Pull up to the time-tested intersection of family, faith and farming and you’ll find Andrew Braun. Those roads converged to bring him back home, near Ovid, where Braun manages 1,800 acres of potatoes for Walther Farms.
Between handling ground for Walther Farms in Cass City and Hemlock and helping his parents and wife Natalie farm 1,000 acres of corn, soybeans and wheat, Braun’s already a busy guy — and he’s set to add “dad” to his title for the first time in December.
To really understand where he is now, you need to turn back the clock a bit. Braun’s career with Walther Farms started out of college in 2013 after he earned an agribusiness management degree at Michigan State University.
“I wanted to be in the field, driving tractors, looking at the crops, and managing them from planting to harvest,” Braun said.
After spending three years working for Walther Farms in South Carolina, he moved back to Michigan in 2019. From there he continued to travel to work for Walthers on some of their other locations in Oregon, Texas and New Mexico.
“When I got to know Walther Farms outside of college, they just seemed like a really great company with great values, and I got to know the owners, which has been really valuable to me,” Braun said. “They have strong Christian values. They support their communities. They have money set aside to give to charities and often provide food potatoes, potato chips, anything that community could ask for, they're right there to provide it.”
Braun’s faith has grown throughout his time with Walther Farms — a faith he said is critical for working in agriculture.
“I mean, there's so many things that are outside of our control,” Braun said. “We put the seed in the ground, and you hope it comes up, sometimes it doesn't. I think that faith is what has to keep you going.”
Along with his faith, Braun’s career has flourished alongside Walther Farms. A third generation, family-owned potato business headquartered in Three Rivers, they’ve expanded to more than 18,000 acres of commercial and seed potatoes in 13 states.
Today, Braun manages a team that swells to more than 60 people during harvest time.
“One of the big things I like to do is really promote those under me,” Braun said. “I want to train the people beneath me to take my job, because if I'm not doing that, I'm not doing them justice.”
Even with a packed professional schedule, Braun still finds time to serve an active role in the Clinton County Farm Bureau, where he’s involved in the policy development and candidate evaluation committees. He’s also adding participation in ProFILE, MFB’s premier leadership development program, to his resume this year.
As the state Young Farmer Employee Award winner, Braun receives $5,000 off the first payment of a lease or installment on a 100-horsepower or larger tractor from GreenMark Equipment; a $1,000 AgroLiquid gift certificate; and an all-expense paid trip to the AFBF FUSION Conference.
The prizes could certainly help Braun in his ongoing goal of growing his family’s farm, and his role within it as his dad hands off more responsibilities.
It’s a fitting transition — since it’s one he hopes to make himself one day.
“I would really love to build the farm up and just really make sure it's sustainable for the next generation,” Braun said. “I'm very excited to have a baby on the way and I would love to pass the farm down to next generation.”
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