Preserving the Family Legacy

In the 19th century, John and Lusetta Roadman settled, operated and expanded their Grundy County farm. Early in the 21st century, Keene and Christian Roadman (John and Lusetta’s great-great-grandsons), took over ownership and responsibility for the farm.

What has the Roadman family sought through five generations of farm ownership? Larry (Keene and Christian’s father) believes that “each generation has sought to be good stewards of family, partnerships, land and community.”

Good Family Investment

John and Lusetta’s five children helped farm the land until other careers drew them away in the early 1900s. Earl, the fourth born, became a minister and educator, moving with his wife, Irma, throughout Iowa and South Dakota. In the 1940s, Earl and his son Keene began to purchase the interests of other second and third generation Roadmans. Keene’s son and daughter, Larry and Karen, completed these “uncle, aunt and cousin” purchases. When Karen and her children wanted to sell, Larry and his sons, Keene and 
Christian, bought their interests. 

“Some wonderful things, both large and small, have happened as family members have been able to get cash for their farmland interest. The graces have been amazing,” says Larry.

Good Partners

Just two families have farmed the Roadman land over the 90 years since the Roadmans were active farmers. From 1927, three generations of Dike, Iowa’s Petersen family lived on and operated the farm. Since 1994, the Dudden family has farmed the acres as part of a larger family farming operation. With the recent presence of Kyle, Gavin and Keaton Dudden, the Roadmans are currently working with three generations of the Dudden family.

Since 1990, Hertz Farm Management has worked with the Petersens, Duddens and Roadmans to strengthen and grow the farm operation. In the last three years, Morgan Troendle has assumed responsibility as farm manager, moving the Roadmans into a second generation relationship with Hertz and the Troendles.

“We could not overstate the value, experience and enjoyment of working with our farming partners,” exclaims Larry.

Photo: All those currently involved in the multi-generational operation on the Roadman Farm.

Good Farming

“Early on Hertz encouraged us to fully tile our tillable acres. The combined work of Hertz and our operating partners enabled us to get our first seed corn production contract in 2005,” exclaimed Larry.

“Over the last twenty years, the Roadman farm transitioned out of livestock production. Hertz helped us use the federal Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) to plant our rough pastureland in trees, and then guided us as we placed over a quarter of our land in conservation easements,” says Larry. 

It is current conservation and environmental opportunities that draws the interest and involvement of Keene and Christian Roadman. They are working with Morgan Troendle, Kyle Dudden and Iowa State University (ISU), in piloting two conservation research programs, STRIPS (Science-based Trial of Row Crops Integrated with Prairie Strips) and Saturated Buffers. Iowa State’s research is showing STRIPS to be an affordable 
option for garnering combined conservation, environmental and production benefits. 

An ISU STRIPS publication reports that conversion of 10% of a crop field to strips of diverse, native perennials can reduce soil loss from that field by 90% and surface runoff of nitrogen by up to 85%. On one 80-acre field bordering on a stream, the Roadmans took 10% out of crop production for the STRIPS project and added a saturated buffer to the field’s tile drainage system. ISU measurements showed drainage water to contain 14 ppm before intervention, but just 2 ppm nitrates entering the stream after intervention.

The strips also provide needed habitat for wildlife, pollinators and beneficial insects. “I’ve never seen so much wildlife; deer, turkey, pheasants, coyotes, rabbits and squirrels” commented Kyle Dudden, after the first year of the STRIPS project.

“We have found this to be something we can get involved with, even though we are not farmers,” exclaims Christian. “We have the opportunity to develop new farming and conservation practices ….. and we have felt comfortable engaging with our Hertz managers, first Jeff and now Morgan, about our hopes and dreams for the future of the farm.” Keene summarized that “it is so good to have Hertz help move farm operations forward and transition involvement and responsibility to our generation.” 

“It is great seeing Morgan, Kyle, Keene and Christian working together to implement the STRIPS and saturated buffer program,” adds Larry.

Giving to the Community

Earl Roadman donated 10 acres of the farm to Grundy County in memory of his father, for use as the John Roadman Memorial Park. It has served for almost fifty years as a picnic spot, fishing hole and nature preserve for individuals and families from the surrounding area. The Conservation Easement recently added to the 110 acres surrounding the park insures the park will be protected from development encroachment well into the future.

Several years ago, Jeff and Morgan Troendle, and Kyle Dudden proposed that the Roadman farm join with Hertz, the Duddens, other area farmers and businesses, and Orchard Hill Church (Cedar Falls) in the church’s Food Resource Bank (FRB) program. With 80 acres of the farm’s land, the FRB program employs donated field inputs, equipment, trucks, labor and “Seeds of Hope” (seeds purchased with funds raised from “sponsors” of each row of the crop) to produce a corn or soybean crop. The funds raised from sale and donation then go to local (Waterloo) and international (Cameroon, Mozambique and Haiti) projects of the Orchard Hill Church.

Family, relationship, fertile land, productive work, partnership, community and grace are felt, explored and celebrated as generations of “farmers” eat and talk at a fall picnic in the John Roadman Memorial Park. The legacy lives on. 

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