Borlaug was born to Henry Oliver (1889-1971) and Clara (Vaala) Borlaug (1888-1972) on his grandparents' farm in Saude in 1914, the first of four children.
Borlaug attributed his decision to leave the farm and pursue further education to his grandfather's urgent encouragement to learn: Nels Olson Borlaug (1859-1935) once told him, "you're wiser to fill your head now if you want to fill your belly later on."[REF]