For Kathy Wood, Christensen Ranch is inseparable from her identity.

Deeply connected to the ranch
The farm is where Kathy grew up and now, as the owner, it’s where she generates her livelihood. “The ranch and the farm are a piece of who I am. There isn’t any point in my life where I don’t remember them being part of me,” she said. 

It’s similar for Kathy’s foreman, Jeff Norris. A notoriously quiet man, Jeff couldn’t help but express his strong connection to the farm. “It’s a hard to explain the lifestyle that you get from farming, a lifestyle that’s important to me. Being able to come out, work with good people and good animals. That is why I’m here,” he said. 

Roots in agriculture
Kathy co-owns Christensen Ranch with her cousin Eric Christensen. Their grandfather homesteaded the farm back in 1923 and it has remained in the family ever since. Both Kathy and Eric had a somewhat untraditional start to agriculture. They both left the farm, went to college and worked outside of agriculture for a few years before deciding, separately, that they wanted to come back to the family business.

The Farm Credit community
Kathy and Eric have been Premier Farm Credit customers for ten years and remain customers because they feel part of the Farm Credit community. “The people at Farm Credit are people that we know. There are people that are part of the community. They understand the business that we’re in,” Kathy said. 

Premier Farm Credit has been there to support Kathy and Eric during good times and bad. “They give us peace of mind that when things aren’t going well, and you’re going to have years where they don’t, they’re in it for the long haul,” Kathy said. 

Not only has Farm Credit been there in good times and bad, but they’ve been there when Kathy and Eric needed support to start a new venture into value-added products and grow their business. “We jumped in and doubled our cow herd and Premier Farm Credit was there. They understood what our long-term vision was and they were there with us,” Kathy said.