How we prepared for careers in agriculture

Kara: Agriculture is something we’ve both been passionate about since we were young. I have a degree in agriculture communications from the University of Kentucky. I grew up with a lifetime of my own family’s experience, but perhaps even more valuable than that is having mentors from across the industry.

Brian: I chose a career in agriculture because it’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do. I went to Kansas State University and have a degree in agronomy. Finding a network of people that do things differently is very important. You can never stop learning.

Farm Credit supports us as young and beginning farmers

Brian: With the AgStart program, you update your financial records with Farm Credit on an annual basis. It’s nice to have a lender that wants you to do that because if they don’t know where you’re at financially, they can’t help you get to a better place.

Kara: More than being a financial institution, Farm Credit offers programs, like GrowingOn, that help us evaluate our business and our family life in terms of balancing multiple careers both on and off the farm. They put tools in our toolbox so we can continue to be successful down the road.

They set us up for success

Brian: We've grown significantly over the last 10 years. We've come close to doubling our cowherd and we’ve bought and rented more acres. We've had to update equipment to be able to cover those additional acres. It’s been very important to have access to a financial lender who can help us do that.

Kara: Farm Credit is a financial institution that really gets what we do from a business perspective. We have a financial officer that not only gets what we do today but understands our long-term goals and really wants to set us up for success.

What we enjoy most about farming

Brian: What I enjoy most about farming is the end-product. Running a combine through a field that’s making 200-plus bushels an acre. Watching a group of heifers load on the trailer and go three states away to be sold as replacements. We put a lot into everything we do, whether it’s financially, physically or emotionally. It’s nice to see the results of the work that we’ve done.

Kara: We ebb and flow every single day depending on the weather, the markets, what equipment might be malfunctioning. To endure those challenges and to live this lifestyle means so much. We wouldn’t have it any other way.