Our side of the fence

Conlan
Carlson

Pennock,
Minnesota

Kandiyohi County

2,000 cows

What sports or teams do you enjoy following during the year? I enjoy following any Minnesota pro teams. My favorites to watch are the Vikings and Timberwolves.

What methods do you use to follow them that fit in with your farming schedule? Typically, my family and I watch them together on TV. Sometimes, during harvest or other busy times, I listen on the radio.

What is a memorable sports moment you have? My favorite moment on TV was experiencing the Vikings’ Minneapolis Miracle, but a personal favorite of mine was winning a state championship in wrestling; that was a once-in-a-lifetime feeling of relief and gratitude for the sport.

What farming skills could benefit the athletes on teams that you follow? An important skill farming teaches that translates into sports is the high attention to detail needed to be great. Something both successful athletes and successful farms have in common is doing the small things correctly. It’s easy to do the big things, but the minor details are what set the top 10% above the rest.

If you could become a professional athlete, what sport would you choose and why? I think if I could choose any other sport besides wrestling, I would choose professional baseball. I played baseball in high school and really enjoyed the relaxed environment. It also is easy on the body and leaves a healthy life afterwards.

Tell us about your farm? I am the fifth generation on our 2,000-cow family dairy farm. We currently run a 60-cow GEA robotic parlor. Our farm is very family oriented; it is important on our farm to keep family first. Grandpa Curtney still comes outside every day to mow the lawn, feed horses, etc. My dad and uncle are both owners, and we plan to have more kids come back eventually.

Roland Pekula

Sobieski,

Minnesota

Morrison County

70 cows

What sports or teams do you enjoy following during the year? I follow the Twins and the Vikings. I also pay attention to some high school teams. A friend of mine has kids in wrestling, so I follow them. I also play softball in Sauk Rapids during the summer and play in a fall wooden bat league in Little Falls that starts around Labor Day.

What methods do you use to follow them that fit in with your farming schedule? I usually listen to the Twins and try to watch the Vikings. I read about or listen to sports updates with local high school players. I also follow the Sobieski Ski’s amateur baseball team. They were in the state tournament this year.

What is a memorable sports moment you have? I witnessed two World Series wins with the Twins and usually try to make it to one or two games a year. I have never been to a Vikings game but would like to see them win the Super Bowl in my lifetime. I remember playing softball in the state title; I played 11 games of softball in one weekend, including seven straight games on Sunday. We won the state title; I batted 45 times and batted over .700 that weekend. I did get to play softball with my son and grandson for three years as well. That was really special to me.

What farming skills could benefit the athletes on teams that you follow? Hard work will get you a long way, especially if you want to pursue college or professional sports.

If you could become a professional athlete, what sport would you choose and why? I would choose baseball because I enjoy it the most. I always dreamed of being a professional baseball player.

Tell us about your farm. I farm here by myself and milk 70 cows in a tiestall barn. The farm has been in the family since 1956. I have a part-time helper who comes 6-7 hours a day. I have 600 acres and raise corn, soybeans, alfalfa and a little bit of small grain. Eighty of those acres I purchased with my hired hand last year.

Todd Molden

Fargo, North
Dakota

Cass County

100 cows

What sports or teams do you enjoy following during the year? I live in Fargo now, but I am originally from Minnesota, so I follow the Minnesota Twins and Vikings. I also follow the North Dakota State University football team.

What methods do you use to follow them that fit in with your farming schedule? I mostly follow by listening to the radio and watching TV. Being in Fargo and on a dairy farm, it is hard to get to the cities to watch a game in person.

What is a memorable sports moment you have? My most memorable moment was actually when I was coaching my son’s baseball team in the Little League World Series. I also coach high school football and baseball here in Fargo, and we have won several state championships at the high school level. Those have been pretty awesome, too.

What farming skills could benefit the athletes on teams that you follow? Any farming operation has a lot of things that go into it, and a lot of people need to work together to do it well. Just like any sports team, you need to work together and do your part to get the whole job accomplished. When you have a group of people working together toward a common goal, whether it is farming or a sports team, a lot of hard work goes into it. They have the same principles in that regard.

If you could become a professional athlete, what sport would you choose and why? Baseball. I really like the mental challenges that come with each and every pitch. Each pitch is a new scenario, and the team needs to decide what to do. That’s why I really like it.

Tell us about your farm. I am the dairy unit manager at the North Dakota State University dairy farm. There is one other full-time employee besides me, and we employ a handful of students to help at the school farm. We milk 100 registered Holstein cows in a double-7 parlor. There is a lot of teaching going on here with our students; many of them don’t come from dairy backgrounds. We also have some classes out here, so it’s not just the day-to-day farming that we do but also an educational side. It makes for busy days but also really fun days.

Ron
Eischens

Canby,
Minnesota

Yellow
Medicine County

65 cows

What sports or teams do you enjoy following during the year? I enjoy watching and listening to all sports, especially my grandkids and their teams.

What methods do you use to follow them that fit in with your farming schedule? I listen to sports broadcasts on the radio when we are milking or when I am in the field. When I am in the house, we watch sports on television.

What is a memorable sports moment you have? I enjoyed playing softball for many years with the St. Leo’s men’s softball team. I also remember watching the Minnesota Twins win the World Series.

What farming skills could benefit the athletes on teams you follow? Two farming skills athletes could benefit from would be working hard and staying focused on their goals.

If you could become a professional athlete, what sport would you choose and why? If I were to be a professional athlete, I would be a professional baseball player. I played baseball in my earlier years.

Tell us about your farm? My wife, Jackie, and I milk 65 cows in a step-up parlor twice a day. We are the second generation on the farm, and we have never hired anyone to help milk. We rotate corn and soybeans in our fields. We bale a lot of alfalfa for feeding.