Three years after Muller’s accident, he continues farming career

Mavis Fodness | Freelance reporter

Three years after a life-changing farm accident, 33-year-old Travis Muller is thankful he is able to continue working at a career he began in childhood on his grandparents’ farm north of Windom.

Today, Muller is a bilateral amputee, having lost portions of both his legs in the farm accident. Muller is one of thousands of farmers who are injured or killed in farm accidents across the U.S. each year.

Despite the life-changing event, Muller returned to operate Muller Farms, much like he did prior to the Sept. 23, 2023 accident.

Now, however, Muller works with a little extra caution since “things can happen fast.”

“Everybody is always in a hurry and I understand that. So am I. But that can be a big problem,” he said. “Just remember there’s always tomorrow for more work — take time to take safety seriously or you might not have tomorrow at all.”

Ag among most dangerous jobs

According to 2024 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting have the highest fatality rates among all industries in Minnesota with a rate of 16.4 fatalities per 100,000 full time workers.

“There are many factors that make farming dangerous,” said Emily Krekelberg, a farm safety and health Extension educator at the University of Minnesota. “Some of the major considerations are the physical nature of the job, the proximity to and use of large equipment and the unpredictable timing of some farm tasks such as field work.”

Grain bins are especially dangerous with 21 reported entrapments in the U.S., with six of those incidents resulting in a fatality. Five of those incidents were in Minnesota.

However, Krekelberg acknowledged many farm accidents go unreported, as farming does not fall under OSHA reporting requirements as most farms have less than 10 employees.

“A lot of data that is gathered comes from finding new reports about incidents or farmers voluntarily reporting via survey or research interview,” she said.

Like Muller, Krekelberg also recommends slowing down and thinking twice while working around the farm.

“Before taking any action of the farm, it’s important to have a level head and consider the action being taken,” she said. “Farming is a stressful job with often tight deadlines that can lead to frantic, poor decision making.”

9-23-23 was a ‘normal’ Sunday
A morning church service followed by bike rides on the mild, mid 70s sunny day had Travis Muller, his wife, Jasmine, and then 2-year-old daughter, Shaylie, home for an afternoon of chores.

On the top of the chores list was clearing the rest of the corn out of the 100,000 bushel grain bin in preparation for the soon-to-start 2023 harvest.

“I shouldn’t have been in a hurry, but we were going to start a little house project and I just wanted to get this done and get on to other stuff with my family,” Muller recalled. “It’s not like we were pressed against the clock or anything.”

Inside the grain bin was a power grain sweep, which moves along the bottom of the bin sweeping the grain into an auger and depositing the grain into the bin’s center, where another auger takes the grain out of the bin. The sweep saves time and hours of manual scooping with shovels and brooms.

Muller agreed to be inside the bin along with his uncle. His brother watched from the doorway.
“I was in front of the sweep — shouldn’t have been — but I was scooping corn away from the wall so that way when the sweep came around it would catch the grain and bring it to the middle,” he said.
Muller doesn’t remember the seconds leading up to the sweep’s metal auger catching his pant legs but remembers the quick thinking of his brother, Jordan, to stop the sweep and his uncle, Wayne, using his belt as a tourniquet. His dad, Scott, who was working outside the bin called 911.

The pain in his legs almost overwhelmed him.
“It was about 45 minutes until I got on the chopper that I was conscious for,” Muller said. “Once I got on the chopper, they gave me whatever they gave me and then it was like ‘thank you.’”

Both local and state media outlets reported on Muller’s accident and recovery at North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale. The most attention occurred in the weeks after the Sept. 23, 2023 accident. A Caring Tree account created by Jasmine kept friends and family informed on Travis’ condition and recovery progress.

She thanked the quick thinking of family members and emergency personnel for Travis’ positive outcome.

“As life changing as this will be and heartbreaking to lose his legs, the doctor said just a few more seconds and he would no longer be with us,” Jasmine wrote.

After 25 days in the hospital and seven surgeries, Muller went home.

Life different, much the same
Travis Muller is used to sharing images from years of competing in snocross events on social media. He used the same channels to document his recovery and the journey he underwent to return to operating the family’s grain farm.

“I have always hoped that my story would open a few eyes to farmers and workers alike to hopefully remind them of the dangers that are always lurking and prevent injury or loss (of life),” he said. “I’ve heard of too many grain bin accidents since mine.”

