Many young people have things they think they would like to be – astronauts, big league ball players or a circus clown. But there are a few exceptional young men who know exactly what they want to do.
Brett Foster, a 16-year-old sophomore at Bakersfield High School, is one. He already has his career planned. His family has owned Foster Feed in Bakersfield, Mo., for several decades, and he plans on continuing the tradition. Brett said he wants to help his dad run the business. It’s not just Brett’s dad and mom, Kenneth and Rebecca Foster, who work at the business, it goes generations beyond that.
“My great-grandpa, grandpa, dad and I now work at the feed store,” Brett said.
That’s four generations.
When school work allows, Brett works at the feed store. There’s plenty to do, and Brett is learning about each part of the operation.
“We sell bag and bulk feed,” the teen explained. “We have silos and bulk trucks with augers on them. A load goes out five days a week. That’s my job when we’re real busy. A lot of times after school I go down there and work and I work every weekend down there. I do whatever is there to be done.”
Established in the early 1960s, the store prides itself on knowing the specific needs of its customers.
“We sell only grains, mixed grains, custom blends and we have our own mixes that are kind of a trademark just from us. We mix the custom blends to haul out to customers,” Brett said. “A lot of people have different mixtures. The different mixtures have different percentages of vitamins, proteins and fats. We not only sell bulk, we also sell bags of feed, which we can mix ourselves and add molasses to them.”
The Foster family knows about the needs of their customers because they have their own cattle herd.
“We take our own feed to our own cattle. We have steers and a cow/calf operation. We also have bulls. Some are registered,” Brett said. The farm, which consists of land owned by several members of the family, covers many acres and requires everyone to pitch in.
Brett’s older brother Kraig works on the farming side of the family business.
“Kraig helps my uncles. My dad has two brothers and we all help each other. The trucking business is named “4F Trucking” after my grandpa and his three sons,” Brett explained.
Brett knows a lot about the trucking side of the business. He dispatches drivers to where they need to go.
“We have three different types of trailers: hopper trailers, belt trailers and walking floors,” he said. The business owns 11 or 12 trucks.
They sell mostly to local farmers.
“The feed store and the trucking operation are both run by my dad. I’m going to take over one of the two when I finish school,” Brett said.
Although the business is and will be Brett’s career choice, he would still like to take business classes in college. He said the classes are “to help me improve my knowledge of the business. I also might go to a trade school and learn about business and economics.”
Brett has had plenty of encouragement all his life. In addition to his large and extended family, his Bakersfield High School Ag teach, Lyn Cotter, said Brett is “a good worker” and won’t have any problems helping run the family business or anything else he decided to do.
Foster Feed, Inc., will definitely be in good hands for years to come.
As Brett said, “I want to continue the family business.”
