From our side of the fence

Merle Byer (pictured with his sons, Hilarion (left) and Carson)

Perham, Minnesota

Ottertail County

145 cows, 250 steers

Tell us about your old truck. We have a 2004 Ram Hemi with 250,000 miles on it.

When and how did you get the truck? I bought it used five years ago. We bought it from a friend.

What is the truck's current use? We use it for everything: getting parts, hauling cattle to town, going to the feed store and checking pastures. We have cattle in four different pastures.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced with the truck? The fuel pump went out a year ago. We cut a hole in the floor and put a new one in ourselves.

What is your favorite job to do with the truck? Checking the pastures. I just like to relax and drive around with the old girl. My two dogs come along and are always there waiting. The dogs are blue heeler mutt dogs. One sleeps under the truck and waits for us to go. They spend more time in the truck than we do.

What is your long-term goal with the truck? I plan to drive it until it quits. I hope to get another 35,000-40,000 miles on it.

What do you look for when buying a farm vehicle? I like to see how the truck has been maintained, who we are buying it from and where it has been. The condition is important. I also want 4-wheel drive. It has to have a good heater and air conditioner as well.

Tell us about your farm. I farm here with my two sons, Hilarion and Carson. We milk 145 cows in a double-9 parallel parlor and farm 800 acres. We raise corn, soybeans and alfalfa. The boys are employed by me. We also haul milk for First District Association and have been doing that for five years. I also haul panels and irrigation equipment for True North Welding LLC and Northern Irrigation.

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Rich McNamara

Goodhue, Minnesota

Goodhue County

312 cows

Tell us about your old truck. My truck is a 2001 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 four-wheel drive half ton. It has 198,000 miles.

When and how did you get the truck? I bought it from a guy in Kenyon who goes to Texas and buys pickups that are rust free. I bought it in 2012.

What is the truck’s current use? Picking up feed and parts.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced with the truck? The only thing I have replaced in it is the water pump. It still has its original battery, which is unbelievable.

What is your favorite job to do with the truck? My dog died a year ago, but before that, my favorite thing was watching my dogs run to jump in when I walked to the garage. The lab always sat on the outside, and the retriever sat in the middle. It was always that way. I thought it was funny.

What is your long-term goal with the truck? In a year or two, I will probably trade it in and upgrade.

What do you look for when buying a farm vehicle? Dependability. I want to buy another pickup with a regular cab and full box. I like a pickup that looks nice and does not cost a lot to maintain.

Tell us about your farm. I started farming in 1987. I own 320 acres. Heifers are sent to a custom raiser, Hoefs Farm Inc., at 4 months. The farm is run by me and one full-time employee and two part-time employees. I milk in a double-8 herringbone parlor twice a day. My milk is sold to Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery.

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LeRoy Mickelson

Cyrus, Minnesota

Pope County

60 cows

Tell us about your old truck. I have a 1984 Chevy Silverado with 291,000 miles on it.

When and how did you get the truck? I bought it brand new on my birthday, Oct. 13, 1984. I bought it in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

What is the truck's current use? It is just a cruiser. I also use it to go to town for parts.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced with the truck? I have put three new engines in the truck. The most recent was six years ago. The frost plug went bad on the last engine. I also put all new sheet metal in and did a total paint job in 1999.

What is your favorite job to do with the truck? I just like to drive it and take it to town. I listen to the radio and have the windows open in the summer. Sometimes, the trips take an hour. Otherwise, it is 10-15 minutes to Morris.

What is your long-term goal with the truck? I plan to keep it until I am dead. I have had people ask me if they can buy it, and I say, “No.”

What do you look for when buying a farm vehicle? I would not buy a new one. For a truck on the farm, I look for a 1-ton regular cab with an 8-foot box for hauling things.

Tell us about your farm. I farm here with my brother, Vernon, and we farm 700 acres. We raise corn, soybeans, wheat and alfalfa. We are the fourth generation on the farm. It had been in the family since 1874. I took over in 1979 and Vernon joined me in 1984. We milk in a tiestall barn. We ship our milk to Land O’Lakes Inc.

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Jeff Meyer

Spring Hill, Minnesota

Stearns County

30 cows

Tell us about your old truck. I have a 1994 Chevy 1500 with 147,000 miles on it.

When and how did you get the truck? I bought it from my dad, Cletus. He bought it in 1995 or ‘96 when it only had 70,000 miles on it. He was not driving it much, so I bought it from him.

What is the truck's current use? I use it for the farm, getting parts or checking the crops.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced with the truck? The motor stalls once in a while, and there is a shake in the front; otherwise, it has been a good truck.

What is your favorite job to do with the truck? Why? I like to take it to town to play cards in the winter and check on the crops.

What is your long-term goal with the truck? Explain. I plan to drive it until it dies.

