LONG PRAIRIE, Minn. — Samantha Middendorf and her husband, Nathan, both grew up on dairy farms in central Minnesota. Now they are raising their own family on a farm instilling the same values they were raised with.
“(Faith) is something that has always been important to us,” Middendorf said. “Our parents raised us with a strong faith and passed that mentality onto us and now we are passing it onto our children.”
Nathan and Samantha hosted the Rural Life Celebration mass Aug. 18 for the Diocese of St. Cloud. The mass was presided over by Bishop Patrick Neary and several other local priests.
“It’s a good thing to have in the area,” Middendorf said. “We have the space for it so we decided to go for it.”
The Middendorfs milk 63 Holstein and Brown Swiss cows and farm 260 acres west of Long Prairie. The couple also has two young children, Noah and Logan, and a baby due in November.
On top of helping her husband with the day-to-day operations of their dairy farm, Middendorf is a full-time teacher at Christ the King Catholic School in Browerville. Middendorf’s commitment to teaching about agriculture in her classroom earned her recognition as the Todd County Soil and Water Conservation District Teacher of the Year for 2023. She went on to win the same title for Minnesota.
The Middendorfs utilize cover crops, manure management and annual soil sampling. They also have modified their equipment to incorporate no-till practices so they can maintain and improve soil health. Nathan works with the local SWCD each time he makes upgrades to the farm.
The events of the Rural Life Mass took place in the alfalfa field close to their farm site. There was one large tent set up for the mass and two smaller tents for the meal that followed the mass. The large tent that was used for mass had 250 small square straw bales arranged inside for seating. Attendees were encouraged to bring their own chair to ensure seating for everyone. It was estimated that 650 people attended the event.
“We planned it out with the hay cuttings so the field would be available to use for the day,” Middendorf said. “During clean up, even the bishop helped stack straw bales into the truck. It really was a team effort; it wasn’t just us.”
Middendorf said planning for the event started back in January.
“Fr. Mitch and Fr. Omar actually approached my mother-in-law, Denise, about hosting it first,” Middendorf said. “But their yard is a lot more condensed, so we decided to host.”
Much of the planning for the event was done by a committee consisting of members of the area catholic community that the Middendorfs belong to and from the Diocese of St. Cloud.
“A diocesan planning committee came out and checked out our farm and agreed that it will work to have it out here,” Middendorf said. “We have a good committee from our (Anglican Catholic Church) that took care of different aspects of the day.”
Along with the catholic mass that took place, Catholic Century Farm and Catholic Rural Business awards were presented. Clasemann Dairy LLC was recognized as a Catholic Century Farm and Mid-American Auction Co. was presented with the Catholic Rural Business award.
“It was a good celebration of people we know and those we don’t but have that same connection of rural life and faith,” Middendorf said.
For the Middendorfs, faith and farming go hand in hand.
“(Faith) is something that farmers often rely on when out in the field or in the barn,” Middendorf said. “Sometimes you just got to stop and say a little prayer and God is always listening.”
Middendorfs received many comments throughout the day about their farm and family.
“It wasn’t just our family that did this,” Middendorf said. “Just like how our faith brings us together and closer to God, this event brought a lot of people together to celebrate Him.”
One of the families that attended the Rural Life Celebration was Josh and Becky Wolbeck of Sauk Centre. The Wolbecks milk 65 organic Jersey cows at their family farm.
“We wanted to attend the event to support the Middendorf family,” Becky Wolbeck said. “It is a lot of work putting something like this on.”
Just before the mass started, Neary let the Wolbeck family view the hand-carved pastoral staff he uses for the mass.
“(The bishop) let Josh and our son, John hold his pastoral staff,” Wolbeck said. “Bishop Neary told us it took 165 hours for someone to hand carve it.”
The Wolbecks said there were many highlights from the day.
“The fellowship was great because we got to meet people outside our own parish that share the same appreciation for faith, family and farming,” Wolbeck said.
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