WELCOME — After more than 50 years, Bob Roesler is retiring.

Wrapping up his time as a farm business management instructor at Minnesota West Community and Technical College, Roesler shared some of his career history, highlights and what retirement will look like.

“I started out teaching high school ag at what was then Sherburn High School,” he said. “I spent 18 years there as a vocational ag instructor and FFA adviser. In the ’80s, I was asked if I wanted to move into farm business management, and I was intrigued about helping people develop their own cost of production and business analysis.

“At that time, people really needed something that was better than what they had. What they had before was the idea that if they paid income taxes, they must have made money, or that if they didn’t have to pay income taxes then they must have not made money. We can do better than that.”

In teaching, Roesler said one of the hardships faced by students is tuition costs. However, he is thankful for those businesses and institutions that help with those costs.

“Our program is thought highly enough of where many community banks helped to scholarship their students and help to pay for part of the tuition of our program,” he said. “For a full-time student next year, the cost is $1,918. In addition to the banks, there’s scholarships offered by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture for beginning farmers and organic growers.

“There’s a number of people who’ve been in the program for decades because the cost of production and their farm business is constantly in transition. I’ve been approached over the years by business owners who wished they had what we provide.

“The world has changed for a lot of people, and it’s changed for farmers too. For a full-time farmer, their ability to be able to operate their business as a lifestyle rather than a business has changed. There’s a number of people that are farmers, but they are sundowner farmers who farm after work.

Roesler has had several highlights in his career, having received the Honorary State FFA Degree, Honorary American FFA Degree, Teacher of the Year from the Minnesota Association of Agriculture and other honors.

“Probably one of the greatest rewards I had was people in the program or high school enrollees being able to become a vital part of their community, and understanding that a community wasn’t just a place to live,” he said. “A community gets to be a community because everybody participates, and nobody gets to be a success on their own.”

As for what retirement holds, Roesler looks forward to remaining an active volunteer in whatever he can find.

“My wife Marlene and I are active at our church in Fairmont, and we’ve been on boards and involved in various community service projects,” he said. “I don’t know how all that’s going to change, but I know a number of these boards that I’m on I’ll end up having more time available for those.”

A retiremment recognition for Roesler will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday in Keck Park in Welcome.