Newsmakers 2016: Tyler Brune

Farming and the business of farming are in Tyler Brune's blood. His father and grandfather were both farmers. The year Brune was born, his family started Brune Custom Feeds. At 15, Brune took out his first loan, made through the Farm Service Agency, to purchase 30 head of cattle. Three years ago, he started renting out his first storage unit.

Now, at age 25, he runs Brune Custom Feeds. The 30 head of cattle he bought as a teenager have become a successful farm in Sedgewickville, Missouri, with 120 head of cattle. Brune Duplex and Storage has expanded from one empty storage unit to two units nearly at capacity, plus one fully rented duplex and plans to build a second.

The loan he received from the Farm Service Agency also impressed upon him the importance of self reliance. With no co-signer, the young man was expected to manage the funds himself.

"It was a good lesson to learn about responsibility," he says.

Brune graduated from Southeast Missouri State University with a degree in business administration. He says he and his friends all saw a difficult job market ahead of them, and many of his friends are still struggling. But Brune focused on working for himself, motivated by a work ethic that's carried on for generations.

Tyler BruneGlenn Landberg

"My dad's farmed all his life and so have my grandparents, so it's kind of been a family thing," he says. "My dad says I have a knack for it."

Brune enjoys his work, "which is not something a lot of people can say," he notes.

The immense responsibilities keep him working seven days a week, but "when you have the freedom and opportunity to do what you want, you can kind of work around things," he says.

The level of responsibility he has created for himself also brings with it a security he says many of his former classmates are still searching for.

"I've seen so many people put all their eggs in one basket, and if something goes south on one end, you never know what could happen," he says. "The best thing you can do is be diversified."

Tyler BruneGlenn Landberg