America's Best Young Farmers and Ranchers

Des Keller
Progressive Farmer Editor

DTN/Progressive Farmer's America's Best Young Farmers and Ranchers program profiles Rachel Arneson, Arneson Farms, Halstad, Minnesota.

Temperatures have nudged past 80°F on an early October afternoon. Rachel Arneson is in the office recalibrating work schedules on their family farm, near Halstad, in northwest Minnesota. This is the Red River Valley, the highly productive agricultural swath that runs along the north-flowing namesake river that defines the border between much of Minnesota and North Dakota.

The region is known, particularly, for producing sugar beets, the whitish root crop from which more than 50% of the country's refined sugar is processed.

Harvested, stockpiled sugar beets can deteriorate quickly in temperatures above 65°F, so harvest has been temporarily halted by American Crystal Sugar Co., one of several member-owned cooperatives that coordinate the sugar beet deliveries, processing and marketing.

Rachel, 36, points out harvest usually starts for the bulk of their sugar beets by Oct. 1. "If we'd done that this year the beets would be spoiling," she says.

Instead, Rachel and employees Wade Hauge and Nick Gustafson are conferring in the shop office. Arneson's younger brother, Jesse, is already elsewhere tilling ground following soybean harvest. When the impromptu meeting ends, Rachel talks about her roundabout journey back to the farm.

"I'd always known I'd be involved in the farm in some capacity," Rachel explains, "if only as a landlord. I'm part of the fifth generation, and I have a lot of respect for the heritage."

A decade ago, it certainly appeared as if Rachel's connection to the family farm would only be arm's length. Armed with a master's degree in anthropology, Rachel worked several years for an international educational nonprofit and traveled to five of seven continents in the process. She still serves on the board of a school in Kenya.

Prior to 2012, Rachel would come back seasonally to help with bookkeeping and tax returns. "I fell in love with the day-to-day rhythm of the farm," she says. Rachel recalls the "big conversation" with her parents as to whether this would be possible. "I told them, 'I know you're covered with the number of employees you have, but if you have some room for me, I'd be interested in making the transition back.

"I think my parents were thrilled I had an interest," she continues. "It definitely was not my dad saying, 'We need help.' He's Norwegian Lutheran. He does not ask for help," Rachel laughs.

She now manages the farm from day to day. The operation is just shy of 4,000 acres and 140 years in the making. In any given year, sugar beets are grown on about 650 acres, with wheat and soybeans making up the balance (corn is grown occasionally).

"In general, Dad has grown more comfortable with my decisions," Rachel says. "I'll go ask his opinion, and more and more over the years, he has given me the thumbs-up."

As the owner of much of the land and equipment, Ray Arneson's approval is key. Some decisions, though, are not always met initially with universal agreement. In spring 2021, Rachel wanted to apply the herbicide Nortron at sugar beet planting to help tamp down pressure from waterhemp. Incorporated in the soil at planting, the chemical provides a larger period of protection (up to 10 weeks) than applying a herbicide either preemerge or postemerge.

"Dad was so resistant," Rachel says. "We would generally use other spray methods and more cultivation to reduce weed pressure." However, in 2020, they couldn't get back in the fields to do either after planting because of rains. Waterhemp took hold, and the damage to the crop was significant.

In 2021 -- using soil-incorporated herbicide -- waterhemp pressure was significantly less. "I'm glad I put my foot down," she says. "When Dad agrees with me, I get a high five." Rachel received a high five for this move.

"Farm transitions come in all shapes and sizes," says Jacqueline Arneson, Rachel's mom. "I'd say it feels good to be where we are at this point than what it looked like five years ago." A year-and-a-half after Rachel returned to farm full time, so did brother, Jesse, who'd spent a few years working off-farm jobs, as well.

Says Jacqueline: "Ray said a couple of years after both children had returned that he'd never had so much fun farming before." At which point Ray, using a computer tablet to communicate, says: "I trust Rachel's judgment." He smiles.

Rachel laughs. "There's no taking that back, Dad."

A decade into her farming career, Rachel would love the opportunity to increase the size of the family operation -- particularly for sugar beets. While the crop generally consists of less than one-fourth of their land each year, its potential profit margin is much greater than other crops. However, not all cropland in the region is suited to sugar beets.

Red River Valley soils can vary from heavy clay to those that are light and sandy. Those lighter soils are often used to grow potatoes, while heavier soils are sugar beet friendly. A sugar beet taproot is capable of penetrating the clay soil.

The Arnesons use a typical rotation of sugar beets, soybeans and wheat (hard red spring wheat). They grow corn when the land and rotations call for it, but Rachel says it's generally a better financial decision on their land to grow soybeans after soybeans rather than to switch to corn.

Their business benefits from the fact that a considerable amount of their land is owned by Ray and Jacqueline, as well as several other family members. "I hope aunts and uncles continue to rent to me," Rachel says. "Otherwise, there are large investors as well as bigger operations who would likely be able to outbid us on other ground."

Her great-great-grandfather, Ole Viker, first farmed these soils. He arrived with a team of horses and $500 from his father to help establish a business. "We still farm some of the acres he first owned in 1883," she says. Development of rail lines in the area spurred farming settlement with the ability to move crops more efficiently than steamboats that, once upon a time, plied the Red River.

Late in the afternoon, we're standing on a rise where we see Jesse in the distance doing the aforementioned tillage.

"Within the last two years or maybe three, we've become a lot more stabilized in knowing what our roles are," she says, referencing the work relationship with her parents, her brother and their two employees. To say things are busy is an understatement. In addition to being the fifth generation to farm, both Rachel and Jesse work as medical first responders for Halstad Rescue.

During high school and beyond, Ray and Jacqueline allowed their children to be students, to explore activities other than farming. So much so that when Rachel returned full time 10 years ago, she had scarcely ever actually participated in a sugar beet harvest.

"When I came back, there was quite a learning curve," she says. Still, her parents had relied on her for certain things. Rachel remembers her father taking her -- when she was a high school sophomore -- to seminars and weekend classes on setting up and using GPS systems to track fieldwork.

"So, there I was in these classes with my dad and a bunch of mostly 40-year-olds and older farmers learning this stuff," she says. And, she continued consulting with her father about the technology via phone during her college years.

"My dad told me once that you really have to want to farm to be a farmer," Rachel says. "There are a lot of bad years to go with the good, and I've witnessed some of that. I'm happy I made the choice to come back."

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-- See Rachel Arneson's video profile and all of the 2024 America's Best Young Farmers and Ranchers Winners at https://spotlights.dtnpf.com/…

-- Follow Joel on X (formerly Twitter) @JReichPF

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