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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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