Episode 96: From The Archive- Beginning Farming and Resetting Your Farm Practices with DL Lautenbach
“The opportunity is out there, you’re just going to have to do a better job than trying to compete with Walmart on price and volume.”
When I first met DL on TikTok, we were chatting about bottle calves. But as I got to know his story, I knew there was so much more to share. His journey from running a 400-head operation to starting over with just five borrowed calf hutches speaks to the heart of what farming is really about - family, resilience, and finding your own path to success.
Starting Over with Five Calves
"We borrowed five calf hutches from a friend. Another friend financed us on five bull calves at $40 each. And there I was with my six-year-old son and eight-year-old daughter," DL shared with me. "My whole life I'd been too good to raise calves. But once I got away from what I thought I needed to be successful, I realized I absolutely loved it."
This wasn't part of some grand plan. After the 2008 financial crisis hit, DL and his wife Randi had to completely restart their farming operation. They went from running 400 head on a credit line to figuring out how to make it work with whatever they could piece together.
Finding Creative Solutions
The family got scrappy. They'd go to the bakery outlet to buy day-old bread to feed the calves. DL's kids would sort through 18-gallon totes of bread and donuts - not exactly premium feed, but it worked. They managed their small herd with just a five-gallon bucket and a wheelbarrow on their five-acre plot.
"When you're down there getting bakery waste and making your kids cut the hostess pies to feed the calves, you're scraping anything you can," DL explained. "And still to this day, whenever I'm in Tractor Supply, I walk around and see what's got yellow tags on it."
A Shift in Priorities
The journey wasn't just about changing their farming operation - it was about changing their whole mindset. DL and his family went from being focused on having the newest cars and taking fancy vacations to finding joy in simpler things.
"We looked at each other and asked, 'What's important?'" DL recalled. "We realized we had just as much fun at the state high school basketball tournament and our daughter's softball games as we did in Maui or Cabo."
Growing Smart, Not Just Big
Today, DL runs an operation feeding 100 head of his own cattle and custom feeding another 50 head. He services four breweries, hauling their grain as feed - a creative solution he found by looking for opportunities others might miss.
His advice for other farmers starting small? "You've got to establish where your byproducts are in your area and figure out your competitive advantage," he says. "As a small producer, you can change what you're doing and see trends so much faster than a large producer."
Finding Your Path
DL's story reminds us that success in farming isn't always about being the biggest operation in the county. Sometimes it's about:
Starting small and building slowly
Looking for creative solutions and opportunities others might miss
Being willing to change your definition of success
Putting family first and finding joy in the journey
Making smart decisions with the resources you have
"When you're starting to farm, you're using these little projects as a gateway to develop a network, to develop some net worth, to develop experience, and to develop momentum," DL explains. "You're not going to fall off a log and have a hundred customers the first day."
For those looking to start farming or rebuild, DL's message is clear: Start where you are, use what you have, and don't be afraid to think differently. Success might look different than what you initially pictured, but that doesn't make it any less valuable.
To connect with DL, check out his TikTok and Facebook.
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About your host:
I’m your host, Lexi Wright. I started the Farming on Purpose Podcast from a passion for sharing the stories of agriculture from generations past, preserving the skills and lessons learned along the way, and ensuring the best of that is passed onto those who will continue to lead the way into the future of production agriculture.
I’m so glad you’re here and I hope you’ll take a moment to join the conversation with me and other listeners on social media.
Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.
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