As many of you know my late husband worked for a local farmer. When he started back in 1991 he was hired to work with the crops but had a lot of dairy experience so often worked with the dairy too. He more or less worked wherever he was needed.
Later in 1998, things at the farm changed. We moved to actually live in the farmhouse at the farm and Kramer, my husband, switch to work more on the dairy side of things and less with the crops.
Things changed yet again in 2001. The cows were sold and instead, they started raising steers in the barns and crops continued on.
That’s the way with farming… Most good farmers are taking risks, trying new things, and making changes.
Kramer loved his job and was a great fit for the farm. After he passed away in 2019, Craig, our daughter Kalissa’s husband started working at the farm. So I’ve stayed connected and have continued to enjoy talking farm with Craig. He’ll tell a story of something that happened and being we lived there and I know all of the buildings and land, I can… easily take in Craig’s story.
Another change that happened at the farm was the farmer’s daughter, Hannah, came back home and decided to farm with her dad. It just so happens that I’ve known Hannah quite well. She graduated with our daughter Kayla. They were friends and participated in some of the same things at school.
It’s been so fun to watch Hannah become more and more involved with the farm and is bringing in ideas of her own. Hannah has been really rocking it and has completely jumped into the role of a farmer.
As I said early in the post, farmers are always looking for ways to change and diversify. Hannah is doing just that.
She has the farm expanding to offer Angus beef that is 16-21 day dry-aged and cut at a USDA inspected facility before being vacuum sealed and frozen.
I’ve had the meat and it’s awesome. Over Christmas, they gifted me a meat bundle…Achens continue to be good to me.
Hannah has had the farmhouse inspected for meat sales and will sell meat by appointment at the farm. The good news is that they have now gotten things in place that the meat can be shipped and anyone can order!!
This has been a dream that Hannah has worked hard on and I’m so glad to see it’s all coming together. I know people like to have a connection to where their food is coming from and care about how the animals are treated. This is a win-win for many.
Hannah is great at sharing about the farm. You can check out and like the Achen Farm Facebook page that Hannah manages. There are great pictures..even videos of the cattle being fed. I love keeping up with what is going on.
She even shares recipes…This is for stew meat tacos.
Hannah put a website together where people can see more about the start of the farm-it’s a fifth-generation century farm- and you can order meat. You can find the website HERE. If you want to check out the aged beef, just click the “Get Beefed” button in the upper right corner of the page.
You can also check out the Achen Farm Facebook page HERE. Hannah graduated as an Art major and really has a knack for photography and a way of sharing the rhythm of the seasons on the farm.
I still feel a strong connection to the farm. I was a farmer’s daughter, became a farmer’s wife, and am the mother-in-law to two farmers. Many of our friends and family still have a connection to farming. I will always have a kindship to farmers.
I’m so impressed that as a female, Hannah has made a place for herself at the farm bringing in fresh ideas and working to make them happen.
By all means…go like the Achen Farm Facebook page and check out the beef. It’s good to know where your meat is coming from…and trust me, I lived on the farm and know the cattle are treated humanely and I know the meat is great!!
So good to hear of another generation working the farm. The pictures she took are fabulous – love the sunset. I plan to check out the beef too.
There’s nothing better than IOWA beef!
I’ve been following Achen Farm on Facebook for a few years now. So glad Hannah is successfully making her own place at the farm! I love living on a farm, but you either have employees or it is a real struggle to go on vacation!! Crops and animals always seem to need a person around! With kids spread from Washington to Georgia, I like to travel to see them and spend time with them!
Thanks for the infomercial, Jo. I’ve had other vacuum sealed beef, so will be interested to see how “your” farm compares. Best of luck on Hannah’s new venture!
Even though I did not grow up on a farm, I had cousins who did. I enjoy reading about farm life. I will have to check out their FB page.
Lately I’ve been more and more tempted to get a fb…. but I always hold back. Not sure why lol. I do like Instagram. And I enjoyed your post. We switched from grocery store meat to meat from a local butcher who sources meat locally. It was a good decision. We bought Magalista pork from a family a ways north of us and it was soooo good. Came cold packed. They get to live a normal outdoor life. I sure feel better about the meat we consume if I can have some assurance that it’s been humanely raised. One of my sons works for a local pig farmer. He started out working with the daily care of them and now trucks them between facilities. Sadly, it’s not an ideal life for the pigs. They aren’t cruel to them, but the sheer amount of them together is so unnatural. No animal should live its whole life inside a barn. The best time those pigs have is when they go for a ride in the semi. All this to say, please people, when possible, know where your food comes from. Well done to the young woman farmer! Thanks for telling us about her.
If you want to follow, Achen Farms also has an Instagram account.
Will always enjoy farming stories like this. Grew up on a farm and will always have farming in my heart even though I haven’t lived on one for 55 years and things have changed drastically now for farmers. Follow Achen on FB even though I don’t live close. Go Hannah go!