Rod, Julie & Rylee Derrer of Derrer Farms

About us:  Derrer Farms was established in 1994, when a city girl from Rock Island married a farm boy/draft horse guy from Mt Carroll, IL and they moved to their own 80 acre farm south of Milan.  In 1997,our daughter Rylee was born and the livestock legacy would continue!  We have since acquired more farm ground and more livestock but it’s now cattle instead of draft horses.  We spend our time mainly in the show barns getting ready for the next show or the next cattle sale.  We farm approx. 300 acres of corn, soybeans, and hay ground and run approx.. 250 head of cattle and a herd of barn cats!  Rylee attends Iowa State University where she is pursuing a degree in Animal Science with a minor in Journalism and Mass Communications. We love our lifestyle and, at the end of the day, would not trade it for anything! It brings us closer as a family doing what we love-together.

Our Farm:  Predominantly a cattle based farm with a small row crop (corn and soybean) operation.

Our work:  Rod: Husband, father, farmer, cattle enthusiast; Julie: Wife, mother, part-time chaos coordinator of the farm; Rylee: daughter, student studying agriculture.

Our hobbies:  Rod’s only hobby is cattle- He lives and breathes livestock.  Julie, on the other hand, has many including traveling and shopping! She is also am a 4H leader, Kiwanis vice president and loves to volunteer. Rylee, like her father, loves cattle and livestock in general; however, she also loves shopping, traveling, photography, and writing. 

Ask us about:  Animal Nutrition and Welfare, Family Farm vs Corporate Farm, Animal Agriculture, Food safety