From the field: Steve Williams
When a labor of love doesn't stretchSteve Williams would rather take care of his livestock than sit in front of a computer screen any day. But sometimes, he admits, it would be nice to have help, namely, a full-time employee.Williams, a member of Practical Farmers of Iowa, is sole operator of Valley View Farm near Villisca in southwestern Iowa. He owns 300 acres-half pasture, half row crops, and all certified organic. He cash rents from his father another 150 acres for row crops and 300 acres of pasture to support 100 beef cows and a 200-sow farrow-to-finish hog operation. He and other farmers have found themselves in a bind: their operations are too small to support more than one family, but they have more than enough work for one person. A tight labor market puts farmers in competition with Wal-Mart and McDonald's for workers, and Williams often wonders how he'll manage. "How do you find a good half-time person?" is a perpetual question. "You almost have to grow by one person's labor because it's so hard to find quality help at a reasonable rate." Currently, he hires someone four to five hours twice a week to do routine jobs like mowing ditches and cutting weeds. Planting is done by his father, Dave (a member of the Leopold Center Advisory Board). Wendi, Steve's wife, helps with accounting, and also keeps track of their two preschoolers, ages 2 and 4. Another wrinkle is that Steve is switching to organic production on the land he rents, which requires considerably more labor than conventional methods. "It used to be the only time I went across my field after I planted it was to bring in the crops," he explained. "With organic, you're going over that same field at least six times for tillage, cultivation and other care." Williams, 32, is only in his third year of raising crops, his eighth as his own boss. He returned to Page County in 1990, after a year in Chicago working with computers and information management. He jumped at the opportunity to return to Iowa as his father phased into retirement. "I probably left the hottest field there is to come back to a field that seems like it's just about dead," the younger Williams said. "But it's been with few regrets." Return to Fall 1999 Leopold Letter index |