Crystal Sugar’s oldest beet grower in Oslo, MN turns 105 – InForum
OSLO, Minn. – On a perfect summer morning, there’s talk of Ribfest here this weekend, but inside Kitty’s Cafe on Main Street, the sound of a good dice roll.
Earl Mallinger is shaking for coffee, as he has for decades here.
At 105 is where you’ll find Earl most mornings, eating his eggs and toast.
Ryan Longnecker / WDAY
“Dad had a horse and a buggy,” Earl said, speaking of farm life in the early 1920s and 1930s.
Earl loves Kitty’s Cafe, but he loves his land much more.
“I traded it in again for a brand new one in 2011,” he said, speaking of the gear he’s bought and sold recently.
Earl Mallinger is Crystal Sugar’s oldest producer. He still raises sugar beets, at 105 years old.
“I don’t like being alone, I like being with people and watching the crops. Although I am now a windshield farmer,” Earl said.
Earl was born above his father’s butcher’s shop in Oslo, Minnesota in 1917. He’s seen it all, including record-breaking, sometimes back-to-back flooding.
“We’ve had six in a row and nine in eleven years,” Earl said, speaking of Oslo’s major floods.
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Earl had seven siblings in the family. A brother gives Earl a run for his money.
“My sister is 101,” he said.
And Earl says when it comes to his longevity, it’s simple. Don’t dwell on getting old.
“Keep moving, once you stop moving you go down pretty fast.”
Earl still has a thousand acres across Polk and Marshall counties, next to where he grew up.
“Here’s the core.” Earl said looking at grain ready to be harvested.
He wouldn’t trade his 105 years for anything in the world.
“I like the fresh air for one thing and I like to see the crops grow and see what God has done. A guy must have a lot of faith when you have a little seed and you get a crop like this .”
The lifelong farmer and International Potato Grower of the Year at the time, played golf until he was 102 years old. He still plays cards five days a week.
“Cracks are appearing, but we’ve had a lot of rain,” Earl said, looking out over the beet field.
Earl joked today, “I wonder when this is all going to end?”
Everyone who loves him agrees, there is no rush.