**Please pardon our mess - we are updating our website!***
Beginning in the 1950's, Chuck & Maxine Carney owned and managed the 300 acre farm.
Bob & Karen Carney purchased it from his Uncle Chuck in 1970. They built a house on the farm and moved their family here.
Bob and Karen raised their 5 children here on the farm. Bob worked off the farm for John Deere Co. and retired in 1993. Karen sometimes worked outside the farm. She always raised a large garden, and managed the household. After Bob retired from John Deere he soon started discussing his next retirement, from farming. Bruce and Connie agreed they wanted to be the next generation of Carney’s to operate the farm. Unfortunately, before the details could be formalized Bob passed away in 1996 from a heart attack.
In 1997 Bruce & Connie moved their family to the farm. Karen is still living on the farm, she is still actively involved with farm planning. She still helps raise a garden and spends time with her family including children, grand children and great-grand children. Karen has strong roots in the community and the Farrar United Methodist Church and when possible she enjoys traveling.
History of the farm:
1977
1995
2010
2019 Carney Family (pictured left to right)
Cheyenne holding Milo and Jared - Oliver, Cleo
Derek and Sadie, Ainsley, Maely
Amber and Kendel, Gabe, Cooper
Bruce and Connie
Bruce is retired from Weitz Construction Co. Connie is a housewife and together Bruce and Connie care for their grandchildren when needed during the work week. Bruce and Connie have 3 children, Amber, Jared and Derek.
Amber is an accountant for ISU. Amber and her spouse Kendel have two boys, Cooper and Gabe.
Jared is working construction full-time. Jared and Cheyenne have four boys, Oliver, Cleo, Milo and Lucas.
Derek is working at the USDA-ARS as a Agricultural Research Technician. Derek and his spouse Sadie have two girls, Maely and Ainsley.
You can never go back and capture that knowledge that is usually passed on from one generation to the next. When it’s gone, you have to find your own way. After 20 years off the farm, Bruce realized immediately that he lacked the necessary knowledge to manage and run a successful operation. This led him to seek out other ways to educate himself about cattle and grazing. He looked towards the Chips (Cow Heard Improvement Program) sponsored by ISU. He attended numerous pasture walks and grazing seminars. These programs showed him new and more innovative ways to pasture graze his livestock. In 1997, Bruce started rotational grazing.
Bruce has worked extensively with the NRCS & FSA Office and many other programs to try and accomplish a more sustainable way of life. He also used the CRP, EQIP & CSP Programs. Bruce really likes the CSP Program because it actually pays you for practices and conservation efforts you have already implemented on your farm. Bruce works closely with Practical Farmers Of Iowa in Ames.
Our farm has extra challenges as the creek that flows through our farm, flows directly into the 10,000 acre Chichaqua Bottoms Polk County Conservation Park & Wildlife Area. Bruce used the CRP Program to fence the cattle out of the creek that flows through our farm. This has had a positive impact on the water quality of the creek. There is much less soil erosion, nutrient runoff, and animal waste in the water stream.
About Us:
Carney Family Farms
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