I grew up on a Northern Indiana dairy farm where my dad and 2 uncles tended a herd of Holstein milk-cows. As such, I grew up caring for calves, scraping stalls, mixing feed, and hauling manure on a regular basis. Kirk, my father, helped diversify the farming operation and sold corn, soybean, wheat and alfalfa seed on the side. I participated in many stand counts and trouble-shooting calls and somewhere along the line caught the agronomy bug. Agronomy is the study of crops and soils, and I’ve enjoyed it from an early age.
I was raised and trained to fear the Lord and Baptized at the age of 13. I thank God for his Grace and patience through years where I strayed or spent time decidedly living for myself rather than his Glory, but here we are, and Autumn and I are trying to raise and train 5 little ones to honor him! We believe that as Christians we’re “saved by grace through faith and this is not of ourselves – it’s a gift of God – that no man may boast, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Loose quote of Ephesians 2:8-10)” We’re seriously working to walk out our faith in the midst of business and family. I believe God brought us to this crop and market to bring himself Glory and we strive to do that in all our interactions and in the way that we cultivate the land.
Upon graduating high school, I headed to Purdue University where I studied Agronomy under great professors like John Graveel, Lee Schweitzer, George Van Scoyoc, and Eileen Kladivko and studied things like Integrated Pest Management, Soils, Soil Physical Properties, Crop Physiology, and pest identification (insect, weeds, and diseases). While at Purdue, I lived in the cooperative housing system where I met Autumn, who lived with my roomate’s girlfriend. After dating for 3 years, we were engaged and married June 18th, 2011.
Before we tied the knot, I entered graduate school at Purdue, studying Crop Physiology and Ecology with a specific interest in Soybean Production systems under Shaun Casteel. It was at this time that I took particular interest in plant hormones and the mechanisms of crop yield. In other words, I enjoyed looking into the finer aspects of what drove crop yield and how to manage for higher yields.
After graduate school, I worked as an Agronomist for Stewart Seeds, supporting primarily corn and soybean sales and problem shooting any issues that customers might face in the field. After 7 years with Stewart Seeds, I took a position with Bayer Crop Science managing a Research and Development Farm near the Indiana/Ohio Stateline, not far from our home. After 2 years and Bayer’s nearly complete insanity around Covid-19 and vaccine mandates, I left to work for Beck’s Superior Hybrids (a Christian family-owned seed company based out of Central Indiana) in primarily corn and soybean product selection.
This year marked 2.5 years with Beck’s and our 4th season growing elderberries. Some say God’s timing rarely corresponds to our own and in this case, I agree – a looming harvest and a new baby and recovering wife necessitated quicker movement than we thought might be possible, but again; here we are – self-employed and trusting God in the midst of the adventure!