What do you look for when buying a farm vehicle? It has to be a Chevrolet. They are the best. I like their style and ride; they ride nicely. The trucks they had with a 350 engine were the best.

Tell us about your farm. I farm here with my wife, Joyce. We have been milking together since 1989. We have two grown children, Jenna and Justin. We milk cows in a tiestall barn. We also rent 185 acres and grow corn, soybeans and alfalfa. We ship our milk to Bongards Creameries.

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Mark Karow

Augusta, Wisconsin

Eau Claire County

70 cows

Tell us about your old truck. It’s a 1983 Ford F-250, a 460. I’m not sure how many times the odometer rolled over before I got it. It’s at least 160,000.

When and how did you get the truck? I bought it when I was 21; I had sold my first car and couldn’t find the car I wanted, so I bought this truck from a friend who had brought it up from Kansas.

What is the truck's current use? I use it these days mostly as a seed tender. I put my three pallets of soybeans on it in the spring as well as other things I need. It does not get a whole lot of use anymore because I have two other ones. The last time I changed the oil on it was in 2011, and it has not gone 5,000 miles since then. It has been a pretty solid old truck other than the mileage it gets, which is low single digits.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced with the truck? When I rebuilt the motor 15 years ago, I thought it would be a good idea to put headers on it. You have to take the right-side header off to change the starter, and I have had to change the starter three times since then.

What is your favorite job to do with the truck? Using it as a seed tender is a good use for it because I do not need it for other things.

What is your long-term goal with the truck? I just want to keep it running; it has been a good old truck.

What do you look for when buying a farm vehicle? I want something that is going to survive and something that is cheap — both are hard to do these days. This one is pre-emissions on the diesel side. I do not see myself buying anything new anytime soon.

Tell us about your farm. My wife and I milk 70 cows in Eau Claire County with our two sons. We ship our milk to Associated Milk Producers Inc. We crop about 500 acres, 450 owned and 50 rented.

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Randy Dreier

Norwalk, Wisconsin

Monroe County

70 cows

Tell us about your old truck. I’ve got a couple of older trucks, but the one I use the most is our 2009 Chevy Silverado that has 200,000 miles on it.

When and how did you get the truck? I actually bought it on eBay about nine years ago. It was in Boston, and a carrier brought it out and dropped it off at the farm.

What is the truck's current use? We use the truck for whatever we do around the farm. We haul feed and move cattle. It's used mostly for all our on-farm chores. Whatever we need to do that day, we use that Chevy.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced with the truck? Right away after the truck got here, the transmission went out on it. After we got that replaced, it's been working well and chugging along ever since.

What is your favorite job to do with the truck? I do a lot with the truck, but we usually haul feed or lime with it. We throw it right in the bed of the truck, and it gets us around and where we need to go to take care of our animals.

What is your long-term goal with the truck? We’ll use it for as long as we can. As long as it doesn’t start causing problems or having issues, we’ll make the most out of it for as long as we can.

What do you look for when buying a farm vehicle? We usually end up finding trucks with somewhere near 100,000 miles on them. It doesn’t work out that way sometimes, but I don’t want to buy it with more than that on it. This one had a little over 100,000 when we bought it. Other than the initial transmission, it's worked fine.

Tell us about your farm. It’s my wife and my boy who work on the farm. Sometimes, my dad helps us out. We milk 70 cows and farm 330 acres, 160 of which are tillable.

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Larry Krajewski

Bruce, Wisconsin

Rusk County

40 cows (sold in 2015)

Tell us about your old truck. I have two: a 1995 Ford F250 4WD with 222,000 miles and a 5.8 gas engine and a 1996 Ford F250 4WD with 120,000 miles and a 7.3 diesel.

When and how did you get the truck? I bought both from private owners. I bought the 1995 10 years ago for $2,500 and the 1996 two years ago for $8,000.

What is the truck's current use? I use both to deliver loads of firewood, two face cords at a time or loads of hay, 50 small bales at a time, and to run errands.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced with the truck? I have had to replace the gas tank in the 1995 truck and the transfer case in the 1996.

What is your favorite job to do with the truck? I like making and selling firewood and hay using these trucks.

What is your long-term goal with the truck? I hope not to have to buy another truck. These are real trucks, not high-tech, expensive commuter vehicles.

What do you look for when buying a farm vehicle? I look for dependability.

Tell us about your farm. In 1983, we bought 30 grade Holsteins and milked them in rented barns. We bought our current farm in 1985, which included one barn and 140 acres, 40 of them tillable. We added another four acres, another barn and shed and an old farmhouse in 2022. Neither of us was raised on a farm, but I had eight years of experience as an A.I. technician, and my wife sometimes worked as a substitute milker. We worked as a family with our five sons and one hired man. We kept our debt load small.