Dedicated to agriculture

HAMMOND — Community involvement, sustainable farming practices and animals raised with care have earned the Jostock family the 2026 Farm Family of the Year award for Wabasha County.

Rolling J Farm, established in 1942, remains nestled in the hills near Hammond, overlooking the Zumbro River. The Jostock family farm originated as a dairy farm and a farrow-to-finish hog business; it operated that way for two generations. Then, in 1991, Robert and Audry Jostock passed the farm to their son, Edwin, and his wife, Lynn, who raised four children while keeping the farm thriving.

While Edwin and Lynn still reside on the home farm, Alan, the couple’s son, and his family — wife, Betsy, and daughters, Gracelyn and Alexa — have taken on most of the farming responsibilities present today.

“Dad is still farming,” Alan said. “A lot of the decision making has been turned over to me, but we share duties when we can, and he helps out almost daily.”

Currently, the Jostocks have 25 farrow-to-finish hogs, 150 head of beef cattle and 250 acres of cropland. The family transitioned out of dairy in 2015 and now raises cow-calf pairs and replacement heifers.

“We have just as much work now, but the time schedule isn’t as demanding,” Alan said.

Edwin was supportive of the transition.

“Dad milked cows his whole life,” Alan said. “He’d seen the market shifts and weathered the storms of the milk prices. …  He’d had his share of milking cows. He saw it was becoming harder and harder to get your return with a small herd.”

The farm now raises commercial beef, focusing on Red Angus, with a portion sold direct-to-consumer. Building clientele is an important factor for the Jostocks but not their major focus, with beef prices currently at market highs.

“We keep our prices competitive,” Alan said. “We understand not everyone can afford to buy a half or quarter cow, so if it doesn’t sell, then we take it to the sale barn. … It’s a horse apiece right now.”

The Jostocks are also contracted farmers with Niman Ranch, Betsy said. They raise Berkshire and Duroc hogs just as Robert and Edwin did.

“We raise our animals humanely and sustainably,” Betsy said. “No antibiotics or hormones, no tail cropping or teeth clipping, and they need certain-sized pens that align with California standards.”

Niman Ranch is a large network of ranchers and farmers in the United States who support rural farmers choosing to make farming their livelihoods. It processes, packs and ships quality meat supplied by over 600 farms straight to grocery stores and restaurants around the country.

“It’s a niche market that we’ve been involved in for over 20 years now,” Alan said. “Family farms raising diversified livestock are becoming less and less, but for me, it was never really a question. It was a lifestyle and a passion that I grew up with.”

The Jostocks farm 250 acres of diverse crops, rotating corn, soybeans, hay and small grains.

“What started out as a CSP (Conservation Stewardship Program) 10 years ago started a movement, one that has continued to snowball into becoming 100% no-till on the farm,” Alan said.

The high ground on the Jostocks’ farm is highly erodible, Alan said. Cover crops, diverse crop rotations and contour stripping were efforts his grandfather and father both used when they were conventional-tillage farming to help prevent washouts and keep the soil from running down to the river. No-till methods now leave the ground stable and help prevent erosion.

“My dad and I always joke that Grandpa would be speechless if he saw what we were doing now, … pulling into a corn stubble field and planting beans without ever touching it (the soil),” Alan said.  “The amount of change we’ve made between what we always did before to what we’re doing now is pretty impressive to see.”

Betsy stems from a family of crop farmers, so while she does work off the farm, she, Gracelyn and Alexa help with chores such as vaccinating, sorting and loading animals, running the skid loader and hauling hay bales. Alan is a relief driver and helps with trucking in his slow time.

Gracelyn and Alexa are involved in 4-H and show rabbits, hogs and beef cattle. This year, they earned blue ribbons in showing hogs and reserved champion status in showmanship.

The Jostocks are members of the Wabasha County Pork Producers and the Wabasha County Cattlemen’s Association, often participating and volunteering their time with community involvement such as FFA Ag Day at school and the FFA petting zoo.

“They love taking the piglets to these events,” Alan said. “Seeing the amount of people that interact with them (the piglets) makes my daughters proud they have a family farm.”

The Jostock family also attends the Minnesota State Fair every year to volunteer with the Minnesota Pork Board. By being actively involved in the community, Alan and his family are following in the footsteps of his parents. Over the years, Edwin and Lynn have been involved with the boards of directors for Minnesota Milk Producers Association and Plainview Milk Products Cooperative, and they have also held roles with the Wabasha County Farmers Union and Zumbro Township Board  and served as 4-H club leaders.

Alan and Betsy serve on the Hammond City Council and are involved in the Minnesota Farmers Union in Wabasha County. Alan also serves on the Land Stewardship Project’s Soil Health Steering Committee.

Their efforts — at home and beyond the farm gate — have not gone unnoticed.

“All these things take quite a bit of time,” Alan said. “It’s important to get involved, and it is quite an honor to be recognized.”

As last year’s winner of the Wabasha County Outstanding Conservation of the Year award and this year’s Farm Family of the Year, the Jostocks have reasons to take a moment to celebrate.

“There have been challenges, but it keeps getting better,” Alan said. “I’ve learned a lot over the last 10 years on how to make it all work and what it takes to work on our farm, and at this point, I’m not turning back.”