Chris Olerud has loved to farm since he was young. Now, at age 29, he has slowly built his cattle operation to include 59 cows.
By: Tanya Brown, Outreach Marketing Editor
Chris Olerud fights crime for a living. As a deputy sheriff in Beadle County, South Dakota, he puts his life on the line to keep citizens safe. But after a week of working 10-hour shifts, Chris retreats to the one place he has worked so hard to obtain — his cattle ranch.
“I enjoy being around cattle. It’s rewarding to feed and care for them,” said Chris, whose been tending to cattle since he was a young boy spending summers on his grandfather’s farm. “My grandfather taught me everything I know about raising cattle and now that he’s up in age, I want to continue to build on what he taught me.”
After graduating from Western Dakota Technical Institute with a degree in law enforcement, Chris said he was drawn back to the farm. The same motivation that moved him to get a part-time job while in high school to buy his first cows, now moved him to start his own operation.
That’s when the challenges came. “It’s tough starting out,” said Chris.
Rejections by banks, limited access to land and high feed prices were slowly eating into Chris’s paycheck. But the bank rejections didn’t end on a sour note.
“The bank wanted me to put up a certain amount for a down payment. Then they directed me to the Farm Service Agency. They said what I needed could be 100 percent funded through FSA,” said Chris.
He qualified for the FSA microloan — a smaller loan, up to $50,000, designed to meet the financing needs of small, new, niche or non-traditional farmers — and used it to purchase 25 bottle calves.
Chris then found 14 acres of land and went back to FSA where he qualified for a farm ownership loan that provides farmers and rancher an opportunity to purchase farmland, construct and repair buildings and make farm improvements with no down payment and a maximum loan amount of $300,000.
Today, Chris has built his operation up to 59 cows. He believes he has made his grandfather proud by continuing in his footsteps. “He’s not a man of too many words,” said Chris. “He comes by to see my progress and he seems pretty happy with it.”
At age 29, Chris is focused and hopes within the next five years that daily operation of the ranch will pay for the land, equipment and cover feed bills. In the long-term, he said he hopes to make a profit.
“I’m starting young, so I can retire and farm,” said Chris.
But first things first. In the fall, Chris will marry his fiancé, Leah, who has embraced his love of the farm life. “This is all new to her, she was a city girl when I met her, but she has poured her heart and soul into it,” said Chris. “I’ve never seen a five-foot woman lift so much. She has really been great.”
For more information on loans available from the USDA Farm Service Agency, visit www.fsa.usda.gov/farmloans or contact your local FSA office. To find your local office, visit http://offices.usda.gov. For more information on entering agriculture as a profession, visit www.usda.gov/newfarmers.
