Malone family named Wadena County Farm Family
Bill and Deana Malone of Rockwood Township have been named the 2020 Wadena County Farm Family of the Year.
Bill began his career in the dairy industry as a child working on his parents’ farm in Rockwood Township.
After high school graduation and living out west for a few years, Bill realized he missed farming and returned to Rockwood Township to start his own farm.
Bill’s three daughters, Megan Woodard, Kristen Ahlers and Rebecca Groft, all learned to milk cows in their youth and they provided backup for their dad.
Bill is a full-time dairyman and puts up all of his own feed and forage. Bill, along with his brother Dan Malone and cousin John Malone work together across their three farms when it’s time to chop haylage and corn silage. It takes a little of the stress away for all of them when it’s those busy times of the year.
Deana and her late husband, Tinker Skov, entered the livestock industry around 1990 when they purchased his grandparents’ farm north of Nimrod.
In 2009, Tinker died in a ranch accident. Deana and their son, Logan, decided to continue the operation. They reduced the number of cows so Deana could keep working off the ranch and Logan could devote more time to school.
Deana has worked with Wadena County for over 25 years, starting out in the county attorney’s office and she is now in planning and zoning. . . .