In his own words
By Lucas Lang
My name is Lucas Lang, and I am running for president of NDFB. My wife Heather and I were high school sweethearts and got married in 2003 after we completed college. We have three children, Reagan, McKinnley, and Jackson. They attend Kidder County School in Steele, N.D., and are involved in all types of sports and organizations. In the fall, you can find us on Monday afternoons and Friday nights cheering on the Wolves junior high and varsity football teams. Our winter months are consumed with boys’ varsity, girls’ varsity, and boys’ junior high and travel basketball games.
We farm a few acres of cropland, focusing on winter-seeded crops and corn for use as cash crops and feed for our pigs. We also run a small herd of about a dozen sows that we farrow and feed up to finish weight. We then sell directly to consumers as whole hogs or run individual product through our on-farm meat market, “Sterling Cuts.”
I graduated from high school with the intention of being an auto mechanic. I enrolled in NDSCS Wahpeton and figured I would graduate, get a job, and help out occasionally on the family farm. It took me only a semester to realize that I was a farmer at heart and that back home on the farm is where I wanted to be. I still completed my degree and graduated in 2002, but never pursued an actual career turning wrenches. My education wasn't wasted, however, with all the repair work that a farm throws at you.
Like many people in agriculture, I love the freedom it provides. It’s not just the freedom that being your own boss provides, however. I love the challenges and the freedom to fail that await at every turn in this industry. Those challenges, when overcome, provide a sense of satisfaction that only comes with independence and self-reliance.
Farming and ranching is also the best way to raise family. The principles of hard work and responsibility are not just buzzwords. They are a way of life because they have to be. Our three kids have grown up helping at every turn on our small hog operation. From doing chores well after dark due to sports practices to cleaning farrowing pens every weekend, we have tried to instill a sense of pride that comes with completing even the most mundane tasks. I tell my kids it grows character, although I'm sure they wonder just how much character they need at times.
Growing up as the 3rd generation on my family’s farm instilled a sense of responsibility and love for work that many of us experience. After my grandpa’s passing when I was 11 in 1996, my dad transitioned our farm from a balanced crop and cattle operation to focus solely on cattle, with most of the farm ground converted to hay and forage crops. It worked well for him, however, I was not a cattle guy growing up and would have much rather focused on the crop side of things. I have since come to realize the important role cattle can play in a diversified operation and the soil health benefits they can offer a crop guy. I have gone so far as to purchase our first heifer this spring. Our plan is to use her offspring as another quality option alongside our pork in our storefront.
After college graduation, I started farming on my own and demoted myself to volunteer help on the family ranch. For most of my adult life, I’ve held off-farm jobs to help with cash flow, working mainly as farm labor on other operations in the area. This has allowed me to see a variety of methods and successes that I have implemented to varying degrees on my own farm.
But perhaps the most important event that shaped my operation and political beliefs didn't happen until about a decade ago.
I was a longtime borrower with FSA, and like many young borrowers cutting their own path in agriculture, start-up costs were high. Machinery expenses ate into profitability, but we were holding our head above water. It was at that time the lead loan officer took a position in the private sector and the replacement was simply unprepared for the realities of farming in south central N.D., particularly during lean years. I was not forceful enough defending practices that I felt were working, and just as damaging, I suffered from a long-held belief in the “work harder not smarter” method of farming. I simply thought I could outwork miscues coming from the other side of the desk. It was not the case and things crumbled in short order. It was a hard pill to swallow when the fire department turned out to be the arsonist.
Had it not been for a great family and this organization, I probably would have given up on a life in agriculture, and who knows where life would have taken me. But we pushed on. With the understanding of some great landlords and private businesses in the area we are still operating, and thriving to a point that I don’t think was ever possible had I stayed with FSA. We diversified, and rather than compete with my three brothers and dad for pasture and hay land, we brought pigs back to the farm after decades. We focused on meat quality, choosing older, slow-growing breeds to offer a top-notch dining experience for our customers. On the farming side, we re-focused, cutting inputs when necessary. We weren’t breaking yield records, but for the first time in years, we were turning a profit on those acres.
We introduced biological warfare in the form of cover crops and winter-seeded forage crops to combat weeds and poor soil health. After years of chemical use on weeds and destroying the soil profile with mechanical tillage, we finally got a handle on the little things that slipped away when we were solely focused on survival. As with any story of struggles the details are more complex than a few paragraphs can convey and are likely best told over a glass of Pendleton, which I am always up for.
These words aren’t written to cast blame, or as some grand redemption arc of personal triumph. They are merely our story in my words for all to see.
It is these past failures and successes that make me believe I can be an effective leader for the organization.
I’ve learned the hard way that not speaking up can have disastrous consequences and that you can be forceful and confident without being brash.
For the past 20 years, I have been heavily involved in the organization at the county level, state committee level, serving on both the YF&R and PAC committees, and finally as the state director for district 7 for the past 8 years.
The friendships forged through our involvement helped us through the struggles and have made the successes that much sweeter. How can one repay an organization that believed in you, even when you didn’t? As I near the end of my final term on the state board, I felt the urge to continue the honor of serving our dedicated members. I can’t promise I will be the firebrand leader or as politically connected like other past presidents, but I can promise that every day I will wake up and put the organization first, and do everything in my power to protect it and grow it, just as we strive to do with our farms. With faith and patience, we will continue steady, sustainable growth and resist the urge to jump too fast into the next latest and greatest schemes.
The future continues to look bright for NDFB. We have a great staff and dedicated board that truly believes in our bedrock principles of liberty, opportunity, and self-reliance. As your next president, I will work to keep that momentum going. We have a great opportunity with our PAC Committee to really affect the future of politics in this state. The recently passed term limit rules open a unique chance for us to surface and elect ag-focused and liberty-loving politicians to office.
Another issue I would like to delve deeper into, and admittedly, it is more of a backburner issue, but I would like to take a serious look at moving our convention to the weekend after Thanksgiving. I know there are some AFBF deadlines that we would be up against, but I would love to see if we can do it. With corn acres replacing wheat as king in North Dakota, a later convention would give our members an extra two weeks to complete harvest during those challenging years and allow them to enjoy the convention fully without worrying about work piling up at home.
It would also move us out of deer season entirely. More than anything, though, the next president must continue to trust our delegates and make their priorities our priorities. A membership that feels their voices are not only heard but are being emphasized is crucial to any organization's long-term success. I look forward to earning your vote in the upcoming weeks before the convention, and am always available for questions and concerns on my cell phone at 226-3006.