NEW MUNICH — Over 150 years of farm and family history is planted in the soil near New Munich where Phil Poepping is the fourth generation to raise dairy animals at his family farm.
Phil and his wife, Bonnie, raise steers and farm the same land that was settled by Phil’s ancestors 150 years ago. The couple milked 50 cows until 2021, when the herd was sold.
The current Poepping farm site was purchased in 1876 by Phil’s great-grandfather, Herman, who passed it on to his son, Gerhard, who passed it on to his son, Melvin. Phil and Bonnie took over the farm in 1988.
Not much is known about Phil’s early ancestors, but the family has more information about Phil’s grandpa, Gerhard. In addition to milking cows, Gerhard also raised pigs and chickens as a source of income.
“The old barn had wooden pegs holding the beams together,” Phil said. “We tore it down a couple of years after we built the new barn in 1968.”
The family home, in which three generations of Poeppings have lived, was not originally built on the property but was brought in.
“There was a mill just down the road, and there were two houses down there; Phil’s grandpa moved those two houses here and put them together at the farm,” Bonnie said. “That was in 1913, so we are not quite sure how they were able to do that.”
According to Phil, the original barn housed 15 milk cows and some horses, and pigs were raised in another barn. When Phil’s dad took over, they increased the herd to 25 cows in addition to the hogs. The Poeppings first started using milking machines in the 1950s; a milk truck would pick up the cans of milk and bring them to town.
Phil grew up using the step saver milking system until 1974, when they put in a pipeline system in the new barn built in 1968.
“Growing up, there were six of us, and we all had to help in the barn with chores,” Phil said. “I had two sisters and three brothers and we all had to stack hay, pick rocks and milk cows.”
When Phil took over the farm, they were milking 46 cows once he and Bonnie were married in 1984.
“When I took over, it cost $20,000 to replaced some stalls to the barn; Dad just couldn’t believe it, because it cost him $20,000 to build the whole barn,” Phil said.
An additional advancement Phil made to the farm was adding irrigation in the mid-1980s.
“That was the best thing we ever did,” Bonnie said. “Our land is very split. Some is heavy ground; some is very sandy.”
Phil said, they used to use traveling guns for irrigation, but due to the constant manual labor of moving them, he decided to put in multiple irrigation systems.
Taking over the family farm was the only career option Phil ever considered.
“I always knew I wanted to farm because when I was in school, I would rather look out the window and think about the farm than focus on schoolwork,” Phil said.
As Phil and Bonnie’s three children grew up and focused on their own careers, the couple said they chose to sell the cows before their bodies got too worn out.
“It was the quickest decision we made,” Bonnie said.
Phil agreed.
“It was tough seeing them drive out the yard with the cattle in the trailer, but we went to the sale barn, and after it was over, I was relieved,” Phil said. “It was our youngest son’s last summer home while in college, and I thought, ‘Do I really want his last summer home with us baling hay and milking cows?’ So that made the decision pretty easy.”
Since the Poeppings still have livestock on the farm, their children and grandchildren come to visit the farm and interact with the animals.
“The grandkids love the chickens,” Bonnie said. “We get more time for family now.”
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