Norbert Hoerth used to have a full-time job and farmed on the side. He didn’t have a whole lot of time for other hobbies. Now he is retired and enjoys spending time with his wife, Kathy, watching their granddaughters in their sports, but there is also his first love… farming! He credits his feelings for farming to his experiences from growing up on the farm and working with his father. His father had his own fertilizer business, multiple farms, and milking cows. “Being able to work with your kin,” Norbert said, “might have been my biggest influence that caused me to fall in love with farming and the dairy business.” As the oldest of 7 children, the dairy animals were more Norbert’s responsibility and he went on to pursue that on his own. “My love of cattle got me started,” he said. “I really enjoyed working the cattle and the genetics were my biggest interest. We had a registered herd.”

Norbert & Kathy Hoerth are the owners of Noka Acres in Rosendale, Wisconsin, in Fond du Lac County. The farm was purchased in 1979 and operated as a dairy until 2001 when they stopped milking. They switched their focus to grain production. Norbert discovered it wasn’t just cattle that kept the love of farming ‘in his blood’, it was an overall appreciation for agriculture. He enjoys the whole process of the grain business now and revealed his excitement for picking out the new crop, building the entire plan, and watching the plots to see the result. A no-till system has been used for the last five years on his farm. “If it wasn’t going to work I could go back,” Norbert stated, “but I am at a point where I am hesitant to work the ground and I like what I have seen with the process.”

The story of their family’s farming heritage goes back to Norbert’s great-grandfather, Karl, who came over when he was 16 with his brother and sister and homesteaded in Jericho, a community near Chilton, WI. They started by removing trees and such to clear the land and eventually broke ground for their farm. Norbert’s dad recalled memories of using dynamite to clear the land.

Thank you to Norbert for sharing his unique story of the progression of his operation for this week’s Farmer Friday post. Your love, experiences, appreciation and apparently even some explosions have all been a part of the process to get you to where you are today. We wish you and Kathy, your family and your operation continued success!

#FarmerFriday ...post #87. To show our appreciation to our producer members Country Visions Cooperative will be giving a snapshot look of our customers and their operations in this feature each Friday