Pat, Karl, Kris and Jackie Duncanson
The official Top Producer of the Year ceremony (as presented by Greg Vincent, Top Producer Editor):
Next, we’ll move west to the Minnesota prairie and take a look at the Duncanson Growers. Of course, you better look quick because these four equal partners are always on the move. Each of the Duncansons, Pat, Karl, Kris and Jackie, all take an active role in managing different aspects of the farm and they are equally dedicated to giving back to their community and industry.
They all seemingly run 1000 different directions each day, but they haven’t done this all at the expense of their business.
Pat and Karl Duncanson’s father taught them to always look for ways to better their operation.
Among the most challenging areas for their operation is managing environmental aspects with their land with the need to use manure from more than 5,000 hogs on feed and a 900-head beef feedlot. This includes tiling on 30' spacing in some fields to help increase drainage, which has resulted in increased yields on fewer inputs and lower nitrogen rates.
From the community perspective, all four Duncansons are involved and work hard to give back … something Pat and Karl’s mother, Mary, is very proud of. She told me when we went out to shoot the video for the report that when Kris and Jackie joined the family, she told them if they wanted to be involved in the industry, she would always babysit for them. Something tells me Mary did a lot of babysitting for Pat and Kris’ three kids and Karl and Jackie’s four children. I’m only going to give you a brief rundown of their activities.
Pat is a leader in a regional Precision Ag Group and serves as a member of South Central College Foundation Board and is member of the board that selects regent candidates for the University of Minnesota. He is also a graduate of TEPAP, as is Karl.
Karl serves on the local school board and is a member of the University of Minnesota Outreach Center-Waseca Board.
Kris is a former chair of the Minnesota Soybean Association and is a past board member of the American Soybean Association. She currently serves on the Minnesota Governor’s Biodiesel Task Force and is a Masterpiece Art Instructor.
Jackie serves on the Minnesota Horse Racing Commission and has previously served as a director on the Minnesota Beef Council and on the Minnesota Pollution Control Citizens Board.
For More Information
2009 Top Producer of the Year: Lon Frahm
