Leaning into the Process of Finding Your Role on a Family Operation
Chelsey Erdmann has an undeniable passion for agriculture and continuing the legacy of her family’s diversified operation. She approaches agriculture with a powerful balance of an open mind, burning passion and empathy for the consumer that we all can learn from. The approach she took when finding ways to return to the family farm teaches us all the importance of communicating with others, being flexible and learning to enjoy the process.
Chelsey distinctly remembers when she first began to truly help on the farm. She was around 12 years old when her dad came in for supper and began talking about how he had nobody to run the grain cart for him the next day. In that moment, Chelsey volunteered, and her involvement has looked different ever since. Upon graduating from college, Erdmann worked for a local John Deere dealership. It was a dream job of sorts because she was able to have a career she enjoyed and maintain a heavy involvement on the operation. “It was the most incredible opportunity for a job that I could possibly have had. I lived with my parents and I bought a bunch more cows on my own. My employer allowed me to come in at six in the morning and leave at two so I could run the grain cart full-time during harvest. It allowed me to have flexible hours and build up equity so that when it was time to transition and leave the dealership, I already had something,” said Erdmann. The opportunity to transition came in March of 2018 when her grandparents decided to retire. Chelsey and her brother took this opportunity to buy more land and cattle and work separately but together with one another and their parents.
Because they work separately but together, this transition created some shifting of roles. It’s easy to get caught up in the traditional approach of working your way up on a family operation or any job. Erdmann challenges this way of finding your role on operations. She admits to not being mechanically inclined when it comes to fixing equipment and recognizes that her strengths are found on the business side of agriculture. “We all have put in our time differently. We all have different strengths. I think that sometimes it's easy to get hung up on if you started from the bottom, found a side door but it’s okay to work your way in differently than others,” said Erdmann. There were learning curves when production agriculture became her full-time job even though she was still on the farm every day when she was working at the dealership. A few of these learning curves were adjusting to the workflow of day-to-day operations and not being able to always delegate or outsource like you can in a traditional corporate setting. “My time at the dealership taught me to follow my strengths and outsource the rest. However, that is easier said than done when you live in rural America. It’s easy to say that if can hire someone to do it and they can do it at least 70% as good as we could or better to hire them. But you can’t always find the people or other resources to do that,” said Erdmann.
Chelsey views everything as a learning experience and embraces the process it takes to work through challenges. Her grandfather passed away in October of 2022 and even though he was retired, he still played an important role on the operation. Since then, there has been a lot of shifting and learning as everyone finds their new roles. “It’s a work in progress. We are definitely not at the final destination…and it isn’t like we are going too fast or too slow, it’s just one of those things that takes time to figure out,” said Erdmann. In addition to her parents, brother and children being a part of day-to-day operations, employees are also a part of the operation along with Erdmann’s husband who steps in and helps in between running his own business.
The main driver for Chelsey to return to the family operation was her desire to continue the legacy that generations before her started. It’s why she found a career that allowed her to be active on the farm while she worked and why she allows her children to tag along with her every single day on the family farm. While work-life boundaries are important, it’s also the strong family bond that has allowed her family to continue their legacy and adapt through the most challenging times. “We have the mindset that we don’t have to have separate work time and family time. It is all just family time and such a gift that we can we do it all together. Some days it is hard, but my parents instilled in us the attitude that if it is a lifestyle we love and if we wouldn’t want it any other way, then that’s how we can live,” said Erdmann.
Chelsey encourages other farmers and ranchers who are going through transition processes to remember that it is constantly a work in progress but also a special gift that all of us in agriculture get to experience. Erdmann’s own words wrapped up her message the best when she said, “There can be extremely difficult days when we work with family, and I think we all smile when we hear that. At the same time, it is such an incredible gift that multiple generations can spend so much time together.”
Learn more about Chelsey and her story by following Oh That’s Chelsey on social media.
