Hanging Christmas tree lights is not part of Milt Riedel's routine in December. Riedel said, ''I haven't got time for that.''

Riedel, who farms near Burt in Kossuth county, also lives without electricity.

Milt Riedel, who will be 80 years old this January 4, lives and farms in much the same way as many people did 50 or 60 years ago.

A visitor could call Riedel's place a living history farm but to Milt Riedel it is a farm and his livelihood. With an absence of electricity there are no lights, water faucet, water heater, or central heat that most people have come to take for granted today.

But Milt Riedel does have a telephone and a radio, battery operated of course. It was Riedel's grandfather who had the telephone installed and Milt Riedel described it saying, ''We got a modern telephone - underground,'' referring to the service line.

When asked if there might be a day when he has electrical power installed, Riedel said, ''It'd be nice.''

However, Milt Riedel is a very frugal man and he added, ''(It's) gettin' so it costs more money all the time, don't it?'' It appears that the Riedel farm won't be wired in the foreseeable future.

Riedel doesn't miss the convenience of water faucets either. He said, ''You don't use so much then.''

While most farm houses have an LP tank next to the house as a fuel source for heat, Milt Riedel has a wood pile leaning against his house conveniently located next to the front door. Riedel said he gets the wood - oak and pine - from a nearby pallet factory and it's ''free.''

Milt Riedel lives by himself on the same farm he has lived on since 1925. He has never married and been alone since his sister's death in 1975.

The Riedel farm, 120 acres in size, is a Century Farm with the deed made out to Riedel's grandfather and dated September 2, 1882. Riedel said his grandfather paid $7 dollars an acre for the farm.

Riedel used horses for farming until the late 1960s. He said he doesn't miss horses but it was nice to be around them.

Milt Riedel rents out the bean ground and this past Spring planted 27 acres of corn with his John Deere B and 290 John Deere planter. Riedel plants with a wire because he believes in cultivating the corn both ways.

The corn is picked and put in a crib for shelling later. Some corn is sold as grain and some is fed to Riedel's cattle.

Riedel keeps around 20 head of Shorthorn cattle and had a calf crop this Spring of 7 steers and a heifer. He will feed the steers to around 500 pounds and sell them at a sale barn.

Milt Riedel does not hire any help on his farm. Even when baling hay he drives the baler with the wagon hooked to it and stops every 6 or so bales to move the bales to the rear of the wagon.

This year's corn harvest has not been completed yet with about 20-25 flare wagons of corn to be harvested. Riedel's B tractor got wet last Fall and he has had trouble getting it started.

But the corn is standing well and Riedel is not very worried about getting the job finished soon. His plan is to load his wagon one day and unload it the next. When the days were longer he could load and unload a wagon in a day.

Riedel is confident he will get his corn picked later but for now he said, ''It's so damnable cold, I'm not going out now.''

In the meantime Milt Riedel is watching the deer and pheasants nibble away at his yield as he waits for better days to harvest. He doesn't mind providing for the wildlife saying, ''I don't belong to Pheasants Forever but I am forever for the pheasants.''

The grove around Riedel's farmstead is littered with machinery that ranges from worn out to still in use. Riedel still has the grain binder in a shed his father bought when he started farming in 1915. He also has the single row cultivator his grandfather bought before 1900.

A 1918 Mogul tractor, bought new by Riedel's father and coincidentally the same age as Riedel himself, is parked in the trees. Riedel said, ''We used it to shred fodder and grind a lot of feed. ''It's no longer in use because it ''had the hell worked out of it,'' said Riedel.

Milt Riedel's day begins when he rises at 5:30 in the morning. He then makes breakfast on a cook stove and listens to the Algona radio station to "find out the news and who died off," said Riedel. ''If I didn't listen to the radio, I wouldn't know what's going on.''

Riedel then does his cattle chores and then may head for town to take care of business.

Milt Riedel work day ends ''when it gets dark,'' and he spends his evening listening to the radio lit by a kerosene lamp and is usually in bed by 9:00.

As he approaches age 80 Milt Riedel remains spry although he said, ''I don't feel like I used to.'' He said he isn't sure if he will be planting corn this Spring but his planter sits in the grove, covered up, and ready to go.

Retirement may be on Milt Riedel's mind. What would Riedel do when retired? He answered, ''Nothing, may keep a few cows...go to more machinery shows.'' He attended Ageless Iron last summer and likes to take in shows at Albert City, Butterfield, and Belmond.

How about going south for the winter? Riedel answered, ''No, I don't know what I'd do there.''

When asked about the day when his health may fail and he would have to move to a nursing home where there would be heat, lights, and hot and cold water, Riedel said, ''I don't like to but I suppose I'd have to.''

Click here to return to My Stuff page
Click here to return to home page