Farmer & Soldier Reflects on Freedom & Love of Farming

Taking a break from soybean harvest, Tyler Gerlach climbs into a John Deere 9430 and begins planting winter wheat. Well into the rhythm of planting, Gerlach, 31, begins visiting about the double life he leads ­ that of a Stickney farmer and the former Company Commander of the 1742nd Army National Guard Transportation Company.

 As foreign as the two careers may seem from one another – Captain Gerlach was recently responsible for the lives of 160 National Guard soldiers whereas Farmer Gerlach, along with his brother, LaRon, are stewards of the land, raising 3,000 acres of corn, soybeans and winter wheat – Gerlach says there are many circumstances when his background in farming makes him a better soldier and being a soldier makes him a better farmer/business owner.

 “Farmers learn not to make rash decisions. Just like planting corn. You don’t plant when it’s muddy because it won’t grow as well. As a soldier I analyze everything and take all conditions into consideration before making a decision,” says Gerlach, who returned from a 9-month deployment to Afghanistan last October.

 His years of leadership experience and training in the Army National Guard taught him the value of planning ahead. “In the military we plan for everything well ahead of time,” he explains. “If something doesn’t pan out, we don’t get upset, we move on to the next plan. Sounds a lot like farming doesn’t it?” 

In his blood 

Growing up, Gerlach spent his weekends and summers working on his Uncle Andy’s farm. When it came time to begin thinking about what he was going to do after high school, his uncle let him know that returning to farm was a viable option and encouraged him to study agriculture in college. 

 “I practically grew up on my uncle’s farm. I love working outside. I also love the technical nature of farming. He and my Aunt Doris never had children, so they invested a lot of energy in my brother and me. They are like our second parents.” It became his plan to attend South Dakota State University and major in Agriculture Systems Technology with a specialization in Agronomy. 

 To pay for college, Gerlach joined the Army National Guard in August 2001 ­ just a month before September 11.

 After high school, instead of spending his days on a college campus, Gerlach was attending Basic Training and then activated to Air Force Security at Joe Foss Field in Sioux Falls for two years. “Since the farm was so close, on my days off I was able to help on the farm and I took a fair amount of leave during harvest.” 

 From the beginning, Gerlach says he felt right at home in the National Guard. “Many things that make farming fun, I also found in the Guards,” he explains, adding that his dad, Ronald, and brother, LaRon, also served in the Guards.  “I developed a strong base of friends there.” 

 When his deployment ended, Gerlach began classes at SDSU. As a student, he along with his girlfriend at the time, Vicki Schumacher, became involved in Collegiate Farmers Union. Both of their families had been active in Farmers Union and Vicki is a Torchbearer.

 “Lobbying for the needs of the family farmer is something we both feel very strongly about,” says Gerlach, who is President of Aurora County Farmers Union. “I am also grateful for all they do to support ethanol and renewable fuels. Farmers Union gives us a voice and the strength that can only be found within a grassroots organization.” 

 In 2008, he graduated and returned to farming fulltime. His uncle retired, making it possible for Gerlach and his brother to begin taking over ownership of the farm. “Uncle Andy made it easy. We couldn’t have done it without him. He was willing to take on risk and stick his neck out for us when the bank couldn’t,” says Gerlach, explaining that all parties involved began working with lawyers to design a transition plan that was fair for everyone.

 “We had a lot of discussions with lawyers and the accountant and hashed everything out so that it was fair for everyone,” Gerlach says.

 Together he and LaRon built upon their uncle’s farming legacy ­ continuing to implement Andy’s no-till farming practices and acceptance of precision agriculture technology.

 They also began utilizing variable rate technology. As an agronomist, Gerlach writes prescriptions for seed and fertilizer placement. Scouting and input recommendations also fall on his plate.

 “It works out well because my brother is a diesel mechanic, so he manages all the equipment,” Gerlach explains.

 Also in 2008, he and Vicki married. Today they have two children, daughter, Alexis, 5, and a son, Easton, 4.

 “I don’t think there is any better way to raise a family than on the farm,” he says. “We get to teach our children a good work ethic. They get to see the value in a good day’s work.” 

 More patriotic than ever 

At the same time that he was building his farm and family, Gerlach remained active in the Army National Guard, serving one weekend a month and two weeks a year. Following his college graduation, Gerlach became an officer.

 In 2012, he became a Company Commander and was notified that in a year his new unit would be deployed to Afghanistan. It was their job to gather unused equipment from remote operating bases and bring the equipment to a centralized location where it would be destroyed or shipped back to the U.S.

 “Basically, it was our job to make sure our equipment didn’t fall into the wrong hands,” Gerlach explained.

 Preparing 160 soldiers and his farm for deployment became his fulltime job.

 He and his brother hired an agronomist and employee to take over Gerlach’s farm responsibilities.

 “We made good plans. When you have your life, livelihood and future 8,000 miles away, you cannot think of  ‘what ifs.'” 

 As the countdown to deployment began, Gerlach moved to Sioux Falls so he could focus 100 percent of his energy on the imminent deployment.

 “I needed to focus on one thing and that was taking my unit overseas,” he says. “As Company Commander everything that happens, good or bad, is my responsibility.” 

 Once he was deployed, Gerlach worked to stay in close communication with his family. He and Vicki chatted via FaceTime almost daily. To make conversations with his young children easy, Vicki had them place items in a basket to help remind them of things they wanted to talk to Daddy about. “That really helped keep us connected.”

 Although he and his brother also spoke frequently, LaRon kept farm-related discussions positive.

 “He never brought any problems to me. He would only visit with me about issues after they were solved.” Gerlach adds that while he was gone, family and neighbors pitched in to help with farm work.

 “Being overseas, my family couldn’t have done it without family, friends and neighbors. My brother and our employee were pushed for time to get 900 acres of winter wheat out of the field and a bunch of neighbors pitched in to help ­ I have a photo on Facebook of all the neighbors’ semis lined up in our field to haul wheat for us.” 

 To thank them, Gerlach sent them each an American flag which flew over the base where they were stationed in Kandahar.

 Although the mission was not uneventful, Gerlach’s entire unit made it home.

 While the unit was collecting equipment from remote bases across Afghanistan, they were responsible for their own security.  “At times it was dangerous, but we all made it home and there were no serious injuries.”

 Looking back on where he was just a little more than a year ago, Gerlach says he wouldn’t change a thing. 

 “I am more patriotic now than ever. I am glad I had the opportunity to do the thing I had signed up to do as a young man ­ to serve my country,” he says. “I also think it’s more important than ever that we try and find alternatives to foreign oil that could be heavily impacted by international conflict. As a corn producer, 95 percent of my corn goes to POET. In addition in this global future we need to be very certain of the politics of war as we venture into the very cultural diverse regions of the world.” 

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Last Modified: 11/02/2015 9:20:23 am MST