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Michigan young farmers reflect on growing a business

 

A young farmer says access to capital and succession planning are some of the greatest challenges facing today’s beginning farmers.

“Trying to get started, that’s the hardest thing.  And starting from ground zero…that’s just tough to begin with.”

Scott Thomas farms 400 acres of corn and soybeans with his mom in Sanilac County as well as works for Eager Farms where he manages the farm and seed sales. Thomas tells Brownfield he’d like to see more young people become involved in agriculture especially as the average age of farmers continues to increase.  “I teach tractor safety for my county and I’ve been watching that number drop yearly for how many students I have in my class—that alone hits you hard because what’s there going to be in years to come to stick around?”

John Strieter grows corn, soybeans, hay, wheat and sugarbeets in Huron County. He says he was able to start farming by working land his grandmother owned and building relationships with retiring farmers in the community.  Strieter tells Brownfield incremental growth and starting a custom baling business has helped him grow his operation.  “Something that we’re doing is looking at more on-farm storage of our grains and trying to get more connected with our customers that way, similar to how we work in our hay business where we are storing the whole crop and selling it throughout the year.”

Both Thomas and Strieter were recognized as young farmer award winners by the Michigan Farm Bureau this year.

AUDIO: Interview with Scott Thomas during the Michigan Farm Bureau Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids

AUDIO: Interview with John Strieter during the Michigan Farm Bureau Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids