FOREST CITY, IA--
“I suppose I was about four years old. I used to help my mother with the little chicks and help her gather the eggs,” said Edward Branstad, 85, of when he first started helping on the farm.
He is one of many in a long line of farmers. “My grandfather moved here from Norway and bought land in Winnebago County,” he said. That was nearly 125 years ago. These days, four living generations of the Branstad clan are working together in the family business.“We started everybody out when they were very young—five, six years old,” said Edward. “They usually had little chores to do around the farm.”
“I heard stories I was four and I was playing with the cattle and stuff,” said 27-year-old Jordan Branstad.
Everybody pitches in somehow.....four-year-old Madison raises chickens. “We check on them every morning,” she said.
Nine-year-old Sam just learned how to operate an excavator-- under supervision of course. Even though he doesn't live in the area, they started him young too. “It's mostly just visits, starting about age 4,” said Sam.
And all four generations are proud of the deep farming roots in the Branstad family tree. “I think it's neat that, you know, we all work together and it's kind of been passed down,” said Jordan.
“You don't leave really anything in life that's material except your family,” said Monty Branstad, the 2nd of the family’s four generations. “[I’m] very excited to see them all be involved.”
And while Edward said he's letting the younger generations do more and more these days, he's always there.
“I come out every day and see how they're doing,” he said.
