Andrew’s heart was not always set on farming, though. As a kid, Andrew had his sights set on a music career. With age came a new perspective, and he realized providing nourishing foods to others was the most important thing he could do.

“I reflected on what I could do that would be more important than raising food for people and providing the farming lifestyle for my future family. I felt compelled to farm,” Andrew explained.

Andrew’s dad manages their row crop enterprise. They grow corn and soybeans in a regular rotation but are trying out wheat and milo. They have found a niche market selling milo, an exclusively non-GMO energy crop, to be made into chicken scratch. They are using cover crop strategies for conservation and to utilize their crop ground to support their cattle operation. With agreeable weather in spring 2022, their cattle will graze a fantastic rye crop before spring planting begins.

Andrew manages the livestock operation. The Beemans have 650 cows, and Andrew uses diverse management techniques to help his business be profitable. The farm retains ownership of their feeder calves while they are at the western feedlots, he sells bred females, and he is beginning to raise replacement bulls to derive added value from his cow herd. After years of market research, Andrew has diversified his livestock by adding goats to the farm.