Chuck Huseman says that as early as childhood he could not imagine a life that did not involve raising Angus cattle like his father and his grandfather before that.
Growing up on a south Lake County farm is filled with memories of working alongside his father, William, tending the cattle and raising them to show in competition at county fairs. A century’s worth of trophies, ribbons and pictures of the farm’s rich history fill a room telling the story of this family tradition.
“(My dad’s) job was here all day, every day,” Huseman said. “I followed him around in the dirt. It almost caused me to be addicted to the cattle business.”
Huseman is a third-generation farmer at 220-acre Homestead Farm, the Black Angus cattle farm started by his grandfather in 1910, off of Sheffield Avenue in what is considered to be unincorporated Lake County near Cedar Lake.
Earlier this month, the American Angus Association honored Huseman and Homestead Farms with its Century Award for 100 years of continuous operation of an Angus farm or ranch. Homestead Farms was one of four farms and ranches around the country to receive the honor at the association’s annual National Angus Convention in Kansas City, Kan.
Jena McRell, digital editor for Angus Productions Inc., said the Century Awards are the way the American Angus Association, headquartered in St. Joseph, Mo., pays tribute to individuals and families who have committed to raising Angus cattle across several generations.
“A hundred years of business is an incredible accomplishment for any venture, and those who’ve been able to sustain an operation in the beef cattle business for 100-plus years are to be commended,” McRell said in an email.
She said the Century Award significance for an operation like Homestead Farm in Indiana is tremendous.
“It’s a reflection of true dedication to registered Angus genetics — through the years of adversity and opportunity — and raising a quality product for consumers worldwide to enjoy,” McRell said.
“It was really cool out there (at the convention). Four herds were recognized this year. … It was more of an honor for my granddad and dad. They took something and held it together,” Huseman said.
The award speaks to the effort the family has taken to ensure Angus cattle continue to be raised on the land. People are often surprised to learn of the family’s Angus cattle farming roots in the heart of Lake County. He knows people do not consider Cedar Lake when thinking of Angus beef cattle.
“The reason (my grandfather) got into the Angus business is my grandmother’s father was an Angus man and my grandfather was a dairy man. Her father said, ‘No daughter of mine is going to marry a dairy farmer,’ ” Huseman said, adding dairy farmers were known to work grueling hours 365 days a year. Raising beef cattle ensured there was time for family.
When the young couple first started the farm and then their family in the early 1900s, the area was so rural it had a Beecher, Ill., address, he said. Marshsa Huseman, Chuck’s wife, said her husband’s family had to got to extra lengths just to ensure the children could get an education. Joseph Huseman had to purchase additional farmland in St. John so son William and his five siblings could attend school there. The family would make the commute via horse and buggy from their St. John farm to the Sheffield Avenue farm, where they would spend the weekends.
At the time, Chuck Huseman said, Angus was a relatively new breed of cattle being produced in the U.S. after its introduction in 1873. Joseph Huseman soon developed a reputation for producing good beef that had fat that was tender and grew fast. An award in Chuck Huseman’s home shows that his grandfather earned a champion designation for his cattle at the 1924 International Livestock Exhibition, the largest livestock show in the world.
“The reputation of cattle from here was really good,” Huseman said.
That reputation helped the farm weather the Great Depression, he said, when many similar farmers lost their operations to the banks. When his grandfather sold the farm to his father, he began raising breeding cattle.
“If you raise cattle for beef, you take whatever the market pays. Raising registered breeding cattle — premium bulls and heifers — allowed them to make a little bit of a living,” Chuck Huseman said.
When Huseman purchased the farm from his father, the operation continued but so did his and Marsha’s desire to also work outside the farm. He taught and opened FFC Fencing Co. in Cedar Lake, where he put to use the construction skills he learned on the farm at his father’s side, and created a business. That business is now owned by his son Joseph, who spent his childhood working alongside his father there. The couple’s other son, Michael, is an attorney.
Huseman said he was careful to make sure his sons had other opportunities even though he cherishes the family’s cattle legacy.
“I loved having the opportunity to raise our two sons here where I was raised,” Huseman said.
The couple now is having a hand in sharing life on the farm with their granddaughter, Lily, 2, whom they watch when her parents are at work. Lily happily romps around the animals, bringing a daily apple to the one horse that roams with the small herd of Angus and two longhorn steer that remain.
Chuck Huseman is hopeful that Lily, the fifth generation of Husemans, or someone yet to come in her generation keeps the farm going.
“Whether it makes money or not, there has to be black cattle on this place,” Huseman said.
Carrie Napoleon is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
