This farmstead is in the MO river bottoms and was purchased by my grandfather in 1905. I was born in the farm house, but our family moved out of the bottom in 1954 due to the flooding in the late 40's and early 50's. In the 1960's a federal levee was constructed to protect the vast river bottom and my wife and I moved a trailer on the farmstead when we got married in 1972 and made our home there for 10 years. We had anticipated building a home on the farm, but memories of the floods prompted us to build elsewhere. The levee was topped in 1993 and we were glad we had a dry home to go home to, even though we lost our entire crop over night. The farm is still a mainstay in our farm operation. In Oct of 2005 the farm became a century farm, and our sons thought we should host an antique plow day to celebrate the occasion. It was so well received that it has become an annual event, and is held the last Sat in Oct each year. We usually have over 30 tractors and plows in attendance, and plow over 100 acres. The tractors parade in at noon and line up for spectator inspection after a complementary meal of brats, homemade sauerkraut, chili, homemade cinnamon rolls and cookies which is served outdoors in the autumn air. We invite everyone who comes to share in the meal whether they are participants or spectators. We normally feed about 150 people, and everyone takes time over the noon meal to share stories of times past and look over the tractors and plows.
—John W Stundebeck
It is believed that the barn in the upper right hand corner of the picture is the only original building on the farm. It has wooden pegs holding the loft beams in place. The original house on the homestead burned in 1907, and the existing house was built. My grandpa, grandma & dad lived in the smokehouse until the house was ready to live in. The house receives a new coat of paint periodically, but is only used for storage. We still have a trailer on the farm and it is a welcomed place to stay during the busy planting and harvest season, since our home is 16 miles away. The farm is owned by my brother & I. My wife and I have 4 children and 13 grandchildren. Our youngest son is the 4th generation to farm the land. Much of the land had grown up in willows, and was cleared down through the years as time and money would allow. With improvements and good stewardship the land has given us great returns. We cherish what our ancestors have entrusted to us, and we hope to pass it on to future generations in the very best of conditions.