{"id":83,"date":"2025-02-06T21:09:04","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T21:09:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/farmingtoolmagazine.com\/?page_id=83"},"modified":"2026-03-31T21:59:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T21:59:15","slug":"features","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/farmingtoolmagazine.com\/?page_id=83","title":{"rendered":"Features"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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New Owners of Fairbury Livestock Company<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A mainstay of Southeast Nebraska\u2019s ag economy is under new ownership, ensuring area livestock sales for years to come.
It is an unfortunate trend in virtually every industry, but especially in ag, that independent businesses, the mom-and-pop shops, are closing because aging owners can\u2019t find anyone to fill their shoes.
The new owners of the Fairbury Livestock Company were determined that wouldn\u2019t happen here. So, when Larry Junker, auctioneer and owner of the Fairbury Livestock Company, was ready to step back, Colby Hynek and Andrew Wiedel stepped up.
Hynek said it just seemed like a natural thing to do, \u201cAndrew actually came up and he goes, \u2018Well, do you know the sale barn\u2019s for sale?\u2019 I was like, \u2018No, I do not.\u2019 And he goes, \u2018Well, let’s just buy it.\u201d Well, I’m like, \u2018Sure, why not?\u2019\u201d
Neither man could bear the thought of the business that has served the community for decades just disappearing like so many others have. Hynek said, \u201cI like history, and this barn’s got a lot of it. So, we are just trying to keep all that alive. It’s a legacy deal. I just don’t want Larry’s legacy to die.\u201d
Wiedel agreed, \u201cThis place is just too important to just disappear. We want to keep it going. We\u2019re in this for the long haul.\u201d
Both Hynek and Wiedel have long been involved in the livestock business in one form or another. Hynek said, \u201cI’ve always been involved in cattle in some way. I’ve been on big ranches, big feed yards. I worked for a cattle buyer, and so I always had love for the cattle side. And then I started a welding business, and that’s what I was doing up until we bought this.\u201d
Hynek had been working at the Sale Barn for three years before buying the business, so his connection to the business was strong, \u201cMe and my wife actually got married in this barn.\u201d
Likewise, Wiedel has been in the livestock field for many years and farms in the Hebron area.
There is little doubt as to the need for the sale barn in the area, as options are few and far between.
\u201cI feel we’re getting more people from farther away. You look and there’s not a whole lot of barns close to us. I mean, especially when you get up north, and there’s a big hole up there. The same down south, you know, you’re either going to Marysville or Manhattan. So, there’s a little pocket there. It’s basically 60 miles to each sale barn.\u201d
While he has sold the business, Junker will continue to be a part of it for the foreseeable future, as will his son, Jake, and granddaughter, Josie. Hopefully, this will create a smooth transition.
Hynek and Wiedel were anxious that Junker still play a part.
\u201cLarry still auctions off calves, who brought in another auctioneer, a younger kid, that he’ll sell the kill cows,\u201d Hynek said, \u201cBecause I know his voice is part of it.\u201d
While the new owners are updating operations and looking to expand, they do not plan on buying or starting any new sale barns in other locations.
There has been a lot of hand-wringing recently over the state of the cattle industry of late. In spite of the doomsayers, both men remain optimistic about the future. Hynek said, \u201cFar as the cattle numbers in the country going down, you know, we just went through a bad drought and everything else, trying to get guys to rebuild herds. But at the same time, there’s a lot of people coming back and buying pair and buying bred cows. So, with the numbers we lost, I feel we’re going to gain back. It’s just going to take a little bit.\u201d
\u201cI feel we’re in such a good, diverse area, you know?\u201d said Hynek. \u201cWe got enough numbers to keep it going. So, we’re fortunate on that.\u201d
The auction is a vital part of the livestock economy. While it is true that some livestock producers will sell directly, Hynek said, \u201cAn auction is always the best place to sell your cattle.\u201d
That is due to the competition. Hynek likes to quote Junker on this subject, \u201cIf I’m coming to your farm and I’m buying your cattle off your farm, I’m winning. The best honest place to sell your cattle for anything is an auction, because you got two people arguing for them.\u201d
Central and Western Nebraska has been devastated recently by wildfires that have burned more than 820,000 acres to date, displacing more than 35,000 cows with nowhere to graze and destroying miles and miles of fencing. To support Nebraska\u2019s important livestock producers, the Fairbury Livestock Company has partnered with the Thayer County Feeders as a drop spot to gather hay and fencing supplies for fire relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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J-Six Enterprises & Fairview Mills<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There can be many sayings that can be drawn from opportunity. Luck is when opportunity knocks, and most are inclined to answer the door. If opportunity doesn’t knock, then maybe it’s time to build a door. That is essentially what led the J-Six Enterprises to opening up their business to a new opportunity in Fairview Mills.
