Our family's first farm was between Churdan and Farlin, Iowa, northwest of Jefferson. The farm was owned by Dad's uncle, Ralph Flack. He owned a substantial amount of farm ground in Greene and Calhoun counties at that time. Ralph and his wife, “Aunt Lizzie”, lived in a brick house in Jefferson just west of downtown. Ralph died when I was young, but we visited Aunt Lizzie often. There were no young children in the house, so her toy collection was quite limited. I found a small, tin car to play with once and sliced my finger on it. She took me into the bathroom and poured alcohol on it. I screamed quite loudly. Years later, when she moved to the nursing home in Jefferson, she may not have remembered a lot, but she always remembered me "You're Lonny. I poured iodine on your finger."
I don't have many recollections of that farm since we moved when I was 3. I did ask my mother once if there was an attic door at the top of the stairs in that house. There was. I also fell down the basement stairs when I was 2 and got burned severely by extremely hot water at the bottom of the stairs. Mom was washing clothes and evidently, I thought I needed to visit her. I was burned on my upper left chest, arm, and underneath my chin. Skin was taken from my thighs and stomach for grafts. The wound was treated with Aureomycin. I still have a copy of the bill. $18.

The farm we moved to in the late 50's was just west of Highway 65 north of Colo, Iowa, but had a Nevada, Iowa address. Numerous implements were hitched behind either the Farmall H or M. The tractors made their way towards our new farm mostly along Hwy. 175. There were several pieces of machinery trailing each tractor for nearly 100 miles. What a sight that must have been. Trucks were used to haul the other equipment. There was a loading dock 1/4 mile west of Hwy. 65 that was used to unload the items and it was then moved to our farm another mile west. The dock is still there on County road E-29.
We farmed about 550 acres, fed out 2-300 head of cattle, had a 50 head farrow to finish hog program, and grew mostly corn with hay, oats, and a few soybeans. Dad was on a 50/50 basis with the land owner which was quite common at that time. There were three farmsteads. We lived at the main farm, the hired man lived about a quarter mile west of us, and another half mile west was what was referred to as the Apple farm. The feedlot cattle and sows were kept at our site, the hog feedlot was at the hired man's place, and another feed lot for cattle and a building for hog overrun was at the Apple farm. There was a house there at one time. I remember helping tear it down when I was quite small. I was given a pry bar and instructed to remove lath from the wall. I was not very successful.

My brother, Randy, and I were assigned chores as soon as we could carry half a bucket of feed (if not sooner). We each had a list of chores to do and alternated our responsibilities each week. I absolutely hated gathering eggs. We visited both sets of grandparents often on Sunday afternoons and it seemed like it was always my turn to gather eggs at 9:00 at night after we got home. The lone light bulb in the building was always completely covered with who knows what and there were always at least 5 stupid hens that wouldn't get out of my way. The topper was the night I reached into the nest and grabbed a soft-shelled egg. I do not eat eggs to this day.

Every fall an order buyer would purchase a couple semi loads of Hereford yearling heifers from out west. They were delivered by rail to a stockyard just east of Boone and trucks would transport them to our place. The cattle always came during the middle of the night and I always rode along to Boone to pick them up. The stockyards were supposed to be open when we got there, but I don't think they ever were. We had to drive to the main office in downtown Boone and find somebody to unlock the gates.
Another order buyer would purchase a couple loads of Shorthorn heifer calves from an auction located in Gregory, South Dakota. These cattle were started in the lots at the Apple farm and moved to our farm after the yearlings were sold. The yearling heifers usually weighed in the low to mid 600's and the calves were about 425 pounds. The cattle were started on grass hay with the yearlings changed to green chop and then ground ear corn and silage. There was a bunker silo at both locations and an upright silo at the home place where we blew in high moisture ground ear corn each fall. The corn was all picked by ear and ground as needed when the feed in the silo ran out. There were two full size corn cribs at the home place, one at the hired man's place, and a single sided crib at the Apple farm. We also shelled corn which was ground for the hogs. We usually sold the fat cattle to either Bookey Pack or IBP in Des Moines. It was actually fun to get up at 4:00 a.m. and ride the semis.

