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Texas Agriculture Archive

November 4, 2005

Outstanding Young Farmer & Rancher Contest

Korvan Kreusler
Hard work and
optimism go far...

The Kreuslers: Jill, Keene, Kasen and Korvan.

Sheep and goats play a large role in Korvan's operation.

By Mike Barnett
Editor

Ask Jill Kreusler why her husband is a successful farmer and she doesn't have to think twice to answer.

"First and foremost, his love of it," Jill says. "He absolutely loves farming and ranching. He's not afraid of hard work, he's been doing it all of his life. And he's optimistic. He doesn't have a pessimistic bone in his body."

That optimism has served Korvan well though both difficult and good times in his farming career. When the New Braunfels area suffered a 500 year flood in 1998, Korvan shrugged it off. When she repeated that act in 2002, he kept his chin up.

"Mother Nature can provide too much and give too little," he says. "But I'm also mindful that Mother Nature is almost our greatest asset, too, because when the Lord does provide us with the moisture we need, it can be very beneficial to us."

Korvan, in partnership with his dad, farms corn, milo and wheat on the flat land east of New Braunfels and runs cattle, sheep and goats on the hilly country to the west. He also has a partnership with another local farmer on a combine and serves as a Pioneer sales representative for the area between New Braunfels, Seguin and San Marcos.

This fifth generation producer still ranches on the land his great-great-grandfather settled in 1861.

"We've been in agriculture our whole life and wouldn't think of doing anything else," Korvan says.

Diversity is key to his operation, and making each segment work with the other adds to his success. For example, grain grown on his farmland is used as creep feed and in feed mixtures for their sheep, goat and cattle, which holds costs down. Korvan also strives to "not farm for the bank."

"We don't have an operating loan to keep us going one year to the next. We try to save up our money to be able to purchase our fertilizer and seed when we need it. The only thing we want as far as debt is big ticket items such as tractors, combines, and if we decide to purchase some more agricultural land."

Before spring planting Korvan sharpens his pencil, figures in his breakevens and then shoots for a profitable price to sell his grain.

"We'd like to see us get at least a dollar a hundred in milo over what our breakeven is, and 50 cents a bushel over our breakeven in corn," he says. "We all know that when you have a bad year, the breakeven's going to be a lot higher because you have less pounds to play with. It makes it pretty difficult in some years."

Government program money is not figured into those breakeven costs.

"We don't want to factor that in," Korvan says. "We want to be able to raise a crop that's productive and profitable on that acre of land. We don't even worry about the government programs. To us, that's icing on the cake."

Korvan does not cash lease any of his farmland. Instead, 70 percent of the land he farms is worked on a two-thirds/one-third share basis with the landowner.

That system, he says, seems to work well for both parties.

"They (landowners) have a little investment in it," he says. "They get to see what the rising cost of agriculture has been in basically the last five to 10 years. They have an investment. They want to see the crop do well.

"I believe it's been beneficial for us because we don't have a total investment in the crop. And it's been beneficial to them because they've been earning more than the typical cash lease for our area."

A major challenge to his operation is urban encroachment. Comal County is one the fastest growing counties in Texas. In fact, a high-dollar subdivision is going in right across the fence- line from his ranch.

"Seeing how high land prices have gone, it's hard for any agricultural producer to be able to compete with the businesses or the commercial developers that are purchasing the land in our area," he said. "It makes it really tough on us. But you can't blame the landowner either if this high dollar developer wants that property, and they appraise the value of the land so high."

Jill says one of the couple's main goals is to provide an opportunity for their sons to be the sixth generation to farm the land they both love, but only if that's the life their boys choose.

"Both of their first words were 'tractor'," she says with delight.

Korvan, too, says the choice is theirs, but would welcome them to the occupation he loves. He chose to be a farmer, he says, "out of love for the land," and for the many different occupations it takes to be a farmer and rancher.

"I can become a truck driver one day, a tractor driver one day, I can be an accountant the next night, I can be a welder the next week," he says. "It's one of the few occupations where you have to be more than one thing. You have to be a jack of all trades."