Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/903271
WWW.POTATOGROWER.COM 11 FEATURE - STEINMAN and office sit on that original farmstead. Like everyone else in those days, Gus used the old-fashioned kind of horsepower to get things done on the farm. With the onset of agriculture's mechanical age, Gus hung up the harness and handed things over to his only son, Herb—Michael's father— upon Herb's homecoming from the Korean War in 1953. Herb remains in Ashton to this day. Michael Steinmann is undeniably proud of the legacy left for him by his forebears. He remembers his grandfather fondly and cherishes the time on the farm he still gets with Herb. "My grandfather was a firm believer that you're only as good your word," he says. "So am I. If you say you're going to do something, you'd better darn well stick with it. "I'm very grateful to my dad for teaching me to work," he continues. "Thanks to him, I've never been afraid of diving in and doing anything. Hopefully, I've passed that on to my kids, too." Steinmann graduated from Ricks College (now BYU-Idaho) with an associate's in farm crop management and came back to the farm in the early 1980s with his wife Kim, a fellow North Fremont High alumna who grew up in nearby Squirrel, Idaho. But times were tough for young farm families, Hands weathered by a lifetime of hard work will soon be covered in the dirt and dust that attends harvest at Steinmann Farm. Hands weathered by a lifetime of hard work will soon be covered in the dirt and dust that attends harvest at Steinmann Farm. The day commences as seed potatoes are windrowed just south of Ashton. Michael Steinmann farms about 1,000 acres, with 400 of that in about a dozen varieties of seed potatoes Michael Steinmann farms about 1,000 acres, with 400 of that in about a dozen varieties of seed potatoes The day commences as seed potatoes are windrowed just south of Ashton.