About Peterson Farms

Oscar and Josephine Peterson - 1918

Nestled in the heart of the Red River Valley of the North, Peterson Farms has grown through three generations of planting high quality crops in the fertile soils of glacial Lake Agassiz.

Carl’s grandfather and namesake, (Carl) Oscar Peterson trekked by foot from Wisconsin to settle in the Red River Valley. A blacksmith by trade, he soon became the foreman on a local steam-threshing crew. He met and married a local girl, Josephine Rust. The two bought their first piece of ground in 1918, near Prosper, at over $100/acre, the highest priced time of the century. Land was soon selling for under $20.

Combining plots – mid-00’s

In 1981, Carl and Julie, newly graduated from Iowa State University, set up shop on the Peterson home quarter, and bought their first piece of ground. They bought land at the second-highest priced time of the century. Too bad Oscar hadn’t lived long enough to deter them!

Who could have predicted the farming changes seen by this generation? From bio-tech genetics and traits to tractors that practically drive themselves, we have embraced the changes in agriculture and ridden the wave of cutting edge technology.