Shop Accommodates Family Operation

Every family needs a home away from home. For the Boender family, it's right outside their farmhouse. A 64x192-foot shop serves as the family's farm headquarters, business center, and favorite location for daily family reunions.

The shop is the central meeting spot for Boender's six adult children and 16 grandchildren, who are spread out over a 35-mile radius.

Housing their machinery, seed business, and custom work business, the multipurpose shop and storage structure is valuable for such a large and diversified farm.

"The shop is a home base for the boys and me, with the benefit of a clean, safe environment for grandkids to be around," Steve says. "I count it as a blessing as a dad to be able to have a place that we can all work together as a family."

The five Boender sons are in charge of the machinery trading, most purchases, and technology. Steve's roles in the operation are being the director along with his most important job – as Grandpa.

"I strongly feel you need to give kids responsibility and affirm them; that's why they're in the operation today," Steve says.

One of the most important functions of the building, according to Steve, is the office.

"The shop is where all of our early mornings start. It's where we meet with crop input folks and where neighbors come and join us for coffee," Steve says. "Relationships are important, not only in family, but in the community. Our office is a strategic part of the operation. I didn't realize it would be such a valuable asset."

Additional shop features

The Boender's top shop has three 24-foot doors with three individual bays. One is for the shop; the other two are connected to machinery and seed storage. The gable end serves as washroom and hosts a 40-foot apron on two sides of the shed.

Having a heavy-duty and durable building was necessary, Steve thought. So they added 8 feet of cement sidewalls, with 4 feet in the ground and 4 feet out of the ground.

"When you bang up against the wall with machinery or a skid loader, it needs to be structurally sound," Steve says. "Also, I wanted the building to last for my sons in the operation and grandkids coming along."

Three aisles of storage tubs organize their diverse operation's parts. The first aisle is for machinery and anything with a motor, the second for tools, and the third is for technology.

"With such a growing demand and use of technology, we have a whole aisle dedicated to tubs of cables, monitors, ends, and technology in general," Steve explains.