Dairying in Bemboom blood

GILMAN, Minn. — Since 1910, the Bemboom family has been dairy farming in Benton County. Today, multiple Bemboom families are carrying on that tradition.

One of these Benton County Bemboom farms is owned by Ron and Amy Bemboom. They farm alongside their son and grandson.

“Any farmer hopes that one of their kids takes an interest in farming, and for us, that was Shawn,” Ron said. “Now, his son, Breyden, is helping out too. I’m very proud of these two.”

The Bembooms milk 75 cows in a tiestall barn and farm 650 acres near Gilman. Shawn and Breyden have also started a herd of beef cattle, with Shawn owning about 75 head and Breyden owning five.

Breyden has been farming full time with his dad and grandpa since last summer, when Ron was scheduled to have neck surgery and was set to be laid up for a few weeks.

“I wanted to keep the farm in the family,” Breyden said. “It would be so sad to see this all go away; it’s everything that Dad and Grandpa worked for. Plus, farming was way better than doing the construction work, which is what I had been doing up to that point.”

Since last fall, Breyden has been taking on more tasks and responsibilities around the farm.

“This past fall was the first time I got to run the combine,” Breyden said. “That was pretty cool. I like cutting and making hay too. I did about 90% of the baling last year.”

Having a flexible schedule and working with family are some of the reasons Breyden chose to farm.

“I like to hunt and fish, and I try to get out as much as I can,” Breyden said. “I like that I can get my stuff done and then go do my thing for a few hours between chore times.”

Breyden’s great-great-grandpa, Gerhard Bemboom, settled in Benton County in 1910 near Mayhew Lake. Since another son was taking over that farm, Breyden’s great-grandpa, Ray, bought another farm near Mayhew Lake. That is where Ron grew up, but four brothers wanted to farm there. Two brothers took over the home farm and the other two brothers left to buy their own farm. Both original farms are still in the Bemboom family, Ron said.

Ron and Amy purchased their farm near Gilman in 1976 and started farming with 10 cows while Ron did construction work on the side.

“Amy has been a tremendous help and grew up in town, but learned farming to help me out,” Ron said.

In 1978, Ron quit construction work to farm full time and built a bigger tiestall barn to increase his herd to 50 cows. Ron and Amy had four children. Shawn was the oldest and helped on the farm as much as he could.

“Farming was all Shawn wanted to do,” Ron said. “As soon as he was big enough to help, he has been helping me on the farm.”

In 2012, when Shawn started to work full time on the farm, they increased their herd to 80 cows.

“All my buddies work in town or the Twin Cities and I didn’t want to go anywhere else,” Shawn said. “I like cattle, and so I’ve never worked a day in my life because I enjoy what I do.”

Shawn diversified the operation by adding the beef cows and increasing the acreage they farmed. Now that Breyden has joined, the farm continues to grow.

On a typical day at the Bemboom farm, Ron does the fieldwork and the odd jobs around the farm, Shawn milks the cows, and Breyden feeds and beds the livestock.

“We keep (Breyden) busy and he will do any task that we tell him to do,” Ron said. “He doesn’t complain, he knows what needs to be done and just does it. I am phasing my way out of the farm and cutting back on the harder, labor-intensive jobs around the farm. Shawn and Breyden are doing almost everything now.”

As Ron watches the farm being passed on to the next generation, he said he cherishes the time he spends with his son and grandson on the family farm he created.

“Breyden comes with a smile, so it is a joy working with him,” Ron said. “It’s a bonding time between all of us. It’s really fun to have that connection between a grandpa and a grandson. It’s been a great life for my wife and me and our children, and it’s wonderful to see that get passed on.”