Hello! My name is Elli Ressler and my husband, Luke and I farm alongside my parents Randy and Julie Lemm south of Hillsboro. We grow a variety of crops and have a small feedlot and cow/calf herd as well. Luke grew up near Cooperstown, N.D. where his family farms and ranches. In addition to the farm, I also work at AgCountry Farm Credit Services in Hillsboro.
We have a one-year-old daughter and she is the sixth generation to grow up on our farm. It has been rewarding to watch her experience things on the farm. She is so curious and loves to wave when people drive by the yard.
This spring and planting season has been challenging but our faith is what keeps us going. One of our favorite verses is Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” To me, farming and faith go hand in hand. There is so much that is out of our control when it comes to farming and ranching so we have faith to get us through.
Growing up I never really knew what I wanted to be. I loved being outside and working on the farm but when I went to NDSU I picked psychology as my major with the intention of becoming a counselor. One evening that fall I was home helping with harvest and my dad gave me a ride in the combine to the other end of the field so I could hop in the grain cart and I vividly remember watching the wheat coming in to the combine and thinking, “I need to change my major.” I still didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do but I knew I wanted to work in the agriculture industry. I changed my major at the end of the fall semester and graduated with an agriculture economics degree.
When I asked Luke what he wanted to be when he was younger, without skipping a beat his response was, “A lion tamer. Or a hermit in the Jessie Hills* with a buckskin horse, named Denny.” Obviously neither of those options worked out for him. He also attended NDSU and graduated with a crop and weed science degree. He has a love for soil health and could talk about worms and soil all day.
Whether their feeding cows or harvesting, the Resslers love agriculture.
Whether you live in a city or in a rural area, agriculture impacts you on a daily basis. Each sector within the agriculture community plays a vital role in delivering food, fiber, and fuel to consumers. Farmers and ranchers are also consumers and they work to produce the best product they can.
(*Editor's note: We had to ask where the Jessie Hills were, and Elli responded that the hills are around Lake Jessie in Griggs County where Luke grew up. "It's not a very big area, but it's really pretty," she said.)
The Resslers are the District 2 representatives on the NDFB Young Farmer and Rancher Committee.