Farmers
About Mike and Lynn Martz
WE HAVE NO SECRETS ON OUR FARM
No family ever sees eye-to-eye on every little thing, but here’s one thing we all agree on: We’re committed to running our farm in a humane, environmentally friendly way. We have no secrets on our farm, nothing we are ashamed of, so we want consumers to know our business is an open book.
IT’S GREAT TO WORK WITH FAMILY
We grow corn, soybeans and wheat on 6,350 acres. We can also raise 3,500 beef cattle at a time on our feedlot. Our son, Justin, works on the farm, as well as Lynn’s dad, brothers and our sister-in law. It’s great to be able to work with that many members of our family.
FARMING TOGETHER SINCE 1979
We’ve been farming together since 1979. That’s when we formed the Larson Farms Partnership with Lynn’s father, Ray, and her brothers, Dave and Norm. From there:
- We spent the first nine years managing the cattle backgrounding operation in Wisconsin. Backgrounding means raising calves on pasture before they go to a feedlot.
- In 1988, we moved to the main farm in Maple Park.
- Now I work with Lynn’s father, Ray, managing the feedlot. Here we use high-energy rations to “finish” the cattle, which means getting them ready for market.
- Lynn manages the cropping side of the farm while our sister-in-law, Barb Larson, handles the cattle billing.
BEING A FARMER
Our farming philosophy is to provide safe, nutritious, wholesome beef products to consumers with humane treatment of each animal and use production practices that are environmentally friendly. The best thing about being a farmer is seeing the fruits of our labor, so even though the weather and markets can be challenging, it’s very rewarding to see our accomplishments.
