The Stiever Family

[Genealogy.com, Family Archive #110, Vol. 2 L-Z, Ed. 9, Social Security Death Index: U.S., Date of Import: 5 Dec 2004, Internal Ref. #1.112.9.94981.166] Individual: Siebenaler, Alex Social Security #: 471-10-3496 Issued in: Minnesota Birth date: 3 May 1905 Death date: 11 Jun 1993 ZIP Code of last known residence: 55901 Location associated with this ZIP Code: Rochester, Minnesota Respect for the soil lasts him a lifetime When Alex Siebenaler hand-planted the rows of corn washed out of the gullies on his father's farm as a boy, he didn't know it at the time, but he was beginning a life-long love for the same soil he spent hours kneeling in. Siebenaler, who has dedicated many years of his life to promoting proper land use practices, has Been awarded a Certificate of Recognition by the Winona County Land Stewardship Project for his many contributions to soil conservation in the area. Born and raised on a farm in Winona County, Siebenaler has seen the county undergo both advances and regressions as far as land use practices go. Up until two years ago Siebenaler was a resident of Lewiston for 25 years until he moved to Rochester. In 1945 he joined the Soil Conservation Service to begin a career in helping other farmers better use their most important resource, the soil. His stay with the service ended up lasting 23 years until he retired in 1969. Through these years of working so closely with the soil, Siebenaler has gained many insights and opinions about land use practices and the people who use or abuse them. One of the most distressing things he has been happen lately in the destruction of contours and terraces by people leasing farms that have been taken away from then by finance companies and banks. "I think some of these people are just too money-hungry," he said. "Anybody that would go and plough over sound soil management systems should be arrested and shouldn't be allowed to operate a farm." A strong law or fine, Siebenaler said, should be enacted to prevent these kinds of people from destroying proper soil use practices on favor on profits. "If farming continues without conservation practices, there will be fewer crops to harvest in the coming years," he said. "There is no doubt in my mind that some strict laws will have to be enacted in time or a lot of good land will become waste land." When he was farming during the Great Depression of the 1930's he said he saw some of the same things happening when farmers were going under. People who had some money thought they could buy up some "cheap" land and try to make a dollar. They then began ignoring their responsibility for the land in favor of the quick buck. But generally these were not long-lasting profits Siebenaler said because soon this speculation began to fail, along with the land. On the brighter side he said he thinks that since the time he began his work in soil conservation he has seen a greater awareness forming among farmers of the importance of using the right kinds of farming practices to keep the soil where it is. and he said he prefers to use the phrase "proper land use" in place of "soil conservation." Siebenaler said if you start by using the land properly then the need for "conservation" would not exist. He said he views conservation more as a restoration or rescue procedure rather than a permanent land-use practice. "In Europe the land has been farmed for thousands of years, but in Whitewater township some of the land has been worked less than 100 years and it's already gone to pot," Siebenaler said. He said soil conservation is needed to repair the damage that has already been done, but what is needed even more is sensible consistent land use. The claim by farmers that instituting erosion control practices on their fields would make working the fields harder to work just doesn't hold water Siebenaler said. Farming by contours and terraces, he said, can be easier than just running the machinery right across the face of the hills and the valleys. "Once we got the contours and terraces in place on our own farm, my wife got to like driving the tractor on them so much that she ended up hating to drive on the fields that didn't have them." he said. Because of his keen awareness of what good and bad soil erosion control practices look like, Siebenaler said he finds it hard to take a drive through the country without constantly observing the condition of the land passing by the car window. "I took a drive through the southern part of Winona County not to long ago and passed by some farms that were in such bad shape that it almost made me cry. The farmers had been ploughing straight up and down the valleys and the fields were split with gullies that were taking the precious soil away at a terrible rate," he said. But then he said it always makes him feel better to come back to where his home area used to be near Oak Ridge and see some of the contours and terraces that he laid out many years before still being used by the farmers and doing the job they were meant to do. In his many years of work in the soil conservation field Siebenaler said he has enjoyed his work and hopes future generations continue to realize the meed for preserving the soil so we always have productive soil to feed us. (from a local newspaper)