Some Things Never Change

I’m currently sitting at my desk looking at this photo of our farm taken decades ago.  It’s incredible to me how many things have changed. My grandfather was an extremely progressive farmer for his time. Back in the 1970’s and 1980’s, he was milking close to 200 cows, raising about 200 sheep and over 100 registered Simmental beef cows. The farm my family ran back then required a tremendous amount of work to manage, often working sunup until sundown like most people imagine farmers do. There were stressful times when weather challenges caused crop failure, or market challenges took away most if not all of the profitability. Yet still, we are here on the same land. 

Today however, the farm looks drastically different. Rather than dairy cows, feedlot cattle and sheep, we have grass fed Red Angus cows and a small pastured chicken enterprise. Rather than raising close to 1000 acres of corn, soybeans and hay, we raise only a small amount of organic black beans, soybeans and corn and the remainder of the 700 acres we steward are in pasture for our grazing livestock. We have made tremendous steps forward in understanding soil health and how our management affects the soil, water and climate. We understand that healthy soil is what creates healthy, nutrient dense forages and those nutrient dense forages creates healthy nutrient dense food that we love so much! Valerie and I are blessed to be able to continue this legacy of living on the land and caring for it. That is one thing that has never changed.

Since my grandfather purchased this farm in the 1960’s through today, my family has loved this land and this lifestyle! 

Looking back at all the change that has happened since this photo was taken, I can’t help but wonder what my grandfather would think of it today. Looking to the future, I wonder what this farm and business will look like when my son Colton is my age, or his children after him. Our hope is that we understand even better how soil functions and how our management impacts it. I hope that the food we produce is exponentially better than what we have the ability to produce now. I hope that we continue to be able to serve our customers, friends and family members like you the nutrient dense food that we love to produce, and that you have a greater connection with the food you love and our land it is produced on.
If you have questions about how your food is produced, please don’t hesitate to call, you can reach me at 507-271-5968.

Farmer Jared Luhman