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April Hemmes on her family farm often referred to as her empire

The Family Farm: A FarmHer’s Empire Back Home

April Hemmes was born into a farming family. And to put it simply, farming is part of who she is.  Following college at Iowa State University, April found her way to Washington, D.C. There she worked for a lawmaker.  In 1985 she came home to Hampton, Iowa, to farm and hasn’t looked back since.  On my trip to April’s farm, which she lovingly and proudly refers to as “The Empire”, I arrived just as April was getting ready to head out to a nearby field with her seed dealers. 

An Empire Fit for a Farming Queen

They were getting ready to fly a drone over her fields to check the status of the crops, look at some damaged plants and assess some of the wet areas.  April, like every other farmer in Iowa that week, had been anticipating starting harvest already. But early fall moisture took its toll and forcing them to wait for the crops to dry out a bit more.  

We drove to the top of a hill on her Empire where you could see corn as far as the eye could see in one direction and soybeans in the other, dotted with a few wind turbines throughout. 

The three seed dealers, a father, and his two sons flew the drone around April’s land, looking at a few areas of excess moisture and damage. 

A woman standing in a corn field with three seed dealers

A Love and Appreciation for the Land

As we watched, April explained to me how much this land and the waterways around it mean to her as she pointed out the buffer strips she has installed to help with runoff.  She also converted an area of low lying land, which was nearly always overly wet, to a conservation reserve wetland.  

From there she drove us around the rest of her land, stopping to point out the second-largest Cottonwood tree in the state of Iowa.  Its trunk was bigger around than anything I had ever seen! 

This Land Is Her Land

As she talked about the land, the pastures where cattle graze, and pointed out where her ancestors once lived, it was clear that this is April’s place. 

A woman walking through a corn field right before harvest

It is where she belongs and she loves it more than anyone else ever could, aside from her dad and grandfather who came before her.  

Through a few more fields of nearly dry enough corn, we went, stopping along the way to check an ear of corn for moisture.  The corn was nearly ready for harvest.  Back to the home place we went. This is where April lives with her husband, who does not farm. 

We pulled back to the combine so April could show me the modern, technology-driven machine that enables her to harvest the grain quickly and efficiently – important facts since she is the sole FarmHer on the farm.  

A woman driving a John Deere combine

A Quick Combine Ride

Much to my surprise, instead of April climbing up into the combine, she ushered me up into the driver’s seat.  She showed me the various controls before turning me loose to start and drive the combine over to the edge of the field.  It was incredibly exhilarating and completely empowering to drive such an awesome piece of machinery.  Just think of all of the people who can eat because of how efficiently that machine works!  

We finished out the day by talking and sharing a few laughs about being a woman in agriculture. 

Leading Not Only an Empire

April has dealt with more than her fair share of frustrations, but she stuck with it, does her job, and does it well. Through this, she has gained the respect of her peers.  So much so that she has been elected to leadership positions in multiple ag organizations – positions which have taken her all over the world, sharing her story of agriculture.  

Boots climbing up a ladder of a John Deere combine

April’s story of agriculture is one that needs to be shared.  A young woman can grow up on a farm in the middle of Iowa, go to college, even find her way to D.C. and back home to her empire again. She can raise a family, run the farm, grow it, operate any kind of machinery, work with her peers, share what she does around the world, and come back home for harvest.   A FarmHer can do anything she sets her mind to…just look at April Hemmes…because she did.

April Hemmes standing at her farm

One thought on “The Family Farm: A FarmHer’s Empire Back Home

  1. April,

    I hope you are well…and congrats on this year’s record harvest. I heard your interview on NPR last night and really admired how positive you are and what an exceptional progressive thinker you are in how you look for alternative methods for overcoming traditional challenges in farming. I work for a technology company, SAS Institute, based out of Cary NC. We have an AgTech Division that is applying very forward-thinking technological solutions to manage or eliminate traditional challenges in agriculture and agricultural supply chain. I would love to have the opportunity to speak with you, learn more about your world and the great accomplishments you are driving and see if there may be places to partner in order to drive increased progress for you and others in farming. I would be happy to accommodate your availability for a 30 minute call. If you are interested you can reach me at [email protected], or at 763-242-6849. Thanks April. Peace.

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