Dad purchased his first registered Shorthorn, Collynie Queen x2698-460, in 1955. She was hauled home by John Patterson, I still have a copy of the bill. Some of you old time show people may remember his name as the operator of Patterson Supply Company, long time show livestock equipment dealer at all the Midwest fairs. I do not remember the heifer, although I do remember a red cow in with a group of feedlot cattle shortly after we moved to the Nevada area. I always assumed that it was her.

The Apple farm had some pasture land which was unused for the first few years after we moved. There was a lane along the road which led from the barnyard where we fed cattle to the pasture. In 1963, we purchased the small registered Shorthorn herd of the Jim Fitzgerald family from State Center, Iowa. We attended the Story County Fair and watched the cattle show every year and I remember the Fitzgerald cattle as not doing too well at the fair. They were larger framed than most of the cattle there and were more of a dual-purpose type as opposed to the Scotch type that seemed to be winning the shows.
The first cow actually registered in my name was Lady Anna 2761-109. She had the first Shorthorn calf born on our farm from that group. We were returning home from a 4-H meeting and drove by the pasture to check the cow. She had just calved. It was dark, but we could see the outline of the cow and calf with the help of the headlights. Dad drove down into the ditch, I was just sure we were going to roll over, and put the lights directly on the pair so we could get a good look. I remember being extremely disappointed. The calf did not have a good head. Yes, that was the first thing I noticed. That cow never had a good headed calf. At that time, a calf's head had to be short and broad. This head was long and narrow. How awful. Since that time, I've witnessed cattle with a head wider than it was long and ones that could get every last drop of water out of the bottom of a 5-gallon bucket. At some point I did realize that the length of an animal's head was not the most important factor to use in selection.

Dad purchased our first herd bull, SV Caesar 25th, about then. We bought him at the Iowa Royal Shorthorn Sale for $325. He was more of a Scotch Type, so we were on our way. I had been studying the Shorthorn World for a few years, so I knew the grandsire of our bull was my first Shorthorn hero, Bapton Constructor. Every bull that was anything in the Shorthorn industry had to be a son or grandson of that bull. All the winners seemed to trace directly to him. The other thing I looked for in the magazine ads was “imp” which stood for imported. If an animal wasn't out of Constructor lineage, then imp. was the next best thing.

My brother was old enough to show in 4-H the next year and I started my show career in 1965. The first calf my brother showed was a Milking Shorthorn steer raised by Grandpa Flack and didn't do too well at the County Fair. When I started, Dad went to a club calf sale in Story City, Iowa, and purchased an Angus steer for each of us—the only black calf I ever showed, by the way. He paid $125 for one and $135 for the other. We also each showed a Milking Shorthorn steer raised by Grandpa Flack. The Shorthorn steers got red ribbons, but both Angus steers won their class. The Angus steers weighed in the 925-950 pound range. The classes were shown during the morning and the grand championship drive was in the horse ring later that evening. We toured the barns scouting the competition during the afternoon. We came upon a steer weighing 1,035 pounds, the only calf in the barn over 1,000. Dad said he would be tough to beat and he was. He ended up being the grand champion.

I'm not lying when I say that we had absolutely no clue what we were doing at the fair. We broke the calves to lead using nylon type rope halters with metal fasteners and a chain under the calf's jaw. The halters stayed on all the time. There was a loop on the end of the chain that we would fasten a lead rope to when we wanted to catch the calves. We tugged and pulled and twisted tails to get them to lead. It was tough work for young boys, but we got it done. No one in our family had ever shown cattle. Dad helped us get started, but he was so busy with the rest of the farm Randy and I did most of it ourselves. I had an old booklet on showing beef cattle and it suggested that you wash the calves once before you take them to the fair to get them used to the water. That's what we did. When we got to the fair, we had no idea what to do, so we just tried to imitate what everyone else was doing. I was given $1 to spend at the fair and I had it figured I could get bacon, toast, and a carton of orange drink (I hate milk) for breakfast and a hamburger, fries, and a cup of pop for dinner and supper. We learned several valuable lessons at the fair such as how to lose a quarter playing penny ante poker. We didn't know how to do that either, but we got educated.

