MELODY KO PHOTOGRAPHY

color america: Little River Bottom

One Hundred Years of Farming 

Since 1904, Terry Loehnig's family farmed 250 acres of land at the "little river bottom" beside the Missouri River. 

These photos were made in September 2004 at the 56th Missouri Photo Workshop in Hermann, MO. 

  • Marilyn Loehnig, 59, watches her husband, Terry, drive off for another grueling day on the farm.  Terry’s grandfather bought the 1859 farmhouse in 1904.
  • Terry Loehnig, 59, drives his 1970 Chevy pickup full of corn to the grain elevator in nearby Rhineland, Missouri, where he will store this year’s bumper crop.  During the harvest, Terry will make the trip nine times a day.
  • “The fields are the best place to sing,” Terry says, pulling from his breast pocket an old German song he’s kept with him all summer.  “Insbruck, du wundershoene abendstadt,” he sings, which translates to Insbruck, you very pretty evening city.
  • Marilyn spreads her homegrown potatoes on the cellar floor, whose coldness and dryness lengthens the tubers’ shelf life.  With the exception of corn and soy crop, the Loehnigs eat everything they grow.  They can and store sauerkraut, jams and meats.
  • Since 1904, Terry Loehnig’s family farmed 250 acres of land beside the Missouri River. Most of the surrounding land is owned by large farmers.
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  • The Loehnigs share their farmyard with 12 cats, two dogs, two turkeys, a duck and dozens of chickens.
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  • Three generations come together on the farmhouse yard.  The Loehnigs’ grandchildren, Avery, 3 1/2 (left), and Brady, 8 months (back), make the sixth generation on the farm.  Their father, Kent Sherrow (left), is married to the Loehnigs’ daughter, Angela.
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  • Terry takes two of his 70 hogs to market, where they will be sold for meat.
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