Kellen Cronen

(Staff photo by Ken Ritchie)

Evan Shields
Courier Staff Writer

There will be no big-city lights for this young businessman.

Kellen Cronen has worked on a farm since he was a child, and he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

Cronen, 24, owns and operates Black Diamond Farms, located in the Ryker’s Ridge area. He raises corn, beans, hay and alfalfa. He also does custom hay and bailing work.

Cronen took a liking to farming when he was 12. He got cattle and became involved in 4-H. He grew his first corn crop around the time he was 14 or 15 years old, and used it to feed his cattle.

“I’ve always been interested in farming ever since I was a little kid. I didn’t want to go anywhere because the farm was here,” he said.

Cronen did leave to go to the University of Kentucky. He sold his cattle when he went to college, but kept his grain.

Cronen took classes on Tuesday and Thursday. He would drive to Lexington on Monday night, go to class Tuesday, study Wednesday, go to class Thursday before heading home for a long weekend. He would spend Thursday through Monday working on the farm.

“I wanted to be here. I didn’t want to be in school,” he said.

Cronen quit college after two years and came back to the farm. When he’s not on the farm, Cronen works as a pickling operator at North American Stainless in Carrollton, Ky. He works 12-hour days, which can make things a little difficult while working on the farm.

When he was in high school and college, Cronen could put off jobs like cleaning equipment for the next day. Now, he has to make sure he cleans things that night if he has to work the next day.

“It’s not nearly as flexible as it used to be,” he said.

Cronen said he has friends and family who will help him out on the farm if he has to work.

Cronen does some farming on his grandfather’s land, which is located next door to his farm. He also farms pieces of land around the county where he has signed contracts with the owners.

Cronen is hoping he can continue to build on the success he’s already experienced. He hopes to grow the grain business and buy cows again.

He also wants to continue improving the quality of the soil and other conservation efforts. He plants a lot of cover crops and said his land is almost 100-percent no-till.

Conservation, Cronen said, is something he holds to be very important.

Courtesy of the Madison Courier

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