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PINE RIVER - Cass County's Farm Family of the Year is the Kuschel family. They own and operate Rocking K Ranch, southwest of Pine River.

Susan Wake represented the University of Minnesota Extension Cass County Committee in presenting the award to the Kuschels Tuesday night at the Cass County Board meeting in the Ansel Town Hall.

When Morris Kuschel sent money home to his wife while he served in World War II, he instructed her to buy food or land. Stella planted a garden and began buying land. When Morris returned from the war in 1946, the couple began with a dairy farm on their land and had a small beef herd. They continued their dairy operation until their barn burned in the 1970s.

They transitioned into all-beef with Herefords and later switched to Angus as consumers switched their preferences. Today, they combine traditions from the past with new technologies.

Their commercial cow-calf ranch is completely family owned and operated today. Today, their family includes Morris and Stella's son, Tom and his wife, Linda. It also includes Tom and Linda's son, Miles, and his wife, Sarah, and their three children, Mackenzie, Kelcie and Rohan. Extended family and friends help when they need a larger crew.

The Kuschels use horses to handle their cattle. They use rotational grazing to manage their forages throughout the grazing season. They raise all their own mixed grass hay for their winter livestock feed. They sell direct from the ranch to feedlots all over the country.

The family is a member of Cass County Farm Bureau where Miles and Sarah serve on the board. Miles also serves on the Minnesota Farm Bureau board of directors. The Kuschels are members of the local cattlemen's association.

Tom was elected to the Cass County Soil and Water Conservation Board. Sarah and Linda coordinate the local scholarship pageant. Miles and Linda were elected supervisors on the Ansel Township Board.

Second publication rights after Brainerd Dispatch.

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