What’s farming about? Ask that question of Cambridge farmer Mark DeDecker and he’ll give you a solid answer:  hard work, challenges and risk.

Armed with his master’s degree in animal science and farm management and their solid farm roots, Mark and his wife, Karen, returned to the family farm after college, building a farming operation that’s now in its third generation. Their vision, drive, and industry support, all combine to make Mark and Karen DeDecker 2016 Prairie Farmer Master Farmers.

Going against the grain

C’MON IN: Buses arrive at the DeDecker farm regularly, carrying agricultural tour groups from Germany, Italy and more. “We learn as much about their agricultural practices as they do ours,” Mark says

“My love and interest has always been in hogs. When my first gilt laid down and had three pigs, someone was trying to send me a signal,” Mark says. “But I didn’t listen.”  Despite his rough start, Mark believed in raising hogs. The partnership between Mark and his father began with 640 acres and 1,000 hogs in a farrow-to-finish operation. “I provided the labor and knowledge of the latest agriculture techniques that I learned at school and my father provided the cash, machinery and land,” Mark recalls.

In 1975, the DeDeckers had an opportunity to grow in a way that wasn’t yet popular in Henry County.  Hog confinements were a relatively new concept when Mark purchased a 40- x 214-foot hen house. They disassembled the chicken house, moved it from its original location 60 miles down the road and converted it into a 30-crate nursery finisher.  Over the decades, they sold the sows, bought feeder pigs, and expanded the operation through additional building construction and rental. Today, DeDecker hog farms finishes 30,000 hogs a year, with their feeder-to-finish operation.

Growth, grain and the next generation

HIGHWAY TIME: Mark and Karen burned up Route 136 visiting one another in college. Mark graduated from the University of Illinois and Karen from Western Illinois. Now, they road trip together, serving the pork industry.

In addition to the hogs, the DeDeckers farm 2,000 acres in partnership with their son, Lance.  

“We use variable rate technology on fertilizer applications for better placement of dry and liquid commercial fertilizer,” Mark explains. They use a Hi Boy sprayer for later, in-season nitrogen applications, believing that applying N closer to the time of plant uptake lessens the likelihood of leaching and denitrification.

“We are enrolled in a program with the NRCS and have been doing tissue samples and nitrate samples, throughout the growing season to have a better idea on how the crop is progressing,” Mark says. Their goal is to apply just enough so the crop isn’t starving for nutrients, without over applying. Every year they install several thousand feet of tile where needed. All of their farms are no-till, with the exception of about 200 corn-on-corn acres.

Mark serves on the Edward River Drainage District and has been active with the Henry County Soil and Water conservation District Board for more than 23 years. They maintain several miles of waterways. Sustaining those means constant mowing, fixing washouts, and leveling with dirt pans.

Reaching out, learning and living

The DeDeckers open their door, literally, to people all over the world who want to know more about their farm operation. They’ve hosted several bus tours for agricultural visitors from countries such as Germany and Italy. Questions from the international visitors range from GMOs to cash rent prices to equipment.

“We learn as much about their agricultural practices as they do ours,” Mark says.  The DeDeckers also host students, livestock judging teams and soil judging teams from BlackHawk East College.

Education and industry are important to the DeDeckers. Mark has been actively involved with the Henry County Pork Producers for 40 years, and has served on the state board for eight years. This year, Mark was the committee chairman for the 2016 Illinois Pork Expo. He oversaw a variety of changes due to a new location, and combining IL Pork Expo with the legislative lobby day traditionally held in March.

The DeDeckers knew raising a family, deeply-rooted in agricultural, was the best hands-on training they could provide for their children – and one of the most rewarding experiences they shared together. Fellow Henry County Pork Producer, Gary Asay, says Jake, Ashley and Lance, are “a reflection on the character of Mark and Karen.” Jake is the associate state leader of 4-H at Michigan State University Extension. Ashley is the director of research at Smithfield hog production division. And Lance, along with his wife Lindsey, returned home to farm.

“What could be a better situation? They are well-educated, two have PhDs. They all have really good jobs, doing what they like to do. And the family farm goes on,” Mark says. “All of them are now contributing members to the agricultural community.  Their lives truly show the strength of this farm.”

And, we’d argue, the strength of these Master Farmers.

Check out complete profiles of each of the 2016 Prairie Farmer Master Farmers.

Mark and Karen DeDecker, Henry County

Reggie and Norma Jean Dowell, Menard County

Ron and Julie Lawfer, Jo Daviess County

Bill and Brenda Raben, Gallatin County