Producer Features

Last winter, a university ag economist told a group of producers in the Midwest he wouldn’t advise his students to pursue studies that fulfill their personal dreams.

Stoltzfus Hay Farm started with only 16 acres of hay and borrowed equipment, but grew into a diverse business that supports two generations. This is a classic story of a father mentoring and transitioning his hay business to his sons.