Many farmers look forward to harvest season each year. But not Luke Schuldt. His favorite time of the year, hands-down, is calving season. 

"This is really the beginning of the year for us," said Schuldt who farms near Tripoli in Bremer County with his wife, Linsey, a pharmacist, and son, Levi and daughter Lara. "Driving a combine can be fun, but nothing compares to calving," said Schuldt, a fifth-generation farmer on the farm established by his great-great grandfather in 1878. 

The Schuldts, this year, are keeping watch over 23 cows. They started building the herd, a Hereford-Angus mix, about 10 years ago ...