Area ag leaders honored during annual program

The Farm and City luncheon organized by the Waseca Area Chamber of Commerce  drew about 230 people to The Mill event center at lunchtime on Thursday, March 20. 

Speakers Stacy Schroeder, a member of the Waseca city council, and De Malterer, a member of the county board of commissioners, highlighted the interdependence and richly interwoven experiences of area businesses and residents, regardless of whether they are located inside or outside a set of city limits.

Schroeder commented the area’s history and future are both “deeply rooted in the rich soil,” creating a “hub for innovation and collaboration.”

Malterer described her career as both a teacher and a partner, with her husband, in operating a farm. “I have been caught behind a piece of farm equipment making me late because it was traveling 20 miles an hour,” said Malterer lightheartedly. “And I have been the one driving that combine or other equipment while some of you were caught behind it.” Malterer said she is pleased to claim Waseca County’s 277,000 acres as her “little corner of the world,” and went on to say “Our fates and our futures are balanced on the ability to work together.”

Area legend Gyles Randall was selected to introduce Tom Trahms, the 2025 recipient of the “Waseca County Distinguished Agriculture Leadership” award. Trahms and his brothers operate Trams Farm Inc., in Alton Township near Janesville and manage an operation which produces 30,000 hogs each year. Trahms has served and continues to serve in numerous leadership roles with many regional and state organizations including Crystal Valley Cooperatives, the University of Minnesota Southern Research and Outreach Center (SROC), and the city of Janesville, where he has been both a council member and mayor.

Todd Stencel introduced Waseca County’s Outstanding Young Farmer for 2025, Todd Selvik. Selvik and his wife Meghan have three children, Sydney, Ethan and Olivia. Selvik farms nearly 1,900 acres in Blooming Grove township, and also shares in a hog operation which produces about 35,000 pigs a year. Selvik has served in leadership roles, including president and vice president for two statewide organizations of pork producers and has served as a delegate to the National Pork Industry Forum.

Christy Kallevig of the Waseca County Extension office introduced Tony and Cassie Schlaak, who with their four children Ashton, Owen, Evelyn and Hadley, comprise the Waseca County  Extension Farm Family of the Year. With his brother Colton, Tony continues to work the farm first owned by his grandfather Harlan and father Neil; he does custom field work and sells Channel Seed. Cassie teaches for Waseca Public Schools and was named the 2025 Teacher of the Year. The children are active in 4-H having shown swine, goats and horses. Hadley and Evelyn grow a pumpkin patch.

Said Tony, “This is a great honor. We have been chosen from among many deserving families.”

In his closing remarks, Waseca Area Chamber of Commerce president Mikhail Rostislavovich thanked event emcee Jamie Beckstrand, who is head of the Chamber’s agriculture committee, and all her fellow committee members for the work in planning and preparing the day’s events.

He closed saying, the work done by area agriculture professionals “strengthens our community and inspires us all.”