For Craig Halfmann, a sugarbeet grower from Stephen, Minn., 1984 was a trying yet pivotal year.
His father, Paul, had passed away unexpectedly, leaving a farm, a newly established business and some tough decisions for Craig and his wife, Marlys.
Paul was a creative farmer who loved to build things and work with metal. In 1971, with the help of Craig and a farm employee, he developed his passion into a manufacturing business on his farm. He called the new venture H&S Manufacturing and began building row crop equipment for the sugarbeet industry in the Red River Valley region of Minnesota and North Dakota.
When his father died, Craig was familiar with the business but had to decide if he wanted to move forward with it by himself.
“It was a difficult time,” Craig said. “I was young. I had a young family and had to make some hard decisions fast.”
Craig and Marlys decided to carry on with H&S Manufacturing, due to their strong desire to see Paul’s vision and business thrive. Between that and farming, those early years were challenging for the young couple.
“We were working hard to develop a dealer network and get products built and delivered on time,” said Craig. “We were trying to keep up with change, but we were small. Our facilities were too small and we were trying to expand.”
They were also trying to balance the demands of the business with those of their young family.
“It wasn’t easy, but we made it work,” said Craig.
Company expansion
Now, nearly 40 years later, their hard work has paid off. Craig and Marlys’ daughter, Katie Adolphsen, lives in Grand Forks, N.D., with her husband and three young children. Their sons, Brent, 30, and Brian, 27, hold degrees in business management from the University of North Dakota. They are partners in H&S Manufacturing and in the 3,500 acre family farming operation that includes sugarbeets, dry beans, soybeans, corn and wheat.
The newest addition to the Halfmann family is Brian’s wife, Paige. She and Brian were married in November and live in Stephen. Paige works at a local bank and helps out during planting and harvest time. Brent recently became engaged to Katrina Wahlin, a first-grade teacher from Crookston, Minn. They will marry in November and reside on the family farm, where Brent currently lives.
Since 1984, H&S Manufacturing has expanded its product lines and become one of the nation’s premier manufacturers of beet carts, row crop cultivators, deridgers and ridgers, row crop ditchers, broadcast sprayers and planter attachments. The business also specializes in grab roll repair in beet-growing regions of the United States. The Halfmann family works with dealers in nine states and Canada, and has sent equipment to the Ukraine. They have 10-to-12 full-time employees and about eight part-timers.
“They are all locals,” said Craig. “The labor force is always a challenge, but we have our core people. We have one employee who has been with us since 1978 and another one who has been here since 1990.”
Creating a great work atmosphere is a top priority, according to Marlys Halfmann.
“Our relationship with our employees is very important to us, and we provide a safe and healthy work environment,” she said. “We have an understanding attitude and have coffee with them on a daily basis.”
Craig said their employees receive on-the-job training and work in a diverse setting.
“We try to find people who have good work ethics and are willing to learn and tackle different jobs,” he said. “It’s not an assembly line here. They are not just doing one thing all the time.”
The factory itself has expanded.
“Our original shop was built in 1976, but we have built onto it since then,” Craig said.
The H&S Manufacturing facility, which includes the paint shop and assembly building, is now about 15,000-square-feet and there is also a 12,000-square-foot main shop.
Changing times
Craig and Marlys have seen many other changes over the past four decades.
“The 1970s was when the row crop cultivator came into its own,” Craig said. “The next change was the 24-row planter in the ’70s. In the ’80s and ’90s the equipment really started to grow in size and expanded quickly.”
The 1990s brought advancements in sugarbeet equipment.
“In the early ’90s, we began building beet carts, as well as the ferris wheel and scrub chain,” he said. “Then broadcast sprayers really took off in the late ’90s.”
One thing that has remained the same since 1984 is that the close-knit family still works together on a daily basis.
“Marlys does all the bookwork for the farming operation and the manufacturing business,” Craig said. “Brian and Brent are responsible for most of the farming.”
The newest addition to the Halfmann family is Brian’s wife Paige. She and Brian were married in November of 2014 and reside in Stephen. Paige works at a local bank and helps out during planting and harvest time.
Effective communication is the key to working together successfully, according to Brent Halfmann.
“We’re always bouncing different ideas off of each other and we work together to come up with what we feel is the best decision,” he said. “Dealing with family can have unique challenges. The gloves are off, so to speak, but if there is a disagreement it’s always worked out and everyone goes home on good terms. The disagreements seem to be pretty short-lived. We’re all working for the same goals with the businesses.”
Craig feels that listening is also very important in their relationship.
“As long as they listen to me, then everything’s fine,” he joked.
Farming future
Working on the family farm was what Brent Halfmann always wanted to do, and his mother fondly remembers he was interested in farming from a young age.
“He farmed on the living room carpet with his toys, and we couldn’t step on his tracks or he would get upset,’’ she said.
