Wisconsin Custom Operators members recently elected two new directors and honored two retiring directors during the group’s annual business meeting on Feb. 19, held in conjunction with the Forage Symposium at the Chula Vista Resort in Wisconsin Dells, Wis.
Charlie Schultz was elected as an operator director and Steve Pesik as a corporate director.
Schultz, together with his brother Dave, owns Schultz Bros Forage Service, LLC, in Orangeville, Ill. providing a wide array of custom farming services in South Central Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. Prior to custom farming, he worked in the commercial grain export industry for 10 years. In addition to WCO, he is a member of the Illinois Forage and Grassland Council and has represented the custom harvesting industry by speaking at events like the Driftless Region Beef Conference and local career days. Schultz and his wife have two children who are both very active in 4H, and they enjoy spending family time helping with their numerous projects.
Pesik serves as the sales manager of Zimmerman Manufacturing, an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) that builds custom manure injection, strip-till, side dress, anhydrous, fertilizer band, and hay ground injection units. He has worked in the farm equipment industry for more than 30 years, with experience in forage, application, and manure equipment at Oxbo International, Miller, and Kuhn Knight. At Zimmerman Manufacturing, Pesik leads the sales and marketing department and is working to grow the company’s manure application and strip till products and dealer relationships. Outside of work, he has been married for 43 years and has two children and two grandchildren.
Officers were selected by the WCO board of directors. John Osterhaus, owner of Silver Streak AG Services in Chadwick, Ill. was re-elected as president and Jeremy Heim, co-owner of Heim Brothers Custom in Kewaunee was re-elected as vice-president. Randy Clark, owner of RCI Engineering in Mayville was re-elected as secretary and Charlie Schultz was elected treasurer.
Osterhaus owns Silver Streak AG Services in Chadwick, Ill. with his wife, Monica. Together, they harvest 5,000 acres annually in Northwest Illinois and sell and service Meyer Manufacturing equipment. In addition to WCO, he is an active member US Custom Harvesters. The Osterhaus’ have three grown children, including a son, Alan, who has continued his passion for agriculture as a marketing specialist for CLAAS of America. Two of their children have been awarded WCO scholarships.
Heim is co-owner of Heim Brothers Custom in Kewaunee, a 200-million gallon per year custom manure hauling and chopping business. In addition to the custom business, Heim is co-owner of an 850-cow dairy, Heim’s Hillcrest Dairy. Together with this wife Kari, Heim has two children, Ben, and Kiley. Kiley has been working full time on the farm since 2013 focusing on calf care and Ben plays a critical role in field work and the custom business.
Clark is the owner of RCI Engineering in Mayville, where he designs and manufactures equipment solutions for the hay and forage industry, including plot research equipment and the Ag-Bag product line. In addition to WCO, he is involved with Wisconsin Section of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, Midwest Forage Association, and other industry groups. Clark credits his wife, Wendy, for his success in business and in life. The two work together at RCI Engineering where Wendy serves as marketing manager. They have three boys, Ryan, Isaac, and Colin.
Amanda Krepline of Krepline Custom Harvesting in Reedsville and Isaac Lemmenes, product specialist with Nuhn Industries retired from the board of directors and were honored for their years of service.
About WCO: WCO is an organization comprised of individuals throughout the state who derive their income in whole or part from providing custom farming services. To learn more about the Wisconsin Custom Operators, Inc. including membership and event registration, go to www.wiscustomoperators.org or info@wiscustomoperators.org.
