Direct marketers. Grass managers. Pasture-based beef and poultry farmers. Seedstock producers. Sustainable ag consultants. On any given day, Jared and Valerie Luhman wear these different hats at their farm business based in Goodhue, Minn.

Consumer educator. Tour guide. Spanish-speaking colleague. Community supporter. Erin Larson eases in and out of these roles throughout her workday at a 9,500-cow dairy operation near Murdock, Minn.

These young Minnesotans, just beginning their agricultural careers, are passionate about their work and keen on educating consumers about food production. Each path is unique and fulfills a niche in agriculture.

Grazers and marketers

Both Valerie and Jared grew up on farms and were very active in FFA and 4-H. Valerie was raised on a crop and beef farm near Wykoff and went on to attend the University of Minnesota, majoring in agricultural communications and marketing. Jared grew up on his family’s crop and beef farm where he and Valerie farm today. He attended the University of Minnesota, majoring in ag education, leadership and communications. He returned to the family business and works with his dad, Jon, at Dry Creek Red Angus Farm. They farm around 700 acres, with approximately 100 to 200 acres in crops and the remainder in pasture and hay for their Red Angus beef herd. They also raise pastured poultry for their direct marketing enterprise

Valerie and Jared met at FFA camp while in high school and married in August 2018. They are expecting their first child in late June.

The couple’s pasture-based farm has roots in a trip Jon made to New Zealand in 1980. There, he learned about grass management grazing, something completely different from the conventional dairy, beef and crop farming back home in Minnesota. After Jon returned, he started his own grazing dairy farm that later evolved to beef.

“Both Dad and I prefer pasture-based agriculture,” Jared says.

Diversification is key

Managing cattle on grass is one aspect of the Luhmans’ farming operation. Jared was slowly building their customer base for grass-fed beef but found it difficult to market it on his own. In 2019, they were fortunate to find a Twin Cities-based direct marketing business for sale and bought it, along with its customer list and freezer space in Edina. The Grass Fed Cattle Co. provides local customers the opportunity to buy pasture-raised beef, pork and chicken in bulk, by cut or in subscription boxes.

Unbelievably, COVID-19 had a tremendous impact on their new business — in a positive way.

“Our sales and subscription list doubled,” Valerie says, explaining how consumers had a renewed interest in buying local foods. Adds Jared: “It was a wild ride.”

Customers also let them know they wanted pastured corn- and soy-free pastured chicken. So the Luhmans decided to experiment with poultry diets and invested in a new pasture hoophouse, complete with automatic waterers, that will house 600 chickens. They applied for and received two research grants to compare growth rates, mortality and nutrient content of the meat from the pasture-raised chickens fed either their traditional non-GMO corn and soy-based feed, or an organic corn- and soy-free feed. The hoophouse will be moved daily to offer fresh pasture for chicken to scratch, peck and consume.

“We’re pretty excited for the pastured chicken,” Jared says. “It is profitable and seasonal.”

The Luhmans also raise and sell bulls as a cooperative producer with Pharo Cattle Co., based in Burlington, Colo. The company’s philosophy promotes low input genetics that allow its producers to reduce feed and input costs in their cow herds, thus making for more profitable enterprises. Reduced production costs, a premium market for seedstock and direct marketing of pasture-based livestock allow the Luhmans to compete on highly productive, tillable land with livestock and pasture.

Using their people skills

With their skills and experience in communications, both Jared and Valerie took off-farm jobs that offer flexible work hours and add to the family income. Last year, Jared started work as the soil health lead for the Sustainable Farming Association in Minnesota.

“This job has been a great fit for me,” Jared says. “A large percent of my work is spent doing grazing consulting on other pasture-based farms. This aligns perfectly with my passion and experience.” He also notes that he learns a lot from others as he travels across the state.

“I see things that are working on other farms and bring some of those ideas back home to our place,” he adds. “I’ve also learned a ton about soil health. It has always been our families’ goal to leave our land in better condition than how we got it.”

Valerie does contract work for a website design and farm store platform called Barn2Door. She also teaches online classes, showing other farmers how to market, develop relationships with customers and use social media.

