As a kid, Clark Yeager never wanted to do anything but farm. After more than 50 years of farming, that hasn’t changed a bit. The 73-year-old Master Farmer from near Ottumwa in Wapello County credits his success to enjoying what he does, and he doesn’t plan to quit anytime soon. “I’m doing what I like. I’ll never retire; I’ll just do a little less each year,” he says. “I plan to farm until I die.”

Yeagers like all things farming

Clark got his start in farming in 1963 after graduating from Iowa State University. “Dad gave me 20 gilts to breed and use; then he got the proceeds when they were culled and sold as sows,” Clark recalls. “I traded labor for the use of his machinery, but we didn’t partner. Dad wanted me to make it on my own.

“I told my son Brad the same thing when he started in 1988; we work together, but we make our own decisions. I have the larger machinery investment now, and he furnishes more labor.”

More sophisticated
“It seems like farming gets more sophisticated each year,” Clark says. “Brad won’t let me near the GPS, but I know it works.

About 10 years ago, I had a 60-foot field cultivator. One day the GPS wasn’t working. Guess how many acres less he got over without GPS? 100 acres!”

Clark says GPS is critical to keeping their 40-foot vertical tillage machinery on track and for auto-shutoff on their 24-row planter and sprayer. He also invested in a high-capacity tower dryer for their grain bin system.

“Brad can check the moisture anytime he wants with his cellphone,” Clark says. “That’s progress.”

The Yeagers first tried tracks on a 10-year-old tractor in 2005. “I was going to trade it for a four-wheel drive, but everyone liked the track tractor. It rides about like a Cadillac. Now we have tracks on two other tractors, our combine and a 1,500-bushel grain cart,” Clark says.

He says he never fully trusted the monitor on his combine, so he weighs and records every load with his grain cart. “Our records are all on the yellow tablet,” Clark says. “Judi posts the expenses and income by hand, and I code it. Then we send the records to AgriFinancial Services LLC.”

Crop selection
Clark grew mostly continuous corn when he started farming. Son Brad had fantastic soybean yields when he started. “So he’s got a corn-soybean rotation, and I have continuous corn. I think soybeans lead to more soil erosion on my rolling ground.”

Clark leaves a lot of crop residue on the surface after one trip with a disk ripper in the fall and vertical tillage in the spring — residue he credits with helping him build organic matter by 1% over the years.

Conservation conscious
Clark owns about 1,200 acres and rents an additional 360. He made the down payment on his first 80 acres with a $5,000 inheritance from his grandmother.

Of the 1,500 acres of tillable, rolling cropland Clark farms, more than 1,000 acres are protected with tile outlet terraces.

He uses grassed waterways and turn strips as needed, and puts his most fragile land into the Conservation Reserve Program.

A highboy 12-row toolbar with nitrogen sensors can apply variable-rate nitrogen. Clark is also experimenting with a rye cover crop to stem soil erosion and scavenge nutrients. “My philosophy is to leave the land better than I found it,” he says.

Clark was appointed to the state Environmental Protection Commission for 12 years by Govs. Robert Ray, Terry Branstad and Tom Vilsack, and was on the statewide Leopold Center board for nine years.

He’s been active in Farm Bureau at the county and state level, and volunteered for numerous civic organizations.

He and Judi are active in the Bladensburg Christian Church, which was established in 1843 by Judi’s forefathers, among others.

“I like everything about farming,” Clark says. “More than anything, I like the people I deal with.”

Judi adds, “He usually ends up being friends with everyone he does business with. He’s made a lot of friends.”

Meet the Master Farmers
Myron and Joyce Pingel

Tom and Anita Wall

Clark and Judi Yeager

Bill and Cindy Northey

Rich and Nancy Degner