The week of June 10, Farm Journal is celebrating the next generation of American agriculture. Our goal is to encourage you to plan for the future and cultivate multigenerational success through the transfer of skills and knowledge. Think tomorrow, act today to align your asset, resource and financial legacy.
Sweat ran across Sarah Tweeten’s temple as she hoisted another load of corn above her head for the slow and steady trudge across the field. It was 2016, and she found herself harvesting corn with a group of Ghanaian farmers.
The view of agriculture is very different there,” Tweeten says. “No one in Ghana seeks out to be a farmer because a farmer is a poor man’s job as it’s often sustenance farming.”
It’s an experience that has gone on to not only shape her view of global agriculture production but also her view of American farming as she steps into the tractor to plant her first crop as a full-time Iowa farmer.
“It’s a very different feeling planting a crop with skin in the game rather than getting an hourly wage,” Tweeten says.
Since her time in Ghana with AgriCorps, Tweeten has worked in agriculture education and for Iowa Corn Growers. Several years ago, her path, running parallel to farming, took a sharp turn toward the family operation.
“My older brother farmed for four or five years and decided it wasn’t what he wanted to do,” Tweeten says. “There are four of us, and the other three were offered the opportunity to farm. My siblings were not interested, but I was.”
For the first couple of years, she worked as contract labor, keeping her off-farm job. In 2021, she joined the partnership with her parents and uncle.
“I traded my labor for use of the equipment because as a young farmer, the cost of equipment is so high,” Tweeten says. “I entered the partnership at a certain percentage level, and now I’m starting to buy in on the equipment. That arrangement has been huge in helping me get my start, and I’m grateful.”
Conservation Conscience
Today, Tweeten is focused on making her mark within the operation.
“I’m getting involved in more of the management decisions, which gives me a deeper understanding,” she says. “We just got a new-to-us planter that has the ability to do variable-rate corn hybrids, so I sat down with dad to build new seed scripts for the first time.”
After noticing area farmers adopting strip-till, Tweeten and her dad attended workshops to learn more. This past fall, they went 100% strip-till with their own bar.
Next on her list are cover crops and biologicals in hopes of cutting back on conventional inputs. The chance to adopt technology and techniques alongside her dad makes their operation and relationship special.
“The fact that my dad is willing to try new things with me, isn’t something all young farmers have, so I’m really grateful for that,” Tweeten says.
Don’t Just be a Warm Body
From the fields of Ghana to her Iowa farm, Tweeten is passionate about the business of agriculture. Her advice for anyone considering a return to the family operation is simple.
“You can’t come back and be a warm body in the seat because anybody can do that,” she says. “You have to have something in mind you can bring or you can add to the operation.”
She stresses the importance of learning and being collaborative. Helping around the farm in high school is not the same as being a partner and writing the check. Debt has taken some getting used to as a farmer.
It’s a new career, paved by life’s previous steps and energized by the promise of tomorrow.
Sarah Tweeten also participates in the Farm Journal Foundation Farmer Ambassador program, a network of engaged producers who advocate for investment in modern agricultural developments to ensure access to food and nutritional security internationally. Learn more here.
