The Face of Farming

By: Kaysa Cruse

When I was growing up, farming was not a desired job, it was a default for those kids who had family farms and no interest in college. The face of farming that I pictured was one of hard work and little or no profit, a tough existence.

            As time went on I educated myself in a variety of skills and put myself through business school. Having all of the right opportunities with my degree to work for numerous businesses, I chose instead to open my own. After meeting Nate, now my husband, we were two individuals looking to get as much out of life as possible. Nate was on his way to owning a family business, we bought a good investment house, and worked hard to be successful as a couple and financially.

            Eventually it came to a point that we had a little breathing room, time and adequate financial stability to sit back and think about our quality of life and decide what we truly wanted to do with the rest of it. After thorough discussion of short term and long term goals, as well as, personal desires, we came to a conclusion; farming. Why you ask? Because farming could be profitable, it would give us outdoor access, provide us with top quality foods, connect us with a much more simple and satisfying lifestyle.

            Now that we knew what we wanted, it was just about feasibility. Where? When? What kind? How? We considered starting our own, but without enough capital and farm specific knowledge, it would be years of working in a different field to support our farming. We wanted to get back to grassroots farming, not the massive machinery and costly repairs, but the kind that was for the animals and the environment, rather than for the people. The goal became, find a currently functioning farm and work with them to increase their current revenue streams or develop new ones. This lengthy search brought us to Corner Post Meats.

            Corner Post Meats is an amazing pasture-raised meat and eggs producer, with two young, vibrant, intelligent people at the helm. Educated and motivated to make their farm productive and profitable, Adrienne Larrew and Dan Lorenz, offered us a home at Corner Post Meats as a way to try our hand at farming and possibly a new business venture.

We changed our lives, sold our home and respective businesses in Kent, CT. Left with just the basics and drove cross country to Colorado Springs. At this point, we couldn't be happier, all of our goals are coming to fruition and our lifestyle is already simpler and more satisfying.

            All of these ideas and people make me realize the face of farming can be drastically different. A face of individuals who have been educated and live in the worlds of money and business and choose to come back to the lifestyle that farming can offer, one of profitability and pleasure, a balanced life.

            Now I can proudly say that we too are a part of rebuilding the face of farming, figuring ways to better the quality of life for the animals that support us and for ourselves. 

~Kaysa~