Strategy for a Thriving Farm

Not many would do what Dennis Gienger did when his hometown grocery store was about to close. He bought the Hometown Family Market to keep it open for the 950 residents of Gladbrook, Iowa. Without it, the town would be a food desert with no source of fresh food.

A farmer, Gienger knew nothing about owning a grocery store, but that didn’t deter him. “I talked to the grocery store manager and had to convince her we could make it work,” he said. “I said if you run the store, I’ll handle the finances. I called a local ag lender and asked if they could finance a grocery store. They called me back in an hour with a loan.” 

“The store manager got on board and is a partner now,” he adds. “She stocks the store with fresh produce and meats, which really sells the place for customers.” 

COVID-19 hit shortly after they bought the store and business picked up.

“People stayed home, and the store became profitable,” Gienger says. “We started delivering groceries to other communities and still deliver to many customers.” 

The Hometown Family Market is staffed by 14 employees. Most are part time, local residents. The store hosts free Friday ice cream, grilled lunches in the summer and a free appreciation meal every year for the community. Last year, nearly half the town attended.

The push to improve, grow
Gienger’s drive to explore new opportunities and improve his business has helped him build a successful diversified farming operation. 

“The key to our farm is to continue to grow and become more efficient,” he says. “We farm 3,000 acres and have 10,000 pigs. Every year, the farm needs to change or improve something to help make more money like updating equipment, buying a farm or renting a farm.”

His philosophy is based on decades of experience. He started farming on his own in 1977, just as land prices and interest rates skyrocketed. Fortunately, he bought his first farm without much debt and was able to buy more land when land prices tanked in the 1980s.

“I purchased quite a few farms at that time. The cheapest was $1,100/acre,” he says. “People were scared and would not bid [on land]. I did have some cash to make it work.” Today, land goes for $17,000 an acre.

“With farming, you always need to be in the right position. My Dad taught me not to stick my neck out too far so that I couldn’t make it back. You don’t want to be too aggressive, but you still must grow.”

With help from his son Jason, who is a partner, and Dan DeWitt, another partner who has worked with them for years, the operation is poised to continue thriving in the future.  

Profitable hogs, cost-saving manure
The Gienger farm’s hog operation is a significant part of it, which he credits with helping the farm grow. 

“Pigs are where I made my money,” he says. “I’ve been in it since 1966 when a farmer I worked for gave me a sow and a litter of pigs. I was 16 years old.”

His hog operation was farrow-to-finish until 1998 when he switched to a sow cooperative and later purchased pigs to finish on the open market. 

In 2015, Gienger started finishing pigs for Brenneman Pork, based in Washington, Iowa. Today, they finish 20,000 hogs a year for the company. The pigs move into the Gienger hog buildings at 40 lbs. and out at 300 lbs. 

“The thing we have that a lot of people around here don’t have is hog manure,” he says. “We save so much money on fertilizer.”

The manure from one hog barn will fertilize 80 to 100 acres. With six hog barns and a seventh planned, Gienger says they are close to getting all their fertilizer needs met with the manure.

“The pigs have been so good to us,” he adds. “I watched a lot of guys who got out of hogs because they didn’t want to raise pigs for somebody else. But you have to adapt and grow. You must also have your heart in the hogs, or you won’t do well.”

Gienger loves the hog business so much that he spends considerable time and expense promoting pork to consumers. 

In February, he goes to the Florida State Fair and works with the FFA to serve Iowa pork. The pork is donated, and the proceeds go to the fair and FFA. 

“Florida has 22 million residents, and we have 35 million pigs in Iowa,” he says. “People need to know where their food comes from.”

Crop operation
In the Gienger’s crop operation, corn and soybeans are planted in a 50/50 rotation. They use both no-till and minimum tillage. 

A stable of four New Holland T8 Series tractors,  a CR8.90 combine and hay equipment handle the fieldwork. As part of his efforts to become more efficient, Gienger trades equipment regularly to take advantage of newer model technology.
 
One change was switching to LSW (low sidewall) flotation tires on two T8.410 tractors and a CR8.90 combine to reduce soil compaction. “They are great,” he adds. The tires feature a larger rim diameter and a smaller sidewall than a standard tire and are less expensive than tracks.

With the New Holland hay equipment, they mow and bale the many waterways and field-end strips. Gienger contracts with a cattle feeder who picks up a semi-load of hay every month. 

He also has 90 stock cows that calve in the spring and summer. In January, the calves are sold to a local farmer.

All in on solar
“I can say we are going green on our farms with solar panels in addition to buying less fertilizer inputs,” Gienger says. “Solar panels are on the backside of the farm. The light billhere would run $800-$1,000 per month. Right now, it costs just $18.”

In proper form, Gienger and his partners signed on to install solar panels when government incentives were first offered. Recently, USDA introduced a solar panel program that he says farmers should check out.

They used to have a large windmill but took it down and sold it when they decided to go with solar. Gienger says they are much happier with panels because they’ve been good financially, and people don’t notice them like they do a windmill. They do have the public passing by the farm on a bike trail. Gienger even donated land for the trail and thinks it is good for people to see farming.

Reflections
Gienger is approaching 50 years of farming and has no regrets. “The farm and the hogs have been awfully good to me, and I love them all,” he says. 

 “Having my son here wanting to take over has been great. I wouldn’t have grown to this size if he hadn’t wanted to do that. It’s hard to rent land and to bring someone into an operation. You must have something to generate cash, and hogs did that.”