MOVILLE, Iowa | The newest business along Frontage Road and Highway 20 in Moville is owned and operated by the town's newest farmer.
Meet Mark Nelson, a 23-year-old rookie tackling two business opportunities in his hometown.
Nelson, the oldest of five children raised east of Moville by Eric and Carol Nelson, came home to the farm after securing his ag studies degree at Iowa State University in May 2013.
He rents a farmstead from his folks while tending to his cattle and those raised by his family. Mark also helps his dad in raising corn and soybeans on land near Moville and Marcus, Iowa, where Eric was raised.
"I built new pens this summer where I live and I'm excited to have cattle year-round," Nelson says. "I love the cow-calf end of things."
Nelson brought some herefords in to cross-breed back to his family's angus cows, a trend he's seeing emerge in other operations.
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While corn yields dropped in 2014, cattle prices remained strong, perhaps due to an early-season blizzard in the Dakotas in October 2013 and an ongoing liquidation of herds that began as corn prices soared toward $8 per bushel in the 2012 drought.
"When corn is $7 to $8 per bushel and hay is $320 per ton, it doesn't pencil out," Nelson says. "Hay is now $100 per ton and corn is $4 per bushel."
When crops and cattle don't pencil out, Nelson has a toy market upon which he can stake a business claim. Nelson has already diversified his ag operation by opening Mark's Farm Toys on Frontage Road, just north of US Highway 20 on the eastern edge of this Woodbury County town.
Mark's Farm Toys enjoyed a grand opening three weeks before Christmas. The celebration allowed Nelson to show his toy collectibles to a wider audience, many of whom are in the market to buy.
"I've done this (buying and selling of toys) for three years," he said. "I began collecting toys when I was 10."
Nelson said his parents always searched for farm toys to please their four boys: Mark, Eric, John and Paul. All four would set up different farmsteads in their basement, often inviting friends over to play.
Imaginations soared as the "crops" came in and the toy livestock went out. Those play dates helped solidify an ag interest for Mark, both on- and off-the-farm.
"Ninety-nine percent of my stuff is 10 to 30 years old," he said while scanning the shelves of toy farm sets, tractors and more made by the Ertl toy company, among others, such as Spec Cast, Scale Models and Standi. "I'm an avid collector, but the majority of what I do get, I'll sell again."
And, sell he will. Nelson sold 25 toy farm sets during the first weekend in December, aided by being in a small, but visible storefront.
"You can't believe the number of people who are looking for toys," he said. "And the number of people who just come in off Highway 20."
Craig's List, eBay, implement dealers, toy stores and auctions represent fertile grounds for Nelson's toy drive. Among the rare finds are sets featuring sale barns. He recently located two sale barn sets and both were sold in 48 hours, commanding prices of $175 and $225, respectively.
As far as tractors go, Nelson, an avowed International Harvester man like his father, says he has "a hard time keeping the red ones around."
The farm and this store helped keep him around. Nelson probably could have taken his diploma and found work with Dow or Monsanto or any of a number of ag conglomerates. Instead, he sought greener pastures back home, a place where he could work on his own terms while feeding his independent streak.
And having a store for his toys will now help him -- and his business -- grow.
"I'd grown the toy business and keeping the office at home wasn't really what I wanted," Nelson said. "I was having people stop at the house to look at what I had, it wasn't the most professional. Having a site like this is more conducive to storage and in showing the public what I've got."
