thoracic ICU at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Britta focuses on the crops and marketing, a logical fit for the newly graduated math major who also works at Pioneer's Algona, Iowa, research station.
Still, there's overlap in job descriptions, and the women work hard to keep each other informed.
"I see my focal point being the crops more than the animals, but I was getting a little frustrated because I wasn't understanding [the logistics of a grass-fed operation] completely—how exactly it worked," Britta says.
"So I attended a field day just to get a better understanding of Andrea's vision. I think that's [made] communication easier—to know where everyone else is coming from," she says. In turn, Andrea is learning more about corn and genetics.
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WILLING TO CHANGE. Since the farm isn't the primary income for any of them, it eliminates a lot of stress and helps the Boyums feel comfortable experimenting with different practices.
Last year they tried an environmentally safe nitrogen on some of their fields. They'll analyze the results, note them on their farm maps and sketch out the game plan, including rotations, hybrids and tillage, for the coming year.
"I think your dad would be pretty proud of you, girls," Rachel says with pride.
In some areas, "I think we're doing more than he was able to do in his later years because there's three of us," Andrea says. "And we can disperse and divide our roles and each have a different area, which is easier than if you're one person trying to do it all."
"But he'd still get after us if we didn't get out for chores on time," Britta adds.
Sound Advice
Rachel, Andrea and Britta Boyum followed these four points when they decided to take over the day-to-day operations of their farm:
1. KEEP ASKING QUESTIONS. Don't be afraid to ask questions. The learning curve is steep, the Boyums agree. But once you know enough to know what questions to ask, it gets easier.
And once people see that you're interested and invested in your operation, whatever your degree may be, they take you—and your questions—seriously, Andrea says.
2. WORK CLOSELY WITH YOUR ADVISERS. Once a year, generally in November or December, when they're making plans for next year's growing season, the Boyums sit down with their agronomist, Luke Thieke from Benson Farm Service, and Todd Schultz, their Pioneer salesman, to discuss their options for seed and chemicals. Inviting them to be part of the conversation and planning process brings everybody up to speed on the Boyums' goals, and provides an opportunity for everybody to learn.
3. TALK ABOUT YOUR GOALS AND PLANS. "When Andrew got sick, we had some time to talk about our plans and vision for the future. But not everybody gets the opportunity to have those kinds of conversations," Rachel says. That's why you need to have them right from the beginning, making them a process, not an event.
"When we were married in 1981, the first thing we did was go to some farm-management seminars together," Rachel adds.
"I took over the income tax and accounting. Now when we meet with our accountant twice a year, I try to take the girls with me so that they can learn that part of it too."
In a family business, you need to be proactive rather than reactive, Andrea adds. You need to "think about, try to foresee upcoming challenges or changes, and give yourself ample time to prepare for those, whether they're in farming practice or business practice."
4. REMEMBER IT'S YOUR LAND. The Boyums say they wouldn't have made it without the support of their community. But at the end of the day, Rachel says you have to be the final decision maker. Remember that it's OK to experiment with different practices—to do things differently than they've always been done.