Fenske’s IBA – A Farm Store that Comes to Your Door

What’s an IBA? No, that’s not a typo — IBA stands for Independent Buyers Association, a company based in Sutton, Mass. Fenske’s IBA, owned by Noah and Emilie Fenske since June 2022, is based in Chatfield.

Perhaps you don’t remember noticing the storefront. There’s a reason for that — there isn’t one! Fenske’s has a warehouse in Chatfield which receives items shipped weekly from Massachusetts. The items are loaded into Fenske’s delivery truck and trailer; Noah delivers the supplies directly to the farms and places them wherever the farmer has asked. Even better, Noah tracks customer usage, anticipates his customer’s needs and preorders needed supplies.

In addition, he services equipment and troubleshoots problems; if he can’t fix it, he knows who to recommend. Farmers know and trust Noah to help make their work easier.

Noah came to IBA with a good background in farming. He grew up on a hobby farm at Pilot Mound; at 14 he started milking at a dairy farm in Lewiston and later milked for Rahn Sass at his dairy east of Chatfield. In the fall of 2021, Noah decided to change direction and took a job as an employee of the local IBA dealer.

When the dealer decided to sell his franchise, Noah found it a good fit for him and bought the franchise. He’d enjoyed working for IBA; the Fenskes found that IBA’s values aligned closely with their own.

“It’s encouraging to work with a company that not only supports business growth, but also values the things that matter most at the core of life.” IBA puts faith first, prioritizes family and operates with integrity in everything they do.

Emilie and Noah met while attending NICC (Northeast Iowa Community College). Noah studied Dairy and Beef Science while Emilie chose Ag Production, Beef Science and Ag Finance. Emilie puts her ag finance knowledge to work as she manages the finances and bookkeeping for Fenske’s IBA.

IBA creates and produces its own patented products. The company prides itself that all their products are made in the U.S. It’s goal is to bring quality products delivered at a good value. IBA carries a vast array of sanitation and cleansing supplies. The sheer amount of products available from IBA surprised Noah when he first joined the company.

To Noah, the most satisfying part of his job is the relationships he has with farmers. He enjoys bringing in new ideas to the farmers and helping them be successful. Fixing things such as in a milking parlor come naturally to Noah; his father had built their whole house and Noah learned many skills from him.

Fenske’s IBA covers Fillmore, Houston and Winona Counties. In the future, they hope to expand their business by selling supplies to breweries, maple syrup production businesses, restaurants and automotive shops. They’d like to expand their product line and get more into technology and automation.

The entire Fenske family helps with Fenske’s IBA; the kids (Eli, 10; Josie, 6; Lily, 4 and Clara,1) are involved with washing out the teat dip barrels and putting stickers on envelopes for mailings.

The family likes to support the dairy industry as much as possible. The kids are in 4-H so

the fair is the highlight of the summer. The Fenskes sponsor dairy shows and auctions and serve dairy products at the fair. They also sponsor the Tesmer Dairy Safety Day Camps which are held for fourth graders in Houston and Fillmore County. Last year 502 students attended the camps. They enjoy attending the local Dairy Nights on the Farm and Breakfasts on the Farm.

Fenske’s IBA distributes flyers with specials and texts newsletters to their customers monthly. In addition, they have a Facebook page which they hope to utilize more in the future.

Noah summed up his feelings succinctly, “I’m lucky I have a job like this; I enjoy waking up and going to work.” He truly appreciates being an important part of the dairy industry, knowing that it affects so many people, other industries and the economy in general. He’s happy to do his part to make the jobs of farmers easier.