Marlyn Buss, who is considered a founding father of Minnesota Farmfest, died on Friday at 88 in Lake Crystal on what would have been his 55th wedding anniversary.
Buss’ children celebrated his life with family and friends on Tuesday—describing their father as a farmer, a business man, and an innovator, who also was an avid baseball fan.
Buss was born in Mankato and graduated from Lake Crystal High School in 1954. He attended South Dakota State University in Brookings, where he ran track, and he graduated in 1959 with a degree in Ag Education. He also served in the U.S. Army. He married Margaret Faltin on July 11, 1970 in Dodge, Nebraska.
Marlyn’s son David Buss, 46, of Victoria, Minnesota, says his father took over his grandfather Milton Buss’ soybean and corn farm in Lake Crystal. There, the Buss children learned from their father all about farming.
“(Dad) was the type of guy that always wanted to support everyone,” David said. “He always loved helping out, watching the kids and grandkids and he really just always appreciated the family.”
Another son, Dan Buss, 48, of Lake Crystal, says his father always had new ideas in the works, and wasn’t afraid to try something new.
“(Dad) was like a true entrepreneur. He could see visions and had ideas and would put stuff in place,” Dan said. “A lot of them worked out, and some of them didn’t. He was a forward thinker. His bread and butter was the outdoor farm shows, which was his heart and soul.”
That is especially true of Minnesota Farmfest, the annual farm show in southern Minnesota that draws hundreds of exhibitors and vendors and thousands of attendees. The very first show was in 1972 near Vernon Center, and Marlyn Buss was among one of the first exhibitors.
A highlight from those early years was the 1976 Minnesota Farmfest, which celebrated the nation’s bicentennial. Jimmy Carter, then the Democratic nominee for president, visited the event with his vice presidential running mate, then Minnesota DFL Sen. Walter Mondale. That elevated the profile of Farmfest and its importance as a forum for political discourse on agricultural and rural issues.
But, the annual event’s momentum suddenly stalled and there wasn’t another Farmfest until Buss purchased the rights to it and began hosting it on the grounds of his own Lake Crystal farm in 1982.
Buss revitalized the annual show of farm equipment and agricultural products, rapidly growing the number of exhibitors, vendors and attendees, while continuing to host it on his family’s farm site in Lake Crystal until 1989, according to his obituary. He moved Minnesota Farmfest to Austin in 1990, and eventually to the Gilfillan Estate just outside of Morgan, Minnesota in Redwood County in 1995 where it remains today.
Marlyn founded and launched a similar event to bring farmers and agribusiness together in Mitchell, South Dakota called Dakotafest in 1996. He then sold it and Minnesota Farmfest the next year, but remained active in the shows as a consultant and attendee for many years after.
Marlyn’s perspective as a salesman is what got him invested in Farmfest’s potential, said his daughter Vickie Portes, 51, of Hilo, Hawaii.
“He liked a little pomp and circumstance there, but having a show that kids could enjoy, the family could enjoy together, having a vacation day learning about farming,” Portes said. “That was really important.”
The roots of Farmfest Forums
A major heat wave and drought in 1988 across most of the upper Midwest, hitting Minnesota farms especially hard, planted the seeds for the future of Farmfest Forums.
These forums started off as informational sessions to help farmers during a time of hardship. Kent Thiesse, 72, coordinator of Farmfest Forums, says Buss approached him about lining up some experts from the agricultural industry and providing resources from the University of Minnesota Extension.
“That was kind of my involvement with Farmfest,” Thiesse said. “Because it was so successful back then, working together with Marlyn, we continued to do that every year.”
Buss and Thiesse continued adding to and diversifying the informational sessions in the 1990s. Farmfest Forums is now a place where farmers can engage with Minnesota’s political leaders and hear about the latest on ag policy. Each election year, there’s a candidate forum for those running for Governor, U.S. Senate, and Congress.
Marlyn Buss is credited with expanding a show exhibiting the latest agricultural equipment and technology into a place where rural constituents can learn more about policies affecting them. Thiesse says Buss wasn’t afraid to try something new and out of the box at Farmfest, and he credits him as the person who pushed Farmfest to where it is today.
“The one thing that always impressed me as I worked with Marlyn on Farmfest, he was very much an innovator,” Thiesse said. “He was kind of one of those cornerstones of building…that sound foundation that Farmfest has as kind of a tradition and an institution related to agriculture in Minnesota.”
But Thiesse says outside of Farmfest, he remembers Buss as a kind person. A person who loved sports—especially baseball—and always had new ideas related to Farmfest.
“(Marlyn) was a very friendly person, he was always willing to meet new people, get new ideas,” he said. “A very giving person. He was a fun guy to talk to. Just kind of an all-around good guy.”
‘He touched a lot of people’
The Buss children recall working every summer at Farmfest, in the office with their mother Margaret and helping clean up the grounds with their friends. It was hard work, but they all treasure their memories of those days.
His kids say Marlyn traditionally treated family, friends and colleagues to a big steak dinner after the event ended, which also signaled to them the end of the summer.
“It was like a celebration, but it was also very depressing,” Dan said. “Like, ‘Oh, we got to go home and get ready for school now.’ And, it was like ‘Nope, turn the page. We got another show coming next year. We’re going to improve it.’”
Marlyn’s daughter Vickie Portes says her dad had a “knack” for building connections with people just about anywhere.
“We could be in a McDonald’s, and he would see somebody’s baseball hat, he would start talking to the guy in the line, and he could always find a connection, and it wasn’t six degrees, it usually was like a two-degree connection,” Portes said. “I never understood how he could do that, but he was just a guy who could make connections and remember stories about people, being a true storyteller and just enjoying being around people.”
The impact Marlyn had on the people of southern Minnesota and his Farmfest legacy grew more evident, Portes says, especially in her dad’s final days.
“When Dad had some nurses come and help take care of him at the end, everyone who was vocal had a story of, ‘I remember being a kid and going to Farmfest in Lake Crystal,’” she said. “Some of these other people couldn’t have maybe picked Marlyn Buss out walking down the street, but they knew Farmfest. Then, they’re like, ‘You’re the guy that did that. So, he definitely touched a lot of people’s lives as a summer activity for people in the region.”
Marlyn Buss was preceded in death by his wife Margaret Buss in 2023. Visitation and a celebration of life was held on Tuesday, July 15, at First Presbyterian Church in Lake Crystal.
