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Friday,
July 21, 2000
Published by: "Hometown Pride - Messenger Newspaper"
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Hundertmark
a familiar Humboldt County voice
By Randy Mudgett
Messenger staff writer
RUTLAND - Many people in Humboldt County recognize the booming
command of his voice as it echoes over the loud speaker
at public auctions. Many more people recognize his smile
and his way with a crowd. David Hundertmark is a fixture
in Humboldt County and it has been that way for the past
25 years. Hundertmark's Auction Service conducts close to
100 public auctions annually in and around Humboldt County
and David is the main auctioneer. Hundertmark also farms
1,700 acres of cropland with his brother, Tom, around the
Rutland area. Tom is Hundertmark's copartner on the farm
and in the auction business. "I began farming in 1972
and farming has changed  a
lot since I started," David Hundertmark said. "I
cannot think of any way farming has stayed the same. The
only thing they have not done is change the name of corn
and beans." Besides operating his farm and auction
service, Hundertmark remains on the go attending sporting
events his three children participate in almost daily. He
is also a member of the Wildcat Booster's board to help
drive community support for athletic programs for the Humboldt
School District. Hundertmark also holds charity auctions
at area churches including the annual quilt auction for
north central Iowa each fall. "Those auctions are fun
to do and they raise a lot of money for these country churches
which are trying to maintain," he said. "I like
those auctions a lot. You meet a lot of good people at all
auction, but those are special." As for Hundertmark's
farming operation, he said many issues concern him about
the direction farming has taken in the past decade. Being
a strong proponent of local control, he helped the county
wage a battle which ended when the Supreme Court overthrew
the Humboldt County ordinances in 1996. "I don't agree
with corporate takeover of agriculture in America,"
Hundertmark said. "I live here and I think the people
who live here have a lot better idea of what is around us.
I agreed with what the supervisors did because sometimes
somebody has got to stand up for what you believe in. It
has opened a lot of eyes across the nation to what is going
on out here." Hundertmark said he does not know if
there will be a life for his son on the farm if he chooses
to become a farmer several years from now. "There is
not much chance for a young guy in farming anymore, I bought
my first tractor for $5,300. Today, that would not pay the
repair bill on one of the newer ones." |
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