She started planning for that goal when she was 12 years old. Her parents, Mike and Holly Davidson, did their part to encourage her to follow her dream. They demonstrated to her the opportunities in agriculture, then found ways to make the dream a reality.

More Than Money

“During my last year of college, people were always asking me what I was going to do after I graduated,” she said. “They didn’t even think that I might want to go home to work on our farm. Even if I was offered a high-paying job, I wouldn’t take it because I love farming. I want my life to make a difference, and the biggest difference I can make is by working in agriculture. The most noble job any person can have is working to feed the world.”

Her father is optimistic about his daughter’s future. “Yes, there are bad times in agriculture, but we farmers just have to deal with the problems as they come. I believe farming offers wonderful opportunities.”

The Davidsons’ son, Ryan, 19, is a student at Williston State University and is also a full partner in the family operation. “Knowing that we have two kids coming back to the farm makes me feel almost as if I’ve died and gone to Heaven,” he said.

Decision-Making Partners

Heather and her brother were made full partners in the farm two years ago. “We were farming with Dad before that, but we just weren’t helping to make decisions,” Heather said. Heather’s sister, Jody, 21, has chosen a career as a respiratory therapist.

The partnership is a simple three-party arrangement in which all costs and income are shared equally between the three partners, regardless of how much land or equipment each owns. The parents own most of the land and all the equipment, which can be used to farm the children’s land also. Income derived from the farm goes first to cover expenses relating to land, equipment, and operating costs. The net income is shared equally three ways.

The parents hope this arrangement of equal sharing will help reduce the potentially discouraging difficulties their children might otherwise endure as beginning farmers. “Kids need help to get started. It’s impossible for young people to get started farming alone when they have to buy both land and equipment,” Holly said.

Heather’s father is committed to transferring land freely to the next generation, following his own late father’s example. He does not consider ownership of land as his personal “401K investment” for retirement, because when farmers use the land they farm as their retirement nest egg, it then has be sold to realize its investment value.

The Land Dilemma

She also has developed a skill recording day-to-day information during spring seeding, including the identification number of fields seeded, planting date, seeding rate, and the amount of fertilizer applied. When spraying, she records dates, rates, field numbers, weeds to be sprayed, the chemicals used, rate of application, time of day, amount of water used, wind speed, and temperature.

Records Save Time

Heather’s now extensive records also include the settings used for combines, sprayers, and seeding equipment. These records will save recalculating time in the future when the same tasks are repeated.

At the end of her work day, Heather has a 30-minute drive to her own home of Epping, where she lives with her husband, Carl, a diesel mechanic. Carl often helps the family with equipment repairs because, as Heather says, “He can fix anything.”

Heather has been working toward her education and farming goals since she was a seventh-grader. As a pre-teen she devised a plan to help her buy land of her own. The plan involved first, learning better study habits so she would have top grades through high school. This, in turn, would help her obtain college scholarships. It worked. She earned the high grades, then applied for as many as 50 scholarships, half of which paid off and covered her college expenses.

With her education paid, she was able to save what she earned working on the farm over the years and make a down payment on a quarter of land.

But with or without property of her own, the most valuable asset Heather brings to her family partnership is a love of working the land. “In spring I can hardly wait to get outside and start working with my hands,” she said. “And later on, in late summer, I get so excited when I see a nice amber field of wheat.”

“I’ve always wanted to come back home and be a farmer,” said Heather. “I want to raise my children the way I was raised: I want to teach them the values of hard work and of being able to work with their family.”