Taking a moment to speak on J-Six Enterprises as whole and Fairview Mills was Co-Owner Troy Kramer. From starting off as a livestock farm, leading to elevators and more. Kramer believes that keeping eyes and ears open for opportunities, even small ones, can lead to greater things as he spoke on J-Six saying, \u201cI can sum up it in a nutshell of what it became what it is today. We started with livestock farm, raised up hogs for a decent time. Grew that business, and it got to a point that we were consuming about as much milo as the local cooperatives could secure. Next thing you know we’re buying elevators to accumulate milo for the hog business.\u201d
Kramer continued, \u201cThese elevators had feed mills attached, we tried running feed mills, it was a good go, lessons learned from our mistakes and then we started looking at other ventures. Got into manufacturing wine premixes for a local feed company. While we were doing that, we were approached and asked if we had any interest in manufacturing pet food. We started doing that, and honestly it was at that point when things took off for the company. As far as taking a big step in growth with inside Fairview Mills, all this time, we’re really trying to be as diversified as we can. Trying to keep expanding the livestock side as well.\u201d
\u201cOur main job that we do today outside of Fairview Mills is being a service provider. We provide services of blending, grinding, bagging and transloading. Basically, doing what others aren’t able to do at this point of their business yet. Along the while got into the cattle business, and ranching. Still working on diversifying there as well. We somehow got in the trucking division also, run about 80 trucks, and little over 500 trailers. We’re not the most conventional truck line, we mainly help ourselves and that expanded into the corn cob business.\u201d
Somehow through all the years, the effort of keeping the eyes and ears open to opportunities is something that J-Six Enterprises hasn’t been keen on missing if it could be helped.
For explaining one division and it’s importance, like Troy says, getting the most out of everything is something that is always practiced, Fairview Mills is proof of that as he would explain, \u201cThe product coming out of Washington (Kansas), we got carriers, we have plenty of uses for lawn applicants or feed, but that product there goes a long way in helping with remediation or cleaning up spills. Usually with oil or gas wells whenever they finish up drilling. For example, we were fortunate, that though it was not an ideal situation, at the time with the oil spills at Washington, our product was a big help in restoring that area. All of this expansion, really came by a customer we had worked with on the pet side of business and they mentioned that they buy a lot of product made from cob. That intrigued us, so as we looked into it more, we had thought that maybe we can use field corn and just collect the cob after the combine. It came down to networking and having an open mind. That’s essentially a thimble of what the Fairview Mills and J-Six enterprises is.\u201d
The business, separated by divisions but united in a shared sentiment, and family ties. The J-Six Enterprises is a company that relies on a group effort to have the success they do as Troy would explain, \u201cWe’re a family business, my brother John and his wife Jane founded the business in the 70s, their four children and myself now own the company. We’ve all got different roles, we’ve got about what we called six G-3, \u2018third generation\u2019 likes John’s grandkids or my nieces and nephews are looking to join the business as well. We try our best to take care of those who do work for us because it’s a lot of work. There’s always something to do and we appreciate the people that have come through to help our family get to where the business is today. No better feeling than knowing your family and members of the surrounding towns are able to help in a variety of ways.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Owners of Fairbury Livestock Company A mainstay of Southeast Nebraska\u2019s ag economy is under new ownership, ensuring area livestock sales for years to come.It is an unfortunate trend in virtually every industry, but especially in ag, that independent businesses, the mom-and-pop shops, are closing because aging owners can\u2019t find anyone to fill their shoes.The<\/p>\n

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