Meg Archer is an Editor & Newsletter Editor who has called Oregon home for nearly 30 years. She spent her childhood exploring the mountains, forests, and high desert of Central Oregon before relocating to Portland after a brief stint out-of-state for college. She holds an B.A. in English from Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo and a B.S. in Psychology from Portland State University. Meg has worked in writing, editing, and media-related fields for over 10 years and joined the team at OnlyInYourState in 2015. When she’s not writing or exploring the West Coast, Meg enjoys playing tabletop games, working on visual media projects, and can always be found in the front row at Portland Timbers matches.
Nissen Family Farm has been in operation for three generations. The 240-acre plot sits just 5 miles outside the very small town of Exira, IA. My father, Mark Nissen, currently operates the farm full-time. He has been working that land with my grandpa since he was nine or ten years old. My grandpa also worked the same land with his father before that.
Amy Nissen Photography
My great grandpa purchased the farm in the mid’ to late 1930s when my grandpa was two years old. My great grandparents and their three children all lived on the farm in a beautiful white farmhouse for many decades.
Amy Nissen Photography
They grew corn, soybeans, hay, oats, and had open pasture for cattle. They also had hogs, chickens, and geese. There was a small garden with vegetables and a small orchard with apple and pear trees. The farm still has a small pond that was built in 1988 for conservation purposes. It is filled with bass, bluegill, catfish and the occasional turtle.
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Amy Nissen Photography
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Amy Nissen Photography
My great grandparents lived on the farm until the late 1970s. The house sat empty for three decades and was eventually torn down in the early 2000s.
Amy Nissen Photography
Amy Nissen Photography
My grandparents bought their own land a few miles away when they got married and started farming that plot. They continued to help my great grandparents on their farm as well.
Amy Nissen Photography
My parents bought a house in the nearby town of Audubon, IA. My father has driven to and from the farm, which is about 15 miles away, for almost 30 years.
Within the last couple decades, my father has made some changes to the types of crops grown on the farm. A small pond was built in 1988 for conservational purposes. It is filled with bass, bluegill, catfish and the occasional turtle.
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Amy Nissen Photography
He now farms almost 500-acres which includes 300 acres of organic corn and soybeans. He had a herd of cattle until a couple years ago when he decided that the 15-mile trip twice a day to feed them was getting to be more of a hassle with his increasing age.
Amy Nissen Photography
Amy Nissen Photography
The farm has a large, white barn that looks weathered and abandoned. It has a loft that my siblings and I used to jump off of into the hay below. There is also a machine shed, a corncrib, three grain bins, and two garages left on the property.
Amy Nissen Photography
A large V-shaped tree still stands that both my father used to climb and my siblings and I still like to climb. It overlooks the fields that run down the south side of the property line.
Amy Nissen Photography
I have lots of great memories of playing and helping out on the farm. My father would take my brother, my sister, and me fishing on the pond. We have helped feed cattle and bottle feed calves.
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Amy Nissen Photography
In the summers, we would walk the bean fields pulling weeds, pick up rock from empty fields before they were plowed in the spring, and helped both put up and take down fences.
Amy Nissen Photography
The farm holds a special place in all of our hearts and is something we will hopefully keep in our family for many more generations.
It’s easy to drive along the county roads and enjoy the rolling hills without stopping to realize that every lovely little farmhouse has a beautiful history behind it. Did you love Amy’s sweet story? Do you have fond memories of growing up on a family farm? Tell your stories in the comments!
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