Mark Kasten State Farm

Barb and Larry Olesen recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

Tune out the background noise and stick to the plan is the approach the Olesen family takes on their farm in the northern suburbs of Turkey Ridge.

“For the success of the operation, our philosophy is to go for base hits, not home runs. Dad has said that lots of times,” said Lance Olesen. They apply the base hits approach to most every decision – whether it’s the amount of fertilizer to apply, which seed and chemicals to use, or buying good used machinery to let someone else pay for the depreciation. “Especially with marketing, everybody is always trying to sell for the highest price. We just try to make sure we’re consistently profitable every year. If we can be in the top third of the market, we’re happy enough with that.”

Lance’s father, Larry Olesen, concurred. “For those people who always think they’re going to sell at the highest price, they usually end up with the grain in the bin when it goes down. We don’t always sell at the highest point, but you don’t want to be on the bottom third. But it’s still emotional selling grain.”

Larry and his wife, Barb, along with Lance and his wife, Elizabeth, raise corn and soybeans plus have a cow-calf herd. For Lance, his first 11 years of farming has been a wild ride. “Since I started in 2010, I feel like I’ve seen all the extremes, from the worst drought in 2012 to the wettest year on record

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Elizabeth Olesen with her brother, Reid Nutley, who is a key team member at the Olesen farm.

in 2019. I’ve seen record high corn prices and low corn prices. Then you throw the pandemic in there.” Nevertheless, he believes they’re fortunate to be diversified with their expanding cow herd. “During 2019, because it was so wet, we couldn’t plant until later. When we planted cover crops, it was nice to have cows to feed those crops to.”

Lance also enjoys the benefit of having his wife work side-by-side with him. Barb said, “Elizabeth is a huge part of the operation. She can do anything.”

Elizabeth said, “The first year I worked here full-time, I was very pregnant. Coming into it during 2018, one of the wettest calving seasons ever, it was baptism by fire.” She grew up on an acreage, but her previous hands-on farm experience was limited. Her grandparents farmed, but her parents, Mike and Becky Nutley of Irene, do not.

Elizabeth and her brother, Reid Nutley, now operate their grandparent’s former farm near Irene. Reid is also an important part of the labor force on the Olesen farm. Lance said, “It’s hard to find good help and he’s top-notch help. We’re very blessed to have him.”

Lance had special praise for Elizabeth’s contribution to the cow-calf operation. “I don’t know if it’s a woman thing or not, but she can tell if a cow is going into labor before we can.” Larry agreed: “She can also spot a sick calf before the rest of us.”

Elizabeth said, “There’s been a lot of listening, Lance helped me so much and I’ve come leaps and bounds from where I was three years ago. I feel like I’ve caught on quick. I listen to the vets when they come and ask the right questions. I love it.” Lance said their veterinarian, Dr. Ron Good from Parker, does a great job for them.

Lance also praised his wife’s quick thinking. Elizabeth was recently hauling a load of round bales when one of the bales spontaneously burst into flame. To save the rest of the load, she quickly unhooked the tractor from the wagon, used the fork to pull the burning bale off and dropped it onto the gravel road. Because he’s a member of the Turkey Ridge grass fire team, Lance was glad she dropped it on the gravel and not in the ditch.

After their high school years, both Lance and Larry took time to