City gal turns to farm life

There has always been a familiar saying, “You can take the boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the boy.”

But what happens when a girl is involved?

For Beth Schroht, it might read something more like: “You can take the girl out of the city, put that girl in the country and never look back again.”

Schroht finds herself in the middle of farm country in Steele County, an unassuming spot for someone who less than a decade ago lived in the big city.

“I have no farm background,” Schroht says. “I grew up in Rochester and moved to south Minneapolis.”

What forced Schroht out of Minneapolis is nothing short of extraordinary.

“A neighbor called the police on us because my kids were making kid noises on the swing set in the back yard,” Schroht said. She and her family of four children had had enough. “I think kids should be able to be kids,” she said.

Schroht began a search within a one-hour radius of the Twin Cities to find a farm setting with minimum of 5 acres where she wouldn’t have to worry about such nonsense any longer. In 2017, she landed on a small acreage in northwest Steele County. “I bought the farm on the spot,” she recalled.

Once they moved onto their new farm, the first thing the kids asked for was a horse. She immediately obliged them and bought a horse. The next thing up on the wish list was rabbits.

Schroht went to a bunny auction in Jackson. Instead of coming home with bunnies, she ended up with five Jersey bull calves, which she purchased for $5 each. Her family named them after bunnies like Bugs Bunny, Thumper and Theodore.

“I didn’t think it through,” she admitted, adding she soon sold off four of them. However, their favorite, Moo, laid in the pond in the sun with the chickens.

Then it was wintertime—something she had never experienced before with country life. She piled a “small bank” of snow in the road at the end of her driveway, much to the chagrin of the county plow operator, who later became her father-in-law.

“I had never plowed before in my life,” Schroht said. “I was about to cry.”

She needed some hay for the cows, and at the suggestion of the plow operator, she made the 2 ½ mile trek around her farm to get some hay from Aaron Schroht. Their kids became best friends. And, well, let’s just say Beth became close to Aaron. They got married in 2021. She sold her farm and moved to Aaron’s, a farm that has been in his family for five generations.

The Schroht farm features an organic dairy operation of 200 cows and 450 acres of corn, sorghum and pasture. They milk up to 70 Holsteins twice a day. They also have horses, sheep, chickens, rabbits and hogs.

“We have everything but llamas,” Schroht said with a smile. “We went hog wild into it.”

Aaron and Beth now enjoy a blended family of seven children ranging in ages 6 to 17. They are involved on the farm and members of the Deerfield Get There 4-H Club.

During the recent Steele County Free Fair, Schroht juggled a hectic schedule of many animals in 4-H and Open Class competitions. In fact, she needed a large binder to keep track of all the animals: 20 cows, 8 sheep, 7 rabbits, 5 horses and 4 chickens.

“It’s overflowing,” she said of her binder. “I can’t put any more in it.”

The irony of all of this is Beth Schroht is allergic to most everything on the farm, including cows and hay. “I’m allergic to all plants and animals,” she said. Asked how she copes, she quickly replied: “Lots of Benadryl.” But, she added, “it’s worth it.”

She especially likes what 4-H and farm life have produced for her children. “It’s doing a lot for integrity, accountability, responsibility and perseverance,” Schroht said. “It’s all the things you’re looking for. My kids are not at home playing robots and doing just mindless things.”

Even though she’s been experiencing farm life for about nine years, Schroht admits she still has lots to learn, but it’s becoming easier as each year goes by. “It definitely has expanded the world I came from,” she said.

In addition to being a farmer, Schroht continues to juggle her first career of computers. She works remotely from home as a lead analyst for a company. She hopes to develop a five-year plan of getting out of the computer gig. “I want to retire from my day job and be a (full-time) farmer,” she said, adding with a chuckle, “That means I can’t keep buying show cows.”

As Schroht looks back on her complete about face with life over the past decade, she remembers what her mother once told her.

“She said if you’re going to do something, do it right and don’t half ass it,” she said. “I see so many people half ass everything they do, and that bothers me. Failure is always an option, but I’m going to work my hardest to make sure it’s not.”

Perhaps most importantly she loves her new surroundings away from picky neighbors complaining about kids wanting to be kids.

“I think it’s a lot safer and more secure,” Schroht said. “It gives them room to grow and be the individual you want to be.”