Even with farm equipment improvements, problems far too often force farmers into grain bins.
“Unfortunately we are not one easy invention away from curing that problem,” Muller said. “We just need to really use our heads, be safe and not be in a hurry.”

As a result of the accident, the Mullers have placed extra safety measures around the 10 bins that make up the grain storage site. Stop buttons for the power sweeps have been moved closer to the bin opening, which it can easily be reached from inside the bin. Tourniquets and first-aid kits are located in key areas.

A new, more safe power grain sweep was installed in one of the bins thanks to New Vision. The regional agribusiness donated a power grain sweep that uses rubber paddles instead of a metal auger to remove grain from bins.

In his recovery, Muller’s social media posts showed the progress he made working around the farm. He spent weeks in a motorized wheelchair after the accident and, six months after the accident, he was fitted with carbon fiber prosthetics through Limb Lab out of Mankato.

Early on in his recovery, Muller set a goal to do everything he did before the accident, if not better.
A year after the accident, Muller was back in the tractor doing fall fieldwork and, more importantly, he was playing daily with his daughter and helping his wife around the house.

“Life is much different and much the same,” Muller said. “Every morning when I put on both legs, that’s different. I for sure cannot do as many things as I would like to in a day, or as fast, but I can do a lot of things.”

Attitude is everything
Positivity has been paramount in Travis Muller’s recovery and return to farming.

Months after the accident, Muller tried to keep an open mind on what he wanted to do with his new chance at life. His thoughts always turned toward being able to keep on living on his late grandparents’ farm (which Richard and Dolores Muller established in 1950), a place Travis moved his family into prior to the accident. Travis wanted the farm operation to stay in the family.

“I only have one brother so really it’s me or nobody,” he said. “I definitely don’t want to give up the opportunity. I really do love where we live and the peacefulness of living on a farm and away from the city.”

Muller now has more respect for the inherent dangers involved on the family farm. He previously thought the chance of serious injury was greater in the frequent snocross events he raced than the chances he would be seriously hurt in a farm accident at home.

He credits a higher power in his change in perspective and ultimate recovery.

“No matter what you’re going through, there are most likely so many positives to be grateful for,” he said. “There’s a huge part of my story of what’s possible with God. I believe He allowed that to happen to teach me, grow me, but allow me to live and continue this life here on Earth and enjoy it with my family.”

 

Lake Benton artist expands work to
nationwide audience, now includes horses

Mavis Fodness | Freelance reporter

One cannot think of the American West without picturing cattle, horses and cowboys.

Fifteen years ago, Lake Benton artist Michelle Weber turned a hobby into an art career by transferring those images from her family’s cow-calf operation to canvas.

“I will always enjoy lifting a brush to canvas with a unique perspective on how I can best represent beef cattle and modern agriculture,” she said. “When I began stretching my wings behind the easel by painting pieces that ignite my fire, the horse surfaced quickly as a place where my heart feels happy.”

Three years ago, horses became everyday tools in the Weber cattle operation.

As a result, horses naturally began appearing more and more in Weber’s artwork after 2023.

Horse art garnishes a Texas show invite
In the fall of 2024, Weber set a goal to exhibit more of her original artwork at shows or galleries. She began the process by committing to sending out 24 applications to organizers across the U.S.

Within weeks, she received a potential invite to exhibit at the 42nd annual Roundup and Exhibition at the Museum of Western Art (MOWA) in Kerrville, Texas.

Darrel Beaucamp is the MOWA executive director.
He said the selection committee approved of Weber’s application. He was also encouraged by other Round Up artists who spoke highly of her artwork, which depicts a different Western lifestyle.

“Michelle paints from the unique perspective of a northern rancher,” Beaucamp said. “Her work is intimate — coming from her deep-roots in the rural agriculture scene.”

The annual Roundup exhibition focuses on the preservation and promotion of Western heritage. The event provides an educational platform and cultural enrichment to a diverse audience. As many as 60 artists are invited to submit original artwork. A meet-and-greet event at the opening of the three-month exhibition allows attendees to get to the know the invited artists.

Horses are the most common animal depicted in the Western artwork.

“The horse was essential to the American West, providing the vital mobility, power and survival tool needed to traverse vast, rugged landscapes,” Beauchamp said. “(Horses) completed transformed Native American societies, enabling the cattle ranching industry, and drove nineteenth-century expansion across the frontier.”

