Chad Fusilier: The Young Farmer Behind “Fusilier Farms – Chelsea”

Chad Fusilier. Photo courtesy of Washtenaw County Farm Bureau.

Twenty year old Chad Fusilier’s boldly chasing a dream he was determined to pursue when, at age 17, he told his parents he wanted to buy his own farm. A year later he was well on his way to making his lofty ambition a reality. This May, Fusilier Farms – Chelsea reopens its farm store for the season on land owned and operated by Chad at 20000 Sager Rd. across from the Chrysler Proving Grounds on M-52.

Chad has farming in his blood; he and his siblings represent the sixth generation of Fusiliers to farm in this area. He grew up on his family’s home farm of 220 acres at the edge of the Irish Hills in Manchester. The majority of their farm is devoted to raising fresh, high-quality produce marketed directly through several farmer’s markets, a “Share of the Farm” Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, and area public schools. A small amount of acreage is planted for commercial corn and soybean production in rotation with the produce.

You could easily say “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” when it comes to Chad’s determination and entrepreneurial work ethic because he has great role models for learning and persevering when it comes to making a dream a reality. His parents, Mike and Kathy, wanted to try something “different” when they got married and bravely ventured from hog farming into the greenhouse and farm market business in 1996.

Chad Fusilier working on a greenhouse. Photo courtesy of the Washtenaw County Farm Bureau.

Chad’s already weathered some challenges, and successfully overcome obstacles in buying his own farmland and launching a business. The new 2014 Farm Bill offers several incentive programs for young farmers, however; the delays in its passage nearly caused Chad to lose everything, and complicated his ability to obtain a mortgage on the property he wanted to purchase. He’s also overcome some township restrictions and challenges with resolve, determination and hard work.

Chad devotes every moment possible on his new farming venture when he’s not at Michigan State University (MSU) where he’s been pursuing a degree in agribusiness since August of 2013. He’s also active in the Washtenaw County Farm Bureau and was recently elected Vice-President of the MSU Collegiate Farm Bureau organization.

Chad’s excited about the new farm market season which opened May 1st and eager for customers to see the work they’ve accomplished over the winter. “Come on out to see all the beautiful flowers, the newly renovated store and the finished greenhouse” he said. “We’ll have annuals, perennials, shrubs, trees, pottery, jams and more — with asparagus on the way! We hope to see you out there.”

Fusilier Farms – Chelsea at 20000 Sager Rd. is open daily 9am-6pm. You can reach them by phone at (734) 945-5711, follow them on Facebook or find more information about the home farm in Manchester on their website.

Fusilier Farms – Chelsea farm store. Photo courtesy of the Washtenaw County Farm Bureau.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.