(Editor's note -- The Coalition to Support Iowa's Farmers recently visited with Adair and Cass County farmers, residents and community leaders about the benefits of agriculture and the positive impact of responsibly growing area livestock farms. Throughout the year, the Coalition will tell their stories in a series of articles focusing on the interconnection between strong and growing farms and vibrant and prosperous main streets in Adair County…and beyond.)

(CUMBERLAND -- May 3, 2007) -- In the heart of southwest Iowa, you’ll find a farm cooperative that believes in the future of the rural communities it serves as much as the people who live and work in them.

“It’s a sense of belonging… of community,” says Randy Daugherty, general manager of 21st Century Cooperative based in Cumberland. “A lot of people depend on us and we depend on them. That’s what the cooperative system is all about.”

This bond between the cooperative, its members and communities is strong. When communities prosper, cooperatives thrive. When members struggle, so do cooperatives.

“There are challenges and we face them head on, together,” says Daugherty. “Change best describes farming today. We have to deliver good service and we have to offer products at a good price. If we don’t, people will go someplace else. There isn’t the loyalty there used to be so we have to deliver everything we promise, plus a little bit more.”

Twenty-first Century Cooperative serves customers throughout Adair and Cass Counties with branches in Cumberland, Massena, Fontanelle and Greenfied. It also has a propane depot in Atlantic. Daugherty knows the area and its people well. He grew up in Cumberland and started working at the cooperative after finishing high school. Today, he guides the cooperatives day-to-day operations, helping manage more than 40 employees.

“We always have to prove ourselves,” says Daugherty. “Things have changed and farmers don’t focus as much on patronage as they do price. Farmers are getting larger and volume matters. There’s also a lot of land changing hands and the people who buy the land aren’t the traditional customer. Many can buy direct if they want. Therefore, there’s a premium on service and that’s what separates us from others.”

As the farms around it changes, so too does 21st Century Cooperative. Daugherty knows that both crops and livestock is critical to the company’s success. He’s a strong proponent of livestock farming and takes time to recruit its growth in the area.

“There’s an interest to raise more livestock and that’s a good thing for us and the community,” he says. “When livestock farms locate here in Adair and Cass County, it provides young people with an opportunity to farm. It also creates additional demand for corn and soybeans grown here by area farmers and for feed milled here at 21st Century.”

With a click of his wrists, Daugherty punches in the numbers on a calculator. Around 9,600 hogs, he figures, will consume around 200,000 bushels of corn each year. At 180 bushels per acre, that’s nearly 1,100 acres of corn. They’ll also eat 2,000 tons of soybean meal and require veterinary care and people to transport them to market, not to mention a host of other products and services.

“There are so many people and businesses affected when it comes to raising livestock,” he says. “It’s my hope that we can see the more farmers have an opportunity to raise hogs and cattle here in southwest Iowa. I think if we’d see a few hog barns and feedlots go up, people would be surprised at how good they can be for the community and environment.”

The impact of 9,600 more hogs to feed would also have a tremendous impact on 21st Century Cooperative.

“We’d have to hire another person in our feed mill,” Daugherty says. “That’s how labor intensive livestock farming is and why it’s so beneficial to communities. Livestock puts people to work.”

Southwest Iowa is poised to see livestock farms grow. An influx of young people and growth of renewable energy production will stimulate the demand for more hogs, cattle, dairy cows and poultry.

“This renewal of livestock farming will help more people stay on the farm and in their communities,” says Daugherty. “That would also mean more corn being milled locally instead of putting it on the train for some other farm in some other state.”

As he ponders the future of his cooperative, Daugherty’s attention immediately focuses on the future of the communities he serves.

“Everyone benefits when there’s more livestock in the area,” he says. “If we’d grow our livestock farms, there’d be more construction going on. You’d see better trucks and pickups on the road and you’d see more people in town. You’d also need more veterinarians and more business taking place.

“Livestock does all of those things,” Daugherty says. “That’s why we need it here more than ever.”



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