John Daniel II didn’t grow up on a farm, but he has ties to farming through his parents. After he inherited some land, he continued to grow the family farm. Farming wasn’t what John initially intended to do with his land. It was an investment and a way of carrying on a family legacy. John’s dream was to open his own pharmacy.
He fulfilled this dream in 1963 when he opened his own pharmacy and drug store, Daniel Pharmacy, on Central Avenue in Fort Dodge, Iowa. His Pharmacy provides superior products and service to a community that has come to know and trust him.
John and his wife, Margo, have three children: John III, Mary Kay, and Mark. They keep the store running with the help of an excellent staff that includes several family members. Margo and John III both work in the pharmacy. Mary Kay helps with healthcare product sales and also has a home decor business that is accessible through the pharmacy. Mark lives with his family in the Des Moines area but is able to get back home frequently.
In a small town, the community is a family in its own way, and it’s easy to get to know many of your fellow residents. John has always been quick to turn clients into friends. When he met Roger Sunderman, a local farm manager, the seeds of a longstanding land management partnership were sown.
John knew Roger ran a farm management company and was curious if that could benefit his family’s land investment. He soon found that he enjoyed learning more about farmland and the opportunities it offered. It occurred to him that the more time he spent with the Sunderman team, the more he learned about his farmland.
In 1987, a business relationship was formed between the Daniel family and Sunderman Farm Management Company. “It has been a great friendship and business relationship. We’ve been able to expand the farming operation through working with [Sunderman Farm Management],” John says. Both Roger Sunderman and Brian Larson would attend land auctions with John to consider new pieces of land he was interested in purchasing. He appreciated the teamwork because they helped him evaluate the ground from a different perspective, and they helped him decide if it was a good investment.
John explains that he enjoys working with Sunderman Farm Management because they are always looking to the future of farming. “They’re progressive, knowledgeable, and —most of all— honest and fair,” John explains. Together as a team, the Daniel family and Sunderman Farm Management continue to maintain and improve the farms by implementing conservation land improvements, installing drainage solutions, and being good stewards of the land.
