There are many times when farming stays in the family, tilling and plowing the same land from generation to generation. How often, though, do families stick together to work on their farm?

Opland Farms is a family farm in Des Lacs owned and operated by three brothers and a nephew: Stan, Doug, Stewart and Adam Opland. Chelsey Opland, Doug Opland’s daughter, works on the farm as well.

The land, which spans around 9,000 acres, was bought by their grandfather and father when Stan Opland was still in high school. Though the Oplands grew up in a family of six children, with Stan being the oldest, followed by Lynette, Teresa, Doug, Kylene and Stewart Opland, the brothers decided to take on the responsibility of the farm. There is 20 years in between Stan Opland and Stewart Opland, with Doug Opland in the middle at 10 years apart from each.

“We weren’t really that close to each other when we were younger because of the large age difference,” said Stewart Opland. “I never really got the chance to be around Stan because he was 20 years older than me.”

Now, fate brought them back together again as they all work long hours each day with their brothers by their side. They walk in the footsteps of their father and grandfather, who were both full-time farmers as well.

The Opland brothers said the farm has grown in size considerably since it first began, now renting and owning farmland as well as prairie land. They had livestock in 1995 but, with not enough time to do both, they decided to focus on full-time farming instead. The Opland brothers grow corn, wheat, durum, barley, sunflowers, canola, flax, peas and soybeans – nine crops that are common to North Dakota.

They now each have families that help on the farm sometimes as well. Stan has two children, Adam and Amy, with wife Shelly. Doug has three girls, Jessica, Ashley and Chelsey, with wife Debbie, while Stewart has two children, Gunnar and Kensil, with wife Stacy. Of the families, Adam Opland, Stan Opland’s son and Chelsey Opland, Doug Opland’s daughter, work on the farm the most.

Adam Opland, at 34 years old, said farming is what he has always wanted to do. He will probably take on the farm someday when the Opland brothers can’t farm anymore. Chelsey Opland, 22, said she is still deciding whether she will go into full-time farming or not.

“It’s a lot more work than everyone thinks it is,” said Chelsey Opland. “But to a point, girls can do the same work as guys, especially when it comes to driving equipment and trucks.”

All of the Oplands grew up in North Dakota and can’t imagine life without it.

“I love the change of the seasons, hunting, camping, fishing, the quietness,” said Doug Opland, and Chelsey Opland chimed in. “I couldn’t live in town. It’s quiet and you just get that freedom out here that you don’t get anywhere else.”

As for the occupation of farming, the Opland brothers had similar opinions.

“We’re our own boss,” said Doug Opland. “It’s flexible, it’s not the same thing day after day. There’s always something new.”

Stewart Opland agreed. “Here, you’re done when the work is done, which is sometimes never.” He laughed. “It teaches you to be a hard worker; you have to learn how to prioritize and get things done, and you have to discipline yourself to do it.”

As for Stan Opland, he said that the fresh air in the country is the only place he would want to be.

“That’s all I wanted to do was farm; I didn’t want to do anything else,” he said.

Through farming, the Opland brothers have had the unique opportunity to get closer to each other as well.

“We get along pretty good but we have our moments,” said Doug Opland. “We don’t even have to speak to each other sometimes, we just understand what the other person is thinking.”

Stewart Opland broke in. “Doug and Steve are like an old married couple, they bicker just like one.” They all laughed. “But at the end of the day, it’s nice having all four of us to fill in for each other when someone is gone and just to have that good company.”

The Opland brothers said that like their father, who didn’t stop farming until he couldn’t make it out of the house anymore, they would more than likely farm until they physically couldn’t do it anymore.

“A guy gets attached to his land, and my dad and grandpa were that way, too,” said Doug Opland. “My dad’s biggest fear was that the farm would be sold off and not stay in the family, and now I understand that.”

Stan Opland nodded. “It kind of gets in your blood, you know. When farming is what you do.”

At the end of a dirt road in Des Lacs is what looks like an ordinary farm. When you look deeper, though, a family – more specifically a band of brothers and a nephew – have continued a history as rich as the soil that they stand on.