Cumming Family Farm Spans 122 Years in St. Edward

Brian Cumming is a fourth-generation farmer near St. Edward, Nebraska. The farm has been in the family for 122 years. After getting a degree in Ag Business from a community college, he returned to the farm. "It's in my blood," he said. "It's the only way I know how to live and work." Cumming's 79-year-old father still comes to the farm every day to help when he can and to offer advice and insight. "Dad has been mentoring me from early on," Brian said. "I began attending agronomy meetings when I was 10 years old and he let me start running the planter at a very early age. He told me I needed my own crop to have something for my cows to graze on in the winter." In the 1950's, the Cummings operated one of the largest feedlots in Nebraska. "My grandfather loved feeding cattle and was still buying cattle two days before he passed away," Brian said. Today, they still manage a cow-calf herd comprised of some 200 head, which provides diversity for the entire operation to help mitigate risk.

He tells the story of his aunt Janet who returned to the farm to live with her father--Brian's grandfather--to help him as he aged. While raised on a farm, his aunt had spent most of her life in Omaha. When Aunt Janet saw the cattle being loaded in the truck and headed to market, she turned to Brian and said, "You must be sad about this. These animals are like your pets." "I told her that actually I had worked two years with those cattle to get them to this point--and now I was finally going to get paid for that work," Brian said. "That helped her understand that we're raising and caring for these animals as a business and to provide a healthy, nutritious protein supply." While raising cattle comes with its share of challenges, Brian says it has significant rewards. "Watching a little calf get up on its feet for the first time and take off across the pasture is a great feeling," he said. Brian and his wife Vanessa have six children and one grandchild. His hope is that the farm stays in the family for future generations--and he's doing his part to ensure the sustainability of his operation. "We're using more no-till practices to maintain and build organic matter in the soil and preserve moisture," he said. "We're also using cover crops, which are grazed by our livestock while improving soil health."