Back in February 2024, we shared information about Ed and Lindsey Dubrick’s search for additional land for their farm business, DuChick Ranch.
There’s good news! After some twists and turns, they found and secured the land they needed. It was, amazingly enough, right next door. Illinois FarmLink was happy to be able to help. Here’s the story:
DuChick Ranch Looks to Expand
Ed and his wife, Lindsey, started DuChick Ranch in 2020 on their 1.7-acre homestead in Cissna Park in Iroquois County after realizing there was a need for a local poultry source in their area. From the beginning, they have focused on raising high-quality, locally produced chickens and turkeys for eggs and meat. In 2021, Ed and Lindsey diversified their operation by planting perennial berries, annual vegetables, and fruit trees. In 2024, they processed 4,000 head of poultry, doubling their numbers from the previous year.
With all these enterprises and a growing demand for their products, DuChick Ranch had outgrown their 1.7 acres. Finding more land was essential. If Ed and Lindsey could do that, they’d be able to add new animal groups for multi-species grazing, expand existing poultry production, and maybe, one of them could eventually quit their full-time, off-farm job.
The Land Access Journey Begins
Ed reached out to the Illinois FarmLink team in January 2024. During the first advising call, Central Illinois Navigator Erica Peters asked clarifying questions about their farmland needs and land access search to that point. Ed emphasized how important it was to find land near their homestead because of their deep community and family roots in Iroquois County, two young children, and desire to limit travel time checking crops and livestock at multiple locations.
“We wanted to stay close to our support system,” Ed said.
Over the next four months, Erica and Ed stayed in communication through advising calls and emails. From editing Ed’s Illinois FarmLink profile to recommending Land for Good’s Necessary-Desirable-Optional worksheet, Erica’s input brought more clarity to Ed’s farmland search. Ed and Erica also worked together to create a flyer about DuChick Ranch’s land search and brainstormed potential ideas to pursue, like leasing land from neighboring farms.
There was one particular field, though, that Ed was the keenest on – the five-acre parcel surrounding their current home farm. Over the years, Ed had connected with the landowner several times and even had purchased their home from her five years prior. While Ed had communicated interest in purchasing the parcel in the past, the conversations were never very intentional or productive. The landowner had been leasing that five-acre parcel to the same row crop farmer for 20+ years.
Connecting the Dots
In May, after Ed had followed lots of leads and had them all fall through, Ed and Erica went back to the drawing board. Erica inquired about the neighboring property she had heard Ed mention during their first advising call and Ed’s relationship with the tenant farmer. After this advising call, Ed decided to approach the tenant farmer and ask his blessing to pursue a lease with the landowner.
It was a bit of an awkward conversation at first, but Ed made clear he would respect the tenant’s wishes no matter what. To Ed’s relief, the tenant said he would be fine with Ed approaching the landowner about a lease.
“If you were trying to get 40 or 80 acres away from me, and it was on the other side of the county instead of right behind your house,” the tenant also said, “I would feel differently. But it connects to your land and makes the most sense for you to farm it instead of me.”
With the tenant’s blessing, Ed once again reached out to the landowner. Ed explained that he would like to discuss the possibility of purchasing or leasing the land. He then met with the landowner over lunch, and they discussed DuChick Ranch’s desire to grow and diversify. He also explained his conversation with the tenant and encouraged the landowner to reach out to her existing tenant, too.
“No matter how this plays out, I just want all of us to be on the same page and for there not to be any assumptions or hard feelings among any of us,” Ed said.
The tenant and the landowner subsequently took the time to discuss the situation, and the tenant even encouraged the landowner to lease the farm to Ed. The landowner was reassured. She now felt she could work with Ed without any guilt.
Working Out a Good Lease
Once Ed began to move forward with negotiating a lease with the landowner, he again reached out to the Illinois FarmLink team for ideas and guidance. Ideally, he wanted to set up a 3-5 year lease agreement to provide some security for the time and money he planned to invest in installing fencing and transitioning the conventional row crop ground to pasture.
Ed drafted a lease from a template he found on FarmDoc. The Illinois FarmLink team then reviewed the lease, not to give legal advice, but to give input on whether the lease was clear and covered all of the important details of the arrangement. In the fall of 2024, Ed and the landowner signed a three-year lease! It was the first written lease the landowner ever had.
“If you put this much care into the lease,” the landowner told Ed, “then I know you’re going to be a good steward of my land.”
DuChick Ranch is expanding right next door, which was the best possible scenario for this business to grow and be sustainable for their family. In the coming seasons they can increase their capacity to meet growing demand, add sheep to their operation, and continue to deepen their roots in their community.
“Five acres may not seem like much,” wrote Ed in a Facebook post, “but when you consider all we’ve been able to do on our 1.7 acres, and then this year on an additional leased 0.8 acres, the possibilities are truly endless on an additional five acres. We couldn’t have done it without the coaching and information provided to us through The Land Connection’s Illinois FarmLink program.”