Finding the calm amid the chaos just might be Kelly Garrett’s specialty.
“A friend explained to me that there’s a difference between the finite game and the infinite game,” says Garrett, a finalist for the 2024 Top Producer of the Year, which is sponsored by BASF, Case IH and Rabo AgriFinance. “I didn’t even know what he meant, but what he explained to me was, you’re playing the infinite game, where there isn’t an end goal. You’re just always trying to improve and get better, and every time you see an opportunity, you take a look at it.”
A farmer and cattle producer in western Iowa, Garrett’s operation continues to conquer change. When he and his wife, Amber, started farming in 1998, they had 750 acres of crops and 35 cows. Today, they have 7,000 acres and 700 head of cattle.
“Along with that there’s other entities, Garrett Trucking, KSX transportation is another trucking company that we’re the majority owners of,” Garrett says.
Garrett is constantly uncovering new opportunities, including the decision to help start Integrated Ag Solution, a fertility company that sprouted from Xtreme Ag.
“Which is another business that I’m a partner in that came from high-yield crops and things like that,” Garrett says. “Extreme AG is about helping farmers improve their ROI.”
Garrett, and the entire operation, is in constant motion. It’s a family dynamic that works, and it started when Garrett came back home to farm and was instantly full of ideas on how the farm could change.
“After a while, I said, ‘Kelly let’s just farm next year because he was always wanting to do something else or try something, but that never took hold, so we just keep rolling on,” says Gene Garrett, Garrett’s father.
The operation has 75 employees today, and as Garrett continues to lead, he gives others room to grow.
“One of the biggest things about Kelly is he trusts,” says Mike Williams with KSX Trucking Co. “He will put you in a role, and I tell everybody, he makes that bubble big enough for you to grow, but not too big. So, you’ll never fail. You’ll make mistakes, but there’s no risk of failing.”
Garrett has also made it possible for his three sons to come back to the family farm.
“He’s an endless entrepreneur,” says Connor Garrett, Garrett’s eldest son. “He’s high energy, upbeat, always looking for the next opportunity, always looking for the next way to do better.”
If Garrett wasn’t busy enough, on July 1, 2023, they bought the gas station in town, which they would often use for their trucking business. It happened to be right across the street from GLC Beef, the Garrett family’s direct-to-consumer beef business. The idea for GLC Beef was the dream of their middle son, Colin, who majored in animal science at Iowa State University.
“This was for him,” Garrett says. “We decided to do this about Christmas time of his junior year of college.”
But in July, the Garretts faced the unimaginable. At just 22 years old, Colin died in an accident, and the entire family had to find a way to keep moving forward.
“You know, for the first few days after the accident, I contemplated shutting it down, but that’s giving up,” Garrett says. “I won’t give up. This has to succeed because it’s like he’s still here.”
Signs and memories of Colin are everywhere at GLC Beef. Garrett wants to make him proud and leave a lasting impact on others.
“That’s probably one of Kelly’s best attributes of being a person is the way he looks at people and wants them to be better than what they are,” Williams says.
Congratulations to Kelly Garrett and the Garrett Family on being a finalist for the 2024 Top Producer of the Year.