In 1965, our herd was expanded when Dad had Ted Aegerter, ASA fieldman, purchase several registered heifers and steers at the sale in Gregory, South Dakota. The Thede and Miller families sold registered stock there and he bought five heifers for us. They ranged in price from $125-200. Randy and I alternated first selection of the heifers and steers each year. this was our first year showing heifers and we picked our show heifers from this group. Randy had first choice of the steers, I got to pick first from the heifers. There was no doubt which one I would pick. I had my eye on her since the day they stepped off the truck—she was an actual granddaughter of Bapton Constructor! She was the most expensive heifer of the lot. On the sales ticket, someone had written small red. On her pedigree Dad had written smallest red. She was all that. But she had a good head. I was absolutely thrilled to have Clara 141st as my first show heifer. We had a large group of heifers at the county fair, probably a dozen or so. Clara and I were 3rd. Randy won his class and had Champion with Badge's Duchess, another heifer that made the trip from Gregory. She was one of the cheaper heifers. She went on to be one of our best cows for many years, while poor Clara never had a calf.

My steer project that year was a home raised son of the Caesar bull. He was a very good steer, but didn't quite make the required 850 pound minimum. The scale operators told me to take him to the barn, give him some feed and water, and try again. It was a very hot day, but the calf was obviously not used to the new surroundings and in particular did not care for the taste of city water. He wouldn't eat or drink. I weighed him again, but he still didn't make 850 pounds. I was told to try again since I still had a few hours before the deadline. On my way back to the barn, a member of an experienced show family, one that had dominated the Shorthorn show for years, put his arm around my shoulders and said, "Sonny, you tie your calf over here and we'll get him to make weight." He had me tie him to a post on the outside of the wash rack on the north side of the cattle barn. He disappeared into the barn and came back with a garden hose. He fastened the hose to the hydrant, inserted into my calf and turned on the water. I remember screaming as I knew my calf was just going to explode before my very eyes. After a very brief 'drink’, he shut off the hydrant and told me to weigh my calf. He made weight. Randy and I were pretty much on our own at the fair since there was so much to do at home, but I do know if Dad had been there, things would have been different.

Lonny & Lavender B 10th at ‘68 Iowa State Fair

Randy had the second choice for heifers when he had the champion, but I got him back the next year. I had my eyes on Lavender B 10th, a white one. I think every Shorthorn breeder I know was drawn to the breed by a white heifer. Bob Robinson had the champion heifer, but I won my first banner with reserve. A neighbor, Fred Nichols, had a very good white bull at that time, HF Centurion. We bred a few cows and one of them produced a white steer that was the best steer I had up to that time. I showed the prize-winning heifer at the State Fair and got 2nd in my class. Bob had the reserve champion. That was about the time people started clipping the bellies of their show cattle and Dad told me if I had clipped my heifer, she might have won. I did learn about tie outs that year. I was perplexed when I watched everyone lead their cattle out of the barn and tie them up overnight in an area east of the cattle barns in Des Moines. I didn't understand why, but when in Rome...Another thing I couldn't understand was why everyone put a rope around the neck of their calves to double tie them. They had a halter, why did they need a neck tie? I found out the “why” the next morning. All that was left in my stall was an empty halter. I caught the heifer and bought a neck tie.

Part 3: Change is Coming.

A Shorthorn Heritage (Part 2): Early Days on the Farm--The Herd Begins