Pete Rothfork, president and CEO of Melrose Feed Mill, is proud to own a business in a close-knit community where “everyone knows everyone” and where he can support programs through local schools and Catholic churches.
A member of St. Joseph Parish in Grey Eagle, Rothfork strives to integrate faith into his business through patience, honesty and grace and by recognizing that each of his 47 full-time employees have their own stories, worries and struggles.
“One question I always ask is, ‘What do they need?’ because I understand what it is like to struggle, and I try to give them some tools and guidance to help take away some of the worries and struggles they carry with them,” he said.
Rothfork was nominated for and received the Catholic Rural Business Award, in part, because of his care for those who work for him.
“We want to make sure our employees are safe and have their needs fulfilled,” Rothfork said. “We provide a lot of housing on our farms. … More and more people who work for us are in need of housing.”
Rothfork attributes these values to the leadership model he witnessed in his father, Harold.
“My dad gave away 20% and showed me the importance of tithing. He made sure we took care of the local people, and I continue to do that,” he said. “The food shelf is a big thing, and making sure people have access to basic needs — food, water, education.”
Pete took over the business in 1988 from his father, who built the feed mill 29 years earlier and began turkey raising turkeys in the 1970s.
Since then, Pete has transformed the business into a vertically integrated poultry company — with ownership in Minnesota Bedding, LLC, which produces shavings and sunflower hulls for turkey barns, and Turkey Valley Farms, which processes turkeys.
He’s proud to have moved from owning a car dealership into the turkey business where he says “the business is so much more honest” and “everyone runs on their reputation.” The turkey business led him to an interesting encounter in 2005. Pete met president George W. Bush after raising the National Thanksgiving Turkey while serving as the National Turkey Federation Chairman.
According to Pete, the business has had its good years and at times, Pete said, he has also had a lot of sleepless nights. During these ebbs and flows, he leans on some sage advice a wise woman once shared with him.
“If you’re worried, pray. If you pray, why worry?”
In 2019, Melrose Feed Mill manufactured 52,000 tons of feed to support 10 barn sites throughout central Minnesota.
Now, Pete’s grandson, Peyton Linn, is learning the ropes at the company.
“I remember in kindergarten the teacher asked the class what we wanted to be when we grow up, and I said I wanted to be a turkey farmer,” Linn said.
To Linn that means carrying the business forward focused on the same values that have been passed onto him.
“We understand that a lot of times people need housing or vehicles or other things. We understand employees want to be at their kids’ events and that family things come up,” Linn said. “I want to continue saying, ‘What do you need from us? How can we help you?’ Just like [my grandpa] does.”
Linn runs the day-to-day operations of the business and reaches out to Pete, who is likely at the desk across from him, when he needs guidance on the long-term strategic visioning.
Linn appreciates the respect his grandpa shows to others, how he shares his wisdom with anyone interested in learning and the camaraderie they share.
“He would take the shirt off his back for anybody,” Linn said.
Pete appreciates how his grandson doesn’t expect anyone to do something he wouldn’t do himself and how Peyton has brought in new technologies and techniques.
“I feel very blessed and proud to be able to keep my father’s legacy alive and watch it continue to grow, with my grandson, in our community,” Rothfork said.