Instead of scenes from the 1800s, Weber’s artwork show horses from a more modern day perspective and with a softer edge to the scenes first captured by a camera. Her interpretation of the pictures undergo transformation when it goes to the canvas. She often blends and layers her subjects with various shades of brown, gray, red and black, later accenting areas in white, yellow and cream paint to highlight small points within the subject(s).

“Painting horses has absolutely pushed my untrained eye to see new shapes, muscles, textures and movements but I am a willing learner and I am up for the challenge,” she said. “The look in an eye or the flick of an ear can elevate a painting from a craft store special to fine art.”

For her first MOWA exhibit, Weber went outside her comfort zone. In a conversation with director Beauchamp, he challenged her to think small.
Traditionally Weber used canvases sized at 24- by 36-inches and 36- by 48-inches. Beaucamp wanted Weber’s artwork to be no larger than 10-inches.
“This posed an extreme challenge for me: How was I going to catch a viewer’s eye from across a crowded room on a 10- by 10-inch space,” Weber said. “I decided to focus heavily on lighting and a subject that would pull at the heartstrings —horses and little girls.”

The result was two small artworks called “Every Girls’ Dream” and “Little Hands; Big Heart.” Both paintings featured a close up of a little girl and a horse. Both were painted using shades of white and gray with a small touch of color.

“Little Hands; Big Heart” is currently Weber’s favorite creation involving a horse.

“It sold while I was down there, shining a light on my career while helping chip away at the imposters syndrome which creeps in from time to time,” she said.

Self doubt on her artworks’ popularity, Weber was invited to this year’s Roundup. She created two pieces using the larger canvas sizes she’s more comfortable.

The result was pieces titled “Burnin’ Daylight” and “Reined In.” Both paintings caught the eye of buyers with sale prices of $6,750 and $7,850 respectively.
Beauchamp said 2026 sale averages ranged from $3,500 to $10,000.

Due to her popularity, Weber’s invited to exhibit at the 2027 event, her third-straight year.

“I knew it (the first invitation) was a big deal but did not have any idea how much of an honor it was,” she said. “The artists represented at that show are as high caliber as they come and I will forever hold that first show and the MOWA deep in my heart.”

More than 90 pieces of Weber’s art, including those from the MOWA event, are available online or at her art studio in Lake Benton.

Horses: More than just art subjects
“Horses have always had a presence here,” Weber said.

Long before Weber Land and Cattle was created by Weber and her husband, Jesse, in 2001, Jesse’s mom, Jodi Weber, was and still is a passionate horsewoman. Jodi has spent her life raising world champion cutting horses.

It was Jodi, who introduced horses to the younger Webers when she gave a pony to Jesse and Michelle’s first child, Wacey.

“Wacey was only 2, and Sugar wasn’t good for much except creating a safe exposure to horses our young family needed,” Michelle said.

The positive exposure has allowed the family’s horse herd to grow to seven horses, all of which are ridden to work cattle on the Weber ranch. Outside of work, the horses are ridden in both 4-H game and pleasure events. They recently began attending western heritage and ranch riding events.
As the number of horses grew so did the Weber family.

In addition to Wacey (now 14) the Webers have four additional children: Reese (11), Andi (10), Mick (7) and Wren (5).

The addition to horses to the cattle business has been a good fit.

“Horses can read your soul, I swear,” Michelle said. “They all love working cows.”

She has seen various lessons the horses have taught over the years. While the lessons are too numerous to list, the top four lessons include:

1.) Hold your ground.

2.) You might be uncomfortable but to get better you have to overcome or next time the problem will just be worse.

3.) Control your emotions or they will control you.

4.) Sometimes the quiet cues speak the loudest.
Those simple lessons are more often incorporated into Michelle’s artwork.

“When I can capture the simple moments on our farm and ranch, which to us are ordinary, but to the rest of the world those moments are truly extraordinary,” she said.

Mavis Fodness | Freelance reporter

On the surface, the corn crop appearance were similar between test plots in the Aukes family’s field located west of Hills.

Under the surface, however, the differences were more noticeable.

Four years ago, Terry Aukes partnered with the University of Minnesota and the Rock County Land Management Office (LMO) to develop a nine-acre plot comparing the use of minimum tillage with cover crops with the more conventional management practices involving more tillage and no surface cover.