Brian said that it was a bit more challenging for him to find his fit with farming.
“I always enjoyed being part of the farm. After my college graduation, I sold soybean and corn seed for awhile, but then stopped in order to farm full time,” he said. “It wasn’t until I became fully active within the farm that I realized it is where my passion lies. Between the family farm and the manufacturing business, there are endless amounts of opportunity.”
Their father said that Brian and Brent share managerial duties and are experiencing all aspects of the businesses on a daily basis.
“They are learning about building things and marketing them, which takes time,” Craig said.
In the early days of H&S Manufacturing, the Halfmanns chose “Farm Equipment by Farmers, for Farmers,” as their advertising slogan. They felt this phrase accurately described their products and goals.
“We fabricate the steel ourselves in our factory,” Craig said. “We order in supplies we can’t make ourselves, like hydraulic hoses and tires. We try to buy standard parts that can be obtained and repaired all over the United States, so that people can go to a local dealer and get help.”
Building beet carts
The family does their best to accommodate buyers’ needs, and said they get their best ideas from their customers.
“We adapt to what the farmers want, and we can do custom work to a certain degree,” Brent said. “We can also ship equipment overseas.”
Depending on their workload, the Halfmanns can typically build a beet cart in about 10 days.
“We test all of the equipment we build on our own farm,” Brian said. “We know where our strong and weak points are, and we communicate with our customers so that we can make changes.”
While Craig does hold some patents on the products made at H&S manufacturing, he said that patents in general are labor intensive and expensive.
“We don’t really pursue them,” he said.
Quality and providing the best possible product are their top priorities, according to Craig.
“We want to avoid failure at all costs,” he said. “Our reputation is built on the quality of the products we sell. A reputation takes 20 years to build and 15 minutes to ruin.”
The family also strives to have a close working relationship and personal contact with various dealerships across the country.
“The dealers are important to us for service and support, because problems can potentially arise from components we buy that fail,” Craig said. “They take care of us and we take care of them.”
Timeliness key
Building and servicing sugarbeet equipment can be challenging for the family during peak times of the year, such as planting and harvest.
“The challenges are like a roller coaster. We either have way too much work or not enough work,” Craig said. “A great staff allows us to keep up with everything, and we also have a great full-time employee on the farm. When we have technical issues with computers or things like that, Brian and Brent take care of it. Our motto is to ‘be timely,’ which means to be on time or ahead of time.”
That timeliness is what has created returning customers from farmers like Tom Kennelly.
“They don’t try to sell you something you don’t need and they take the best possible care of you,” said Kennelly, who grows sugarbeets and dry beans near St. Thomas, N.D. “We’ve had a beet cart from them, and I have row crop cultivators from them for dry beans and beets. Also, both of our beet sprayers are from H&S.”
Kennelly said he does business with the Halfmanns because of their fast service and availability.
“I remember one time when I was bandspraying Quadris and needed parts,” he said. “It was about 5:30 on a Friday night and rain was on the way. A simple phone call to them got me up and running about an hour later. They are always there when you need them.”
For Craig Halfmann, satisfied customers are the most rewarding part of his job.
“My favorite thing is when we put a product out and someone tells us that it’s a great piece of equipment that worked for them,” he said. “It’s great to hear someone say that a beet cart saved a crop during wet conditions. Our greatest challenge is developing new products that our customers need.”
Connecting with customers has also provided the Halfmanns with feedback they incorporate in their own operation.
“We heard about ridge tilling from some of our customers in the Crookston, Minn., and Grand Forks, N.D., areas,” Craig said. “We just started doing it in the past two years, so it’s a relatively new thing for us. We’re really pleased with the results because it has given us a greater yield and more sugar per acre.”
Looking ahead
Craig predicted that future challenges for H&S Manufacturing will include keeping up with the equipment demands of large farms and incorporating new technology.
“For the next five-to-10 years, we want to sustain what we have and stay competitive,” he said. “We are also working on getting more into social media in order to connect with our customers.”
In addition to their own businesses, the Halfmanns have a strong desire to see the American beet sugar industry and its growers succeed. Craig is a past president of the Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Association and past vice president of the World Association of Beet and Cane Growers. Brent Halfmann is currently serving his second year on the American Crystal Sugar Company’s Drayton Factory District Board.
“Being involved…provides good insight to what’s going on and what various challenges we’re currently facing,” said Brent. “I want to see this industry thrive for many years to come and hope to be a part of its success.”
Craig said he is very proud of his sons’ involvement with the family farm and the sugar industry.
“If your sons want to farm, it has to come from them, not you. It’s their passion, not mine,” he said. “I want to give them the opportunity and try to keep opportunities available. The rest is up to them. I told them a family farm is one of the most difficult things you can ever do. However, if you’re passionate about it, you’ll find a way.”
To learn more about H&S Manufacturing, visit www.hsrowcrop.com.