History

T.J. Scharfenberg and his son Walter Scharfenberg purchased the family farm in 1935. Together they raised Hereford cattle to be sold in their meat market in Galesburg, Illinois.  

After leaving the Army, Walter's son, Ted Scharfenberg, took over operation of the farm and raised cattle and crops until retiring in 1983.

Today

Dave Scharfenberg started farming in 1975 with his father, Ted, trading labor for equipment use until going out on his own in 1980. He was joined in the farming operation by his wife, Andrea, in 1982.

Ted retired from grain farming in 1983. With the help of long time employees and several dependable part timers, the Scharfenberg Farms operation has expanded with owned and leased land in Knox, Warren and Fulton Counties. Over the years, fertilizer and high capacity grain handling facilities have been added growing storage capacity on the farm to 1,000,000 bushels and drying capacity to 3,500 bushels per hour.

In 2017, Dave & Andrea’s daughter, Ellie Repp, joined the operation as the 5th generation to work on the family farm.