The June 9 Soil Health Field Day marked four years since Aukes started the comparison plot. The event was attended by 40 producers and ag industry professionals.

“We want anyone interested in comparing these practices to see the difference in person after several years of establishment,” said LMO technician Lee Tapper. “This is an opportunity to discuss the advantages and disadvantages and challenges to both systems, and to compare real numbers: yields, costs and soil test data.”
Information presented at the field day allowed producers to pick and choose what’s right for their operations.

“Every farm is different and everyone has to make decisions to make their own operations successful,” Tapper said.

In Aukes’ comparison, six acres were planted using the conventional practice of one or more spring tillage passes to remove all vegetation before planting. Three acres were planted first in a cover crop (cereal or winter rye), which was sprayed to kill the cover before or shortly after before planting.
At the same time each year, soil tests were conducted on the nine-acre plot to measure nutrient and moisture levels. 

Four years of data showed no significant yield differences between the two methods in a corn-soybean rotation used on the plots.

The difference came in input costs with a $100 per acre advantage credited to the soil health practices due to two less finisher passes.

“Diesel fuel is awfully expensive,” Aukes said. “A $100 per acre right now is a big deal … especially where prices are and our cost as inputs.”

Soil tests revealed increased organic matter that promoted more microbial and earth worm activity leading to less reliance on fertilizers and herbicides to achieve the same yield as with conventional practices that use more of the common inputs.
Aukes began using cover crops on the selected fields in 2011, after beginning a no-till soybean practice in the early 1990s. Eight years ago, out of necessity, the Aukes family added no-till corn to the operation.

He’s found the change to no-till corn practice combined with a use of a cover crop to control white mold. More noticeably, the addition of cover crops assisted to soak up moisture in heavy, wet ground before planting. Cover crops also controlled soil erosion and early weed outbreaks.

“Cover crops will help take the pressure off our herbicide programs,” Aukes said. “We don’t have a lot of tools to combat weeds, so if this can help us keep our tools longer that’s even better.”

Below the soil, cover crops and less tillage increased microbial activity which, in turn, improved water permeability, especially in compacted areas of the field.

Aukes said the more the soil surface is disturbed, the more a “soil block” is created below the tilled areas. This block of harden soil prevents water and nutrients from fully permeating further into the ground, where it can be accessed by maturing crops late in the growing season.

Cover crops has also demonstrated effectiveness in combating today’s weather events, which provide more rainfall over shorter periods of time.

Aukes said cover crops capture the excess water, lessening field runoff, and channels water into the deep root system created by the cover crop growth. Cover crops also lessen the affects of wind erosion in the spring, where the growing vegetation keeps the soil in place before the emerging crop takes over.

In Aukes’ experience, the adoption of one or more soil health practices help solve production problems in specific fields, raising yields. He challenged those attending to consider making a change by completing less tillage and using less inputs to improve long-term soil health for future generations.

“Rather than make large changes, maybe make a couple different changes and implement some of those to start moving in a different direction,” he said. “Change is not easy but it can be done.”
Aukes is a member of the Rock Soil Health Team, a mentor group for individuals interested in implementing various soil health practices. The mentors are available for one-on-one assistance.
The Rock County LMO in Luverne also keeps a list of seed vendors, applicators and sources for rental equipment used to improve soil health.

The Missouri River Watershed Soil Health vendor list is also another resource to mentors and available cost assistance programs.

Strip-Till Expo taking place in Lamberton
Another soil health practice will be examined at an upcoming field day in Lamberton.

The 2026 Strip-Till Expo takes place from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9, at the Southwest Research and Outreach Center, 23669 120th St., Lamberton.

The expo is for farmers looking for ways to reduce tillage passes, cut input costs and improve soil performance. Attendees can view side-by-side strip-till equipment demonstrations, planter set up for high residue situations and manufacturers showcasing equipment along with insights from University of Minnesota researchers and farmers who have implemented strip-till practices.

Learn more and to register,
contact z.umn.edu/STexpo

By Mavis Fodness

Finalists for the Princess Kay of the Milky Way crown have their likenesses sculpted out of a 90-pound block of butter during the Minnesota State Fair, a tradition that’s been ongoing for 60 years.
This year, Nobles County Dairy Princess Stephanie Dykstra of Bigelow is one of the princess finalists. In August, Dykstra will sit in a glass-enclosed refrigerator in front of hundreds of onlookers.

