Kalen Light

Sunrise to sunset, layered clothing on cold days to sweat drenched clothes on hot summer days, this is what farming looks like for senior Kalen Light during harvest and calving seasons.

Light (18) has been farming since he was 10. He started farming for family friends eight years ago because doing something different every day, challenges, and fixing equipment sparked his interest. Light farms cows and calves and also harvests beans and corn. Harvest season for corn is August through October, and the harvest season for beans is midsummer to early autumn. However calving seasons are year round, but mostly happen in the spring, summer, and fall.

One of Light’s favorite pieces of equipment to use is the skid loader because it turns fast and is fun to drive around. Skid loaders are usually used for livestock management, earthmoving, and mowing or brush cleanup. However, skid loaders can be used for almost anything on the farm. The most common thing on a skid loader to need to fix is the hydraulics because with use, they leak. This is one of the most common things on the farm that Light needs to fix, however he also fixes the fences, tractors, and truck equipment often.

The winter time is spent with long early cold mornings and harvest season days are long spent picking late. The most difficult part of farming to Light is the hard work. “Being in the hot sun during the summer and the bitter cold during the winter is one of the toughest parts.,” he said. Sometimes in the summer it can get up to 100 degrees but with the sun and Iowa humidity it can feel like 1000 degrees. During the winter sometimes it can get below 0 but can feel even colder with wind chill.

Light’s favorite thing to farm is cows. “They’re fun to work with and be around,” he said. Light says that cows are his favorite things to farm because a lot of the time they do silly things and make funny faces. Cow farmers’ work days include feeding, giving medication, looking for any signs of illness in the herd, maintaining stalls, and assisting with calving. Light feeds his cows hay and silage. His favorite cow is a heifer named Judy; however, he has also shown Becky. Light shows his cows in Tipton and names them himself. Heifers are good farm animals because they can produce a lot of calves and milk throughout the year. Heifers also usually cost around $2,500 to $3,000 apiece.

Overall Light enjoys all the hard work that goes into helping maintain the farm and doesn’t mind the long hot and cold days that he encounters.