hometownsource. com / heartland / Stories of the Heartland • Sunday, September 20, 2026 Page 25
ey for about 14 months before seeing a payback, Chris said.
What has made raising cattle even more exciting for Chris, too, is seeing the business grow and prosper. In the early years, from a couple of years before he started the company to 2015, the groups of cattle increased from about 27 to 50 head per group. As time went by, he also added onto the barn and cemented remaining areas.
In 2019, Chris left his job at St. Rosa Lumber and opted to run Black Oak Feeders, along with his business, Black Oak Trucking, full-time. The last finished cattle he had on hand was also sold in 2019-2020, marking a full shift to the backgrounding feeding model he continues to do still today.
As the demand for Black Oak Feeders’ cattle increased, Chris found himself converting the machine shed into a steel barn in 2020. A couple of years later in the fall of 2022, he built two 18-feet by 290-feet identical barns. While the number of heads of cattle on the farm varies as groups are sold, Chris operates four barns and has about 460 head on hand. He’ s also expanding this year by building three more barns- one that measures 32-feet by 312-feet and two that measures 32-feet by 196-feet. The expansion, Chris said, will allow him to roughly double capacity and improve animal flow.
Reminiscing, Chris said he knew from a young age that he wanted to farm and would have started right after he graduated from high school if he could have.
Growing up around cattle on a small hobby farm, his dad being an order buyer and backgrounding, as well as working on other people’ s farms, engrained the passion for raising cattle. Doing what he loves, it also closely follows his dad’ s advice of“ If you find something you love, you’ ll never work a day in your life,” Chris said.
What makes farming even more enjoyable is that much of it is done with his son, Wyatt Ritter. After working fulltime at Rotochopper in St. Martin, Wyatt makes his way home to the farm and helps with chores, as well as on the weekends. In the event, Chris is gone for the night, Wyatt handles it all. Besides simply being great to have someone to share the work with, Chris said it’ s very nice to have someone he can rely on to take care of the animals when needed.
“ He’ s a big asset to the farm, whether he knows it or thinks it or not. Having Wyatt back home has been a huge help,” Chris said.
That Wyatt is following in his footsteps when it comes to farming and the love for Holstein cattle is something Chris takes great pride in. In fact, Chris said, his son’ s help has been essential to the growth of Black Oak Feeders.
When asked what they enjoy the most about farming, Chris said he loves to sort cattle.“ I can sort cattle all day every day,” Chris said. Wyatt said he really enjoys working with the animals and the day-to-day husbandry that comes with caring for the cattle. They’ re also fun to be around.
“ I like the curiosity of the animals. I’ d rather handle animals any day of the week than sit and drive equipment. Every group [ of cattle ] is different,” Wyatt said.
Chris’ wife, Kayla, also pitches in when needed. While she remains a great support for him, she is busy raising her young daughters.
Aside from Black Oak Feeders, Chris also runs Black Oak Trucking. He started the business after realizing it would be easier and more cost-effective to haul their own cattle rather than hiring somebody else to do it. Chris said by doing it himself, it provides more flexibility to move the cattle when needed around their chore schedule and the current weather conditions. He also provides his trucking services to others who need their cattle moved.
As part of his trucking services, Chris said he makes regular trips to local sales barns, as well as occasional longer hauls, such as to Eastern Wisconsin, North Dakota and near the Kansas border. Aiming to be home the same night, he mostly avoids very long-distance hauls to states, such as California, Texas or Oklahoma, unless it is for dedicated repeat customers.
Although farming and hauling cattle is hard work, often lasting for long hours, Chris is thankful for his family’ s support in pursuing what he loves. Like his dad often said,“ If you find something you love, you’ ll never work a day in your life.” Looking back at his life and what he has built, one thing is for sure, Chris said, his dad was right.
REMARKABLE QUALITY. INCREDIBLE VALUE.
In 1921, Chester A. Coborn opened a one-room produce store in Sauk Rapids. He prided himself on owning a local business and focused on providing his neighbors with the high-quality goods they needed. That legacy is still strong today and we’ ve stayed true to our roots through our 105-year history in the grocery business.
Today, Coborn’ s is your full-service employee-owned supermarket located across Central Minnesota. We strive to serve families and neighbors through career opportunities, offering local products and supporting our communities through a long and strong tradition that started over a century ago.
SHOP. SAVE. SMILE.
Visit us online at COBORNS. COM to find a location near you!
082726 _ CobStrsofHrtlnd _ 9 _ 89x4 _ 75