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First Generation Farming: We Bought a Farm

Krista Stauffer

From the time he was a child, my husband wanted to be a dairy farmer when he grew up. His parents sold their cows when he was young but that didn’t get in the way of his dream. He worked for various dairy farms in his community growing up and after high school.

He moved to my hometown in 2009 to start his farm. His lifelong dream had finally come true. Shortly after he moved, we met at the local feed store. The following year we were married, and his dairy-farming dream and passion quickly became mine.

For the past seven and a half years we have been leasing a farm from a local family. Their father, a retired dairy farmer passed away in a tragic car accident. They took a chance on my husband and allowed him to lease the farm we are currently on. It was mentioned in the beginning that this farm would not be placed for sale, something we understood and respected. Several years ago, we decided it was time to try to find a place of our own. It’s not exactly easy to find a turn key farm that isn’t at least a million dollars. As a first generation, small family farm, that is simply something we could not afford. We became discouraged, wondering if they would continue to lease the farm or what the future held for us.

In 2015, to our surprise, the family reached out to us about purchasing the farm. We were completely caught off guard. The mother let us know that the children wanted the farm to continue as a dairy farm and they knew that we were the right family. They loved seeing a young family out working with kids running around as they drove past.

Everything felt like it was falling into place.

We quickly realized that we were either “too new” or “too small” of a farm for agriculture lenders to work with. We also quickly realized that the past six years of keeping our head down, staying out of debt and running our farm on a cash flow only basis actually hurt us when it came time to need a loan. Apparently you must have a bunch of debt to get a bunch of debt or something like that. We had the option of using the Farm Service Agency but at that time we would need to wait for the next round of funding.

We began to get discouraged again.

We explained the situation to the family along with the fact of current low milk prices, we felt like the down payment would put us in a bad position. Every year we shake the hands of several farm families in our community that sell us feed and we did not want to take a chance of not being able to honor our word and make our payments by stretching ourselves too thin. However, to our surprise, the family was willing to carry the contract and accept a down payment which was much less than what is typically required for farm purchases.

Now at this point in the story, you are probably wondering what we did to deserve this. I have a theory. For the past seven and a half years, my husband has put in countless hours to make this farm a success. He is no stranger to 80-100 hour work weeks and when he shakes someone’s hand and makes a deal, he honors his word. This is something both of us take very seriously. When times were tough, we kept an open line of communication with everyone we do business with. We never tried to back out of our obligations or hide from tough conversations. We are far from perfect, we’ve made plenty of mistakes but we also own up to them and do what we can to make them right. In addition, many of these families have become so much more than just folks we do business with. Many of them have become like family.

Despite if I am wrong or right, an amazing family took a huge chance on us. Twice. Today we signed the closing paperwork on our farm. Today, my husband’s lifelong dream of owning and operating his own dairy farm came true. I am so incredibly proud and excited to be part of this journey. Today starts a new chapter for our family and our farm.

We may not know what our future holds, but we do know who holds our future. We are going to continue to put our trust in Him, continue to work hard and pray that we get to continue this amazing way of life living our American dream.

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Krista Stauffer

Owner at Stauffer Dairy
Krista didn't grow up on a farm but fell in love with a dairy farmer and now works alongside her husband on their family dairy farm, raising five children. Despite her non-farm upbringing, she embraces farm life, enjoys gardening, and remodeling their farmhouse. She also runs a successful women's boutique, manages social media for local businesses, and serves on the board of a non-profit creamery, showcasing her dedication to entrepreneurship and community service.
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