By Amanda Dyslin
NEW ULM — Kurt Domeier wasn’t asked to take over his family’s farm in rural New Ulm. As the only son in his family, it was simply expected of him.
Decades later, retired and living with his wife of more than 50 years in New Ulm, he thinks fondly of his obligation and the life chosen for him, said his wife, Evelyn. He may not have understood it as a boy, but now he sees the importance of heritage, ancestral ties and roots.
Domeier carried on generations of farming on the homestead founded by John Domeier in 1888. Now his son, Anthony, is living on the farm and his wife’s two nephews are farming the property, keeping the Domeier farm in the family for about 120 years.
“My children intend to keep it in the family,” Evelyn said. “They probably won’t be farming it, but it will retain the family name.”
Designated a Century Farm by the Minnesota Farm Bureau, Brown County Historical Society staff interviewed the Domeiers and included their story in the new exhibit, “Stewards of the Land: Century Farms of Brown County,” which opens Friday. Sponsors include Gislason & Hunter law firm, Kraft Foods and the Brown County Farm Bureau, among others.
The Domeiers are one of more than 90 Century Farm families interviewed for the exhibit, coordinated by Sue Ullery.
The project has been in the works for two years, beginning with surveys sent to the 191 designated Century Farm families in Brown County. The society had little information in their archives about the families, so the exhibit developed into a research project comparing historical farm practices and the trends of Brown County Century Farmers.
Joel Cordes was hired as a research assistant to travel the county and talk with the families, take pictures of the farms and collect historical pictures. Volunteers helped, as well.
The goal was to gather a cross-section of family histories from every township in the county. The society coupled the gathered artifacts and stories with farming artifacts and information in their archives for the exhibit.
Artifacts include farming tools, old photographs and a 1930s/1940s farming kitchen built to show farming life during the Depression era. Rural electrification also is a focal point in the exhibit because it drastically changed farming practices and lifestyles of farming families.
“We asked, ‘Do the trends in Brown County correspond to the trends we found in our research in farming?’” Ullery said. “It’s the history of farming in Brown County with Century Farmers as our cases we’re basing it on. ... How did they persevere, and how did they survive?”
For the Domeiers, the family farm survived because of a sense of family responsibility, Evelyn said. But the Domeiers did not pressure their six children to take over the family farm. They wanted their kids to follow their own paths.
“In my husband’s case, he was an only son. He had two sisters, and it was kind of understood he would carry on the family business,” Evelyn said. “It’s hard to get a son to go into farming now.”
The Guggisberg farm, Evelyn’s family farm in Brown County, also has remained in her family. Her ancestors homesteaded the farm and her uncle later farmed there. Her cousin now lives on the property.
The Century Farm program, sponsored by the Minnesota State Fair and the Minnesota Farm Bureau, began in 1976 to recognize family farms at least 100 years old according to official land records. The farms have to be at least 50 acres and cannot have left family ownership at any time, although continuous residence on the farm is not required.
So far, more than 8,300 Century Farms have been designated in Minnesota, with more being added each year.
Visit www.fbmn.org/ for more information.
