How this young farmer builds farm stability

Casey McCausland was not raised in agriculture, but when his grandfather offered him a partnership, he found himself deeply invested in regenerative practices.

McCausland, 39, farms across 1,300 acres around the central Illinois community of Havana, growing corn, soybeans, wheat, and an assortment of cover crops, as well as custom farming. He largely farms by himself, with assistance from his grandfather and father during harvest. McCausland and his wife, Tara, have four children.

McCausland graduated from high school in 2003 and started college, intending to become a music teacher. After determining it wasn’t the route for him, he enlisted in the Marine Corps Security Forces in 2005 as an infantry rifleman. While home on leave from a tour in Afghanistan in 2009, his grandfather, Vernon McCausland, 91, offered Casey a partnership on his farm. 

Casey finished with the Marine Corps in February 2010 and started work with his grandfather that growing season. He took advantage of the GI Bill and the Illinois Veteran Grant, and worked multiple jobs on top of farming to pay for an associate degree in ag business at Spoon River College in Canton, Illinois, about 20 miles north.

Financial stability

Casey McCausland says he feels lucky to have started farming in good financial years that enabled him to grow his operation. Custom farming has helped him weather tougher years by diversifying his income sources.  

“Money’s tight right now — I didn’t really make hardly any money last year,” McCausland says. “Grain prices are low, yields aren’t great, and the expenses last year were astronomically high for fertilizer inputs and fuel — all of it. It only takes one year like that to get backwards on your finances.”

Building relationships with the Prairieland FS and Growmark co-ops helped him make valuable connections and fill the gaps in his agriculture experience, including learning how to make income flow effectively. He is now a director with Prairieland FS and board president for Fulton FS. 

“Before, I only knew I needed to have enough money to live through the year, but I wasn’t thinking long-term,” McCausland says. “One of the things that helped was having a cash reserve to make the business run, especially when your income is basically once a year. I knew how much I needed to support my family through the year — whatever extra there was, I made a point to keep back.” 

Crop diversification

McCausland says he bases his regenerative-focused approach on his grandfather’s progressive farming practices along with the holistic approach of Regenified, a land verification and product certification program based in Dallas, Texas. His grand-father worked no-till for decades, which McCausland adopted and expanded on. 

“I’ve done a lot to seek out people and methods out of the norm,” McCausland says.

He is working toward certification with Regenified, which monitors his soil for carbon, organic matter, and bacteria-to-fungal ratios. 

McCausland says he doesn’t use anhydrous ammonia or potash and avoids seed treatments, herbicides, and fungicides whenever possible. He says he hopes to diversify his crop rotation for the soil health benefits, going from a three-year to seven-year rotation. 

McCausland denies any interest in being the biggest farmer in the neighborhood. 

“I would much rather do a better job farming what I already have rather than just getting more,” he says.