Our farm
The Wojtanowicz and Schlichting families work in partnership to operate our fourth-generation farm in central Minnesota. Together, we raise more than 6,600 acres of food - potatoes, edible beans, corn, peas, alfalfa and winter rye, nearly all raised under irrigation. We also maintain 600 acres of native forest and prairie lands near the Mississippi River and Little Rock Watershed areas.
1906: The First Generation
Frank Wojtanowicz was an immigrant born in Austria, and after marrying Anna Bujarski in Poland in 1886, they emigrated to the United States. Frank and Anna bought their first parcel of land north of Rice, Minnesota, on December 6th, 1906, and began farming.
1920s: The Second Generation
The family farm changed hands to Frank’s sons Andrew and Frank Jr. after Frank Sr.’s death in 1922. His sons farmed in Rice their whole lives and raised their families there. Andrew Wojtanowicz is pictured here with his wife, Mary (Bocko) Wojtanowicz, who emigrated from Tarnow, Poland. Mary and her eight children continued farming after Andrew’s death in 1946.
An early photo of the Wojtanowicz farm, possibly from the 1930s.
1960s: The Third Generation
1960s: John Wojtanowicz (Andrew and Mary’s son) takes over the farm from his mother, Mary, with his wife, Diane, and his brother-in-law Jerry Schlichting, with his wife Lucille, started working the land with him. Jerry is pictured here on the left.
1969: Irrigation Begins
John and Jerry were granted an irrigation permit for Prairie Farms for the first time in 1969. John is pictured here in a summer corn field with some early irrigators in the background. (To read more about why irrigation is especially important in central Minnesota, click here.)
1980s: The Farm Grows
Prairie Farms began raising potatoes in the early 1970s, and within a few years, their crop grew. The operation expanded with the construction of potato storage buildings just west of the farm, lovingly nicknamed Spud City. John is pictured here in the mid-1980s with his children at the site of one of the new sheds.
John Wojtanowicz and Jerry Schlichting in 2000
2010s: The Fourth Generation
Jocelyn Schlichting (Jerry’s granddaughter) and Anna Bregier (John’s daughter) and their families moved back to Rice to become the fourth generation of family farmers at Prairie Farms.
They are pictured here with Jocelyn’s parents, Rick and Marlene (who are still farming with Jerry), on the left, and Anna’s mother, Diane Wojtanowicz, on the right.
Awards and Honors
2008
Rick Schlichting is first elected Benton County representative on the Minnesota Area II Potato Research and Promotion Council
2016
Rick and Marlene Schlichting are awarded Benton County Outstanding Conservation Cooperators of the Year by the Benton County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) as well as the Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts Outstanding Conservationist Award
2017
Prairie Farms is granted Water Quality Certification by the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program
2017
Rick and Marlene Schlichting and family are named the Benton County Farm Family of the Year by the University of Minnesota
2019
The Schlichtings are awarded the National Corn Growers Association’s 2019 Good Steward Award, the first for a Minnesota family
2020
Jocelyn Schlichting is elected to represent District 5 on the Minnesota Corn Growers Association board
Anna Bregier is elected to the Irrigators Assocation of Minnesota board as an at large member
2021
Anna Bregier is elected as Vice President of to the Irrigators Assocation of Minnesota
2022
Anna Bregier is awarded MN Irrigator of the Year Service Award by IAM
Jocelyn Schlichting is appointed to the National Potato Promotion Board