32 Nebraska Cattleman September 2023 USDA G H F F By Kate Boltz, USDA Rural Development State Director Entrepreneurs Jordan and Travis Classen of Classen Land & Cattle wear many hats. Jordan is alternately webmaster, marketer, grant writer, animal nutritionist, logistics expert and bookkeeper. Travis is part cowboy, truck driver, veterinarian and scientist. Most important, they are mom and dad to 2-year-old Hattie. The Classens’ story showcases the tenacity and determination – as well as the trials and tribulations – of the modern American agricultural entrepreneur – qualities that aren’t easy to see in the grocery store aisle. A lot of hard work, complexity, ingenuity and heart goes into the beef that the Classens and others produce for the American dinner table. The Classens are a part of a long tradition of agricultural pioneers in Nebraska as well as part of a modern, global meat supply chain feeding the world. True to their entrepreneurial spirit, the Classens found tools, resources and partners in Nebraska agriculture. Recently, they won a competitive Value-Added Producer Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development. The Value-Added Producer Grant program (https:// www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/ business-programs/value-added-producer-grants) aims to help agricultural producers generate new products, create and expand marketing opportunities, and increase producer income. The award is part of a bigger strategy to support and grow current and new meat producers and processors, and food supply chain entrepreneurs like the Classens. Like many successes, the award was achieved through a lot of hard work. Travis and Jordan are somewhat unique in Nebraska agriculture in that neither inherited an operation from their parents. Together they dreamed up a business that would bring Travis’ family roots in livestock and farming alongside Jordan’s passion for connecting people to their food. Travis always knew he wanted to work with animals. He saved his chore money to buy bottle calves from the local sale barn when he was in seventh grade. Those efforts grew into the 100-head cow-calf operation that he and Jordan run together today. Jordan found her passion for agriculture in high school and cultivated it into a career in agriculture. She attended the University of NebraskaLincoln (UNL), studying mechanized systems management. Travis describes noticing Jordan the moment she walked into work at the Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory on the UNL campus. He never looked back. That decision has grown into a true partnership between the two, dancing the dance of chores, business decisions, on-and-off farm employment and parenthood in a way that only true equals and partners could do with such love and grace. “We aren’t just making a living together, we are making a life,” Jordan explains. They settled down in Albion, a town of 1,706 in northeast Nebraska, where they own cattle, run their meat distribution business and where Jordan works on the local school’s lunch program. The Value-Added Producer Grant is helping the Classens build their business and their farm life. The grant will assist with developing marketing materials and distributing their directto-consumer beef products. The goal is to continue to grow their customer base and build loyal regulars into the future. Their commitment to the life they have chosen is real. Travis describes spending hours in the truck, hauling hay in a bitter cold snap. Jordan balances checking in with vendors at the school with packing orders for the meat side of the business and teaching herself how to manage their website. They both care for Hattie when the other works long hours or daycare is closed. Remi, the farm dog, keeps his careful watch over the family and the farm. The family manages to persevere and excel, doing so with an optimism and grace that they wear without effort – impressive in that they are not stiving to impress or achieve benchmarks, but to grow their lives and business in the place and purpose that brings them joy. USDA Rural Development supported their dreams through the Value-Added Producer Grant. This opportunity is available to other Nebraska cattle producers as well. To learn more about the program, visit https://www.rd.usda.gov/ ne or contact me, Kate Bolz, USDA Rural Development state director, at kate. bolz@usda.gov. NC Jordan, Travis and Hattie Classen, left to right, are all smiles at their operation in Albion.
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