Get to know a farmer: Dan Brenneman

Lead guy. Head honcho. Cattle herdsman. Farmer. Husband. Dad. Son. Brother.

Around Maple Crest, Dan Brenneman wears a lot of hats, and most days, usually a little manure on his boots too.  As we kick off our Get to Know a Farmer series, it only seems fitting to start with the guy at the center of a whole lot of what happens around here.

Growing Up Maple Crest Farms

Dan is the youngest of Dave and Alicia Brenneman’s children and grew up right here at Maple Crest. Farming wasn’t something he discovered later in life. It was simply part of growing up.

There’s a saying that you don’t learn to farm—you grow up a farmer.

That certainly fits Dan.

But his path back to Maple Crest wasn’t exactly a straight one.

After graduating from Taylor University, Dan married Angie in 2001, and the two moved away from the farm to serve in ministry. Then came Grace in 2003.

As Dave and Alicia began looking toward a season when they could step away from some of the day-to-day responsibilities of the farm and spend a little more of the winter in Florida, the opportunity came for Dan and Angie to return home.

So in 2007, shortly before twins Catie and Cole were born, they moved back to the farm.

Coming Home to Farm

Dan returned to work alongside his dad, Dave, and his brother, Alex. Together, they continued building and growing the operation through various entities that would eventually become what is known today as Maple Crest Farms INC.

Those years brought plenty of change, long days, lessons learned and memories made as kids grew alongside the operation.

In 2023, Alex moved with his family to Nebraska to begin his own farming operation, and another new chapter began at Maple Crest.

Today, Dan oversees an expanded cattle operation, the crop side of the farm and all the decisions that fall under those “man in charge” responsibilities. Maple Crest harvests more than 500 acres of alfalfa throughout the growing season, along with the many other jobs that come with feeding cattle, growing row crops, and keeping a working farm moving every day.

Angie manages Maple Crest Farm to Table, connecting the beef raised on the farm directly with families in our community, while also helping Dan with the administration of all things Maple Crest.

The Next Generation

And now Dan has the next generation working alongside him.

Cole works full time at Maple Crest as our head mechanic and equipment operator, but his role expanded even more this year during corn silage season. Cole led our seasonal crew through some of the longest days of the year. Corn silage season means long days and plenty of late nights. When you’re chopping feed for cattle, timing matters. Keeping the equipment running and getting the crop harvested at just the right time helps put up the quality feed those dairies will depend on throughout the year.

Then there’s Grace. Grace lives here on the farm, and when she’s home and helping part time, she can work cattle like a seasoned herdsman. You’ll often find her alongside her dad sorting cattle and loading trucks. The two of them know how to work together, and Dan is pretty proud to have her beside him in the cattle lot.

Catie has her own place in the Maple Crest story too. We’ll save more details on all the kids for another day.

The farm where Dan once worked alongside his dad and brother is now a place where he gets to work alongside his own family. The third generation is working the ground, caring for the cattle and learning what it takes to keep Maple Crest going in the ag economy of today.

The Legacy: More than a job

Farming has never really been just a job for Dan.  He loves cattle. He loves the land. He enjoys the work—even when the days are long and things don’t go according to plan. But more than anything, he loves getting to do it alongside his family.

This year marks 10 years since Dan’s dad, Dave, passed away in August. With Dave’s birthday this week, we’ve found ourselves reflecting a little more on how much he would have loved seeing this season at Maple Crest.

Dave wanted his family to love the land and the work, but even more than that, he wanted them to love each other. He believed there was something special about a family having the opportunity to work together.

Today, Dan gets to carry that forward.

There are crops to grow, cattle to feed, equipment to fix and always another job waiting. But mixed into all of that are conversations in the shop, meals around the table, kids growing up, the next generation learning the farm and a whole lot of life happening in between.

We think Dave would have loved seeing it.

And that is what Maple Crest Farms has always been about.

Growing crops. Raising cattle. Raising kids. Working together. And being thankful for the opportunity to do it.

Welcome to our Get to Know a Farmer series. We’re glad you’re here. Stay tuned!