With their investments now in smart equity and sweat equity, the Luhmans can focus on improving profitability in all their business ventures. And some day, they plan to have land of their own.

“There’s tremendous opportunity for us in these growing enterprises,” Jared says. “With our direct marketing, we can be price-makers instead of price-takers. Building a customer base of hundreds of customers rather than one individual market gives us more market stability. Building soil health and healthy pastures gives us resiliency against weather extremes.”

Adds Valerie: “We feel blessed to farm alongside our family and raise our children on the farm, too.”

Community-builder

Erin Larson already has a lengthy agricultural resume, and she’s only been out of college for four years.

She grew up in New Richland in southern Minnesota on a 5-acre farm. Her parents had off-farm careers — her dad was a Lutheran pastor, and her mom, a home economics teacher.

“We always had livestock on the farm — dairy heifers, some sheep and goats,” Larson says. “I was very thankful for that.” Having livestock helped her further develop her interest in showing them at county and state fairs, and it also prompted heavy involvement with FFA and 4-H.

When she went to college at University of Wisconsin-River Falls, she initially considered an animal science major. Yet, as happens at college, other potential career doors opened. She considered a degree in ag education, and then ag marketing and communications, which she ultimately received after transferring to Oklahoma State University to finish her college education.

During summer breaks while in college, Larson worked at various internships. One summer, she worked for CHS through its corporate citizenship program. Another summer, she worked for the Freeborn County 4-H program. Her senior year, she interned for a public relations agency, Osborn Barr, in Kansas City, Mo.

A week after college graduation in 2017, Larson learned about a job opening with Riverview Dairy LLP, near Morris, Minn. The dairy was looking to hire someone who would serve as a community relations liaison, both for the dairy itself and for the dairy’s Hispanic workforce.

Today, Larson is responsible for overseeing dairy tours at Louriston Dairy in Murdock, Minn., a 9,500-cow facility that attracts roughly 5,000 visitors annually. Essentially, the reputation of Riverview LLP — owner of Louriston Dairy — rests in her hands.

“My role is to show visitors what we do here, and to help them understand why we do it,” Larson says. An outdoor farm sign welcomes visitors to come anytime for tours — the exception being during COVID-19 lockdown. School and civic groups, family reunions, international ag media, lawmakers, county commissioners, even single visitors have toured the dairy.

“We show them milking [in a 106-cow carousel parlor], where cows eat, where they rest. They can see co-workers tending calves, doing hoof trimming,” she says. “We want to be transparent about what we are doing with our cattle in Minnesota under one roof.”

Her most memorable tours are ones that come to light after receiving thank-you notes. A family reunion that drew folks from across the U.S. toured the dairy. Unbeknownst to Larson, a couple of the family members were vegans. Later, she received a thank-you for the tour. The writer noted that the vegan family members were impressed with the dairy and its cleanliness, and were considering eating cheese and drinking milk again.

On another tour, with just one woman who shared she was into specialty cheeses, arrived with a negative view of large-scale farming. Larson gave her a tour and later, saw that the woman has posted on Facebook about her experience.

“She explained how she changed her position on large farms and now understood the efficiency of size,” Larson says, adding, “You never know the impact of a tour.”

Assisting co-workers

Larson also plays an important role as she works with co-workers, the majority of whom are Mexican and learning to speak English. With management support, she serves as a source to help non-English-speaking colleagues navigate new things to them in the community. From explaining the recommendations of a free-will offering to helping them meet community members, Larson provides a variety of opportunities for co-workers to be involved in. All employees also are encouraged to support special on-farm and off-farm events, such as a community supper or a pancake feed.

“It’s so easy to stay in your own bubble,” Larson says, noting that these events help everyone get to know one another.

Everyone on the dairy, too, works at learning either English- or Spanish-language skills. Larson has taken Spanish classes and continues to work on her speaking skills. To make learning fun, during their free time, co-workers will listen to Spanish music or watch a Disney movie in either English or Spanish.

Whether she’s explaining how a cow is milked or helping a new co-worker get settled into the job, Larson loves what she does.

“I wasn’t born on a production farm, and this job provides that experience,” she says. “I get to show our value to the community. We work towards being good stewards to our animals, our people and our environment while providing high-quality milk.”