NFU Blog

Some college students live in dorms, some live in luxurious apartments and some live in dirty, messy, “Animal House” houses. Kale Van Bruggen, along with his two roommates Josh and Jason, live in what has been nicknamed, the “Co-op House.”

Kale is a junior at North Dakota State University and is the President of NDSU’s Farmers Union Collegiate Chapter. Kale helped organize the group’s third Annual Charity Dodgeball Tournament last year, which raised more than $1,300 for Farm Rescue, a regional organization committed to helping farmers in times of need. Kale also enjoys attending NDFU’s summer camp, where he has been a counselor for the past two years.

“Serving as a summer staffer was a great opportunity for me to give back to the youth of Farmers Union what I was given as a child,” Kale said. “It’s an entirely new perspective, being on the opposite side of the fence. It was great to give back to Farmers Union by helping the youth of your state grow.”

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Watching the crowds surrounding the presidential candidates made me wonder. What are some of them so afraid of? 

By Richard Oswald, Missouri Farmers Union Member

I just got back from another [2] Presidential Summit in Iowa. I heard some new things, some old things, and I remembered a couple of lessons learned. I take my hat off to the people of Iowa. Your capacity for this stuff is remarkable.

Last year, for eight months, I was a politician. I saw myself as a populist: a man who lives and works among the people while seeking to better their lot in life. Too many times, though, I was more like a stranger in a strange land. I had trouble with that, but I learned something from my opposition.

Standing out in the crowd is one way to gain recognition and votes, and one way to identify a winner is by the number of followers that person has. Last year I called it the Republican Mafia.

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Like any other 25 year-old, Paul Schroeder likes to hang out with his friends, go to the movies, watch football games and attend live concerts, particularly J.B. Beverley and the Wayward Drifters. But unlike most people his age, Paul has a Masters degree in Range Science from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, has written a thesis entitled “Grazing System Effects on Cattle Diets in the Nebraska Sandhills” and is heavily involved in his family’s farm operation as well as Nebraska Farmers Union.

Paul was born and raised in Ulysses, Neb., a small town of less than 300 in the eastern part of the state. Paul currently helps run the Schroeder family farm with his parents Mike and Diane, also Farmers Union members, where they raise cattle, chickens, corn, beans, wheat and alfalfa. Paul first started helping his dad with the family farm when he was in high school, and has returned to help full-time after completing his college education.

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Rick Pfanner is a difficult farmer to track down.

Rick grew up on his family farm near Hunnewell, Missouri. Hunnewell is a small rural community of about 250 in Northeast Missouri, and the Pfanner farm is located four miles south, in the heart of Missouri’s farming country. After finishing high school, Rick began full-time in the business that his parents had started. For twenty-one years, Ricky, as his family and friends refer to him, has been running the family farm with his mother and two brothers. The Pfanner farm raises cattle and sheep and produces corn, beans, wheat and milo.

Although he doesn’t find his busy life allows him much free time outside of farming and Farmers Union, Rick enjoys hunting and fishing, but most of all enjoys spending time with his newborn son, Blake. Friday, Nov. 2, also just happened to be Rick, and his wife Dawn’s first wedding anniversary. Congratulations, Rick and Dawn.

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