Dykstra could become the third Nobles County dairy princess to serve a one-year term as the statewide dairy ambassador for the Minnesota Dairy Association, who organizes the annual crowning and butter-carving event.

“Only time will tell who gets chosen to be the Princess Kay of the Milky Way,” Dykstra said. “But it would be an incredible once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

For the past three years, since she was a junior at Worthington High School, Dykstra’s filled the local dairy ambassador duties. This is the first year she applied for the Princess Kay of the Milky Way position. She interviewed last month with a panel of three judges and gave a speech on a drawn topic. Ironically, she picked a topic in which she was familiar: The importance of school-aged children eating nutritious dairy products.

“I especially like when get to work with kids,” she said. “A yearly favorite of mine is working with the ‘Undeniably Dairy’ malt stand during my local county fair.”

Dykstra is the fourth of six children of Steve and Esther Dykstra. She often explains the daily activities at her family’s 300-head dairy operation and the working of 2,000-acres of cropland and pasture ground. Dykstra plays an active role on the farm.

“In the barn, I feed calves, vaccinate, genomic test, scrape pens and push up feed. In the field, I haul loads during hay season, run grain cart for harvest, rock pick, rake and pick up bales,” she said.
Becoming a dairy industry ambassador came easily to Dykstra, who followed in her older sister’s footsteps as Nobles County Dairy Princess.

“I wanted to be a dairy princess because it gave me the opportunity to represent and advocate for the local dairy producers in my community,” she said. “Growing up on a dairy sparked my passion for the industry and I love sharing that with folks who haven’t had the dairy experience I have been given.”

Dykstra is currently a sophomore at South Dakota State University in Brookings, pursuing a degree in agricultural science.

As a finalist, Dykstra could be selected as the 73rd Princess Kay of the Milky Way, following Diane Kramer, who was crowned in 1961 and Tae (Vander Kooi) Nordby in 2003. Nobles County is the only county in the six-county area of southwest Minnesota who’s had a dairy princess selected as the Princess Kay of the Milky Way.

Deb Vander Kooi is the Nobles County Dairy Association’s county princess coordinator and Nordby’s mother.

According to Vander Kooi, just the selection as a Princess Kay of the Milky Way finalist is a huge accomplishment and the experience will be memorable.

“I’m so excited for Stephanie,” she said. “I’ve sat on some of the (MDA) committees, and the judging is pretty intense for the finalists.”

Dykstra will spend the summer with the nine other finalists attending various events promoting the dairy industry. Some of those events include the Minnesota Vikings training camp and the dairy center at the Minnesota Zoo. Concluding the summer activities is the Minnesota State Fair, where the finalists take centerstage from Aug. 27 to Sept. 7.

Carving of the affectionally named “butter heads” began in 1965 and is a state fair staple.
Each of the finalists spend six- to eight-hours in the glass refrigerator as their facial likenesses are carved in butter. At the end of the state fair, finalists take their butter heads home, where most butter heads are consumed at public gatherings.
Sometimes, however, the butter heads take years before they reach a home freezer.

Vander Kooi said her daughter’s, Tae Nordby’s, butter head spent five years on display at the Minnesota Historical Society’s part of the state’s 150th-year celebration.

“They were so excited because no museum in the United States had a butter head,” Vander Kooi said.
Nordby’s butter head is still in the freezer at the Vander Kooi farm near Worthington.
Dykstra is unsure what she will do with her butter head

“I would love to share it in some way – even if it’s just the scraps going to some event like a pancake or a sweet corn feed,” she said.

Her father, Steve, said he can’t wait to stick sweet corn in the ear of his daughter’s butter head.

“I’m the father of a butter head,” he added proudly.
The Midwest Dairy Association announced the finalists for the Princess Kay of the Milky Way last month.

In addition to Dykstra, other finalists and the counties they represent include:

•Kalley Christen, McLeod 
•Elizabeth Cordon, Redwood
•Claudia Frenchick, Meeker
•Jena Hanson, Steele
•Morgan Morrow, Benton
•Isabelle Schiffler, Stearns
•Gracie Seller, Brown
•Jaiden Smith, Stearns
•Daisy Zimmermann, Stearns
The Princess Kay of the Milky Way coronation takes place Aug. 26, the day before the start of the Minnesota State Fair.