Born and raised on a 700-acre crop and livestock farm, David Stenzel of Wells, Minn., admits that agriculture has always been a part of his life. In fact, the Union South Central FFA member says that his family has many photos of him playing with his farm toys and he can’t remember a time when he wasn’t hooked on agriculture and farming.
In ninth grade, he began renting his dad’s equipment and started custom baling road ditches for area neighbors.
Today, Stenzel and his brothers have expanded their market and now bale more than 40 miles of ditches. They market the hay to local horse owners and others throughout the Midwest. In 2010, they added custom feeding feeder pigs to their business venture. The client supplies the pig, while the brothers provide the building, water, electricity, manure disposal and livestock handling. They also started a farm drainage business, which helps crop producers manage the water properly to maximize yields.
Knowing that there is some downtime for tiling and cutting road ditches, Stenzel and his brothers made the decision to purchase a couple of semis and trailers to start hauling sweet corn and peas for Birdseye in Waseca, Minn. Since he started the business in 2009, the 21-year old continues to see the business grow. Moving forward, he plans to continue the partnership with his brothers and expand the business where they can eventually hire additional help for the hard labor so they can focus on managing the business. Stenzel is the son of Julie and Steve Stenzel. He is a member of the United South Central FFA Chapter, led by advisor Dan Dylla.
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