The loss of a farm employee prompted the Rebout family to stop milking cows and concentrate on cash crops and beef.

“We decided [in January], the cows will be gone before we start spring fieldwork,” Doug Rebout says. So, on March 1, he and his brothers Dan and David, with their mother, Mary Jo, watched as their Holstein herd of 141 cows left to a single buyer. Their heifers already had been sold to another farm. The Rebouts continue to farm 4,000 acres of cash crops and raise 200 Holstein steers near Janesville, Wis.

“We were very good with cows, but the hired man quit, and we had to decide. … The best decision was to sell the cows,” Doug says. “The dairy was profitable. It paid the bills. The last few years it’s been more of a breakeven. Nobody [in the family] has that love of cows. We’re good at crops, so we decided [that was the way to go].”

The family grows 2,500 acres of corn and 1,200 acres of soybeans along with winter wheat and alfalfa, marketing through Janesville-area elevators. They also bring in more than 100 castrated Holstein steers each year, adding to the 80 to 90 of their own bull calves that were usually born into the herd, so they had 200 to feed to market weight.

Now, Doug says, “we’re looking at different options: custom heifer raising, some steers. We’re still deciding on beef breeds. We will continue with beef of some kind.”

Doug serves as spokesman for the family. He was reelected president of the Wisconsin Corn Growers Association in February. So, continuing to raise corn and soybeans is a given. Their 10-year average production is 190 bushels per acre for corn and 55 bushels for soybeans.

Trade deals

In general, Doug says, the corn outlook for this year is good.

“The trade deals are all going to be helpful, but we’re still going to have to build up,” he says. “There are many other trade deals we have to work on to get pricing.”

Doug attended the White House in January to witness the signing of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement and said at the time: “We don’t always agree with 100% of the decisions our elected officials make, but to see them come together in a way that will strengthen our country’s proud agriculture industry — that’s what it’s all about.”

He believes USMCA will be the most beneficial for corn growers, explaining, “Mexico is our No. 1 trade partner for corn.” The Chinese, meanwhile, are the biggest buyer of U.S. soybeans, making the trade treaty with them “very key.”

At the Wisconsin Corn/Soy Expo in February, Doug says he found “spirits were pretty good. I was impressed. With the three different trade deals, I think farmers are pretty optimistic.” Then he laughs, “The general attitude seemed to be: Things can’t get much worse, so it’s got to be better.”

Active in lobbying for corn interests in both Washington, D.C., and Madison, Doug says he enjoys a good relationship with federal legislators and often confers with Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., on ag issues. He’s in his third year as WCGA president and sixth year as a board member. He also is a member of the Wisconsin Soybean Growers Association.

On the farm

On the Rebout farm, the brothers live within a mile of each other, and each does a little bit of everything, though Doug is generally in charge of the beef cattle and helps his mom with the bookkeeping. Dave and Dan handle the crops and had been working more with the dairy animals. Dave’s son Eric also works on the farm.

Dave is married to Diane. They have four children and four grandchildren. Dan and his wife, Leanne, have five children and six grandchildren. Doug and his wife, Christine, have one daughter.

Their personal crop outlook is optimistic but mixed.

“Last year we had record yields,” Doug says. “There’s enough moisture in the ground, but it will be tough getting into some areas.”

Across their 4,000 acres, soils range from sandy to clay to black dirt, and the terrain from flat to rolling and hilly.

“You name it, we’ve got it,” Doug says, laughing. “I have a feeling a lot of areas will be tough to get at.”

Buchholz writes from Fond du Lac, Wis.