A Dream Come True
Chad Basinger always knew he wanted to have a herd of beef cows. He grew up spending long days on his grandparents’ farm. Starting at age 12, he rented cows from a neighbor and began raising his own small herd.
Today, Chad and his wife Cassondra, own and operate Basinger Land & Cattle in Pretty Prairie, Kansas. Their herd of about 300 Angus and Red Angus crossbred cattle graze on cover crops and grasses, quietly restoring the land with each step.
“I started out as a first-generation farmer,” Chad said. “I was able to rent a couple of 80 acres from a neighbor, and we’ve grown the operation since then. We have a cow-calf operation and backgrounding operation. And then we also started Basinger’s LLC, a direct-to-market beef business.”
Basinger Land & Cattle is truly a family operation. Chad and Cassondra have four children who are all eager to help on the farm. Cassondra manages the accounting and financial side of the operation, while also driving the tractor and semi-trailer truck.
For the last several years, they have sold their beef products directly to customers. It’s a business model that can be more profitable for the farmer while also giving the consumer a higher degree of certainty about what they are eating, how the beef was raised and who their dollars support.
“What makes Basinger’s beef unique is that we know our cattle,” Cassondra said. “Our tagline is ‘pure, local beef.’ The cattle are born and raised on our farm, and they’re in our care for their entire lives. We know exactly what they’re fed and how they’re handled.”
Raising Beef and Regenerating Soil
They are proponents of regenerative agriculture and reducing the need for fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides through cover cropping and no-till farming. Their operation makes good use of cover crops to promote a healthy topsoil and provides a source of nutritional feed for their cattle.
From regenerative farming to transparency in how their cattle are raised, Basinger Land & Cattle is working to create a sustainable farming model while reaching customers who may pay a little extra for high-quality beef.
“We want to tailor what the customer wants to how we handle our cattle,” she said. “No hormones, no additives. They just want beef. And that’s what we want to give them. We want to give them beef that’s great tasting, has great flavor, and kind of represents us in our family and how we do things.”
Growing the Business
Each day, Chad and Cassondra work to build the business – all while raising a family and passing on valuable life lessons to their children.
“It’s a great place to raise a family and teach the kids a good work ethic,” Chad said. “My favorite part is that each day is not the same. I like that there’s change, from fixing fence to harvesting to bringing cattle home to taking cattle out.”
As the operation has grown, Chad said working with American AgCredit helped support land purchases and set a solid foundation for the future.
“We kind of started with nothing and have been growing along the way,” he said. “They were willing to take a chance on us with some land purchases, and they’ve helped us grow our operation to where it is today.”
This article was originally published by American AgCredit.
