Farms.com Home   News

Change to student aid formula would hit Iowa farm families

Darcy and Eric Wemark and their family milk nearly 600 cows at their dairy operation in Ridgeway, near Decorah in northeast Iowa.

The family also has 450 heifers, a 2,500-head swine facility and farms about 1,500 acres of corn and soybeans on land it mostly rents.

The couple’s eldest son, Carson, is finishing his first year at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge, where he’s studying agronomy. The 19-year-old plans to carry on in the family business, as does their eldest daughter, Addison. The high school senior plans to head to the University of Wisconsin-Platteville to study dairy science next fall.

Carson currently receives federal financial aid through a Pell Grant to help the family pay for the roughly $16,000 annual expense to send him to college, including tuition, fees, room and board, and other expenses.

Click here to see more...

Trending Video

Pandemic Risks in Swine - Dr. John Deen

Video: Pandemic Risks in Swine - Dr. John Deen

I’m Phil Hord, and I’m excited to kick off my first episode as host on The Swine it Podcast Show. It’s a privilege to begin this journey with you. In this episode, Dr. John Deen, a retired Distinguished Global Professor Emeritus from the University of Minnesota, explains how pandemic threats continue to shape U.S. swine health and production. He discusses vulnerabilities in diagnostics, movement control, and national preparedness while drawing lessons from ASF, avian influenza, and field-level epidemiology. Listen now on all major platforms.

"Pandemic events in swine systems continue to generate significant challenges because early signals often resemble common conditions, creating delays that increase spread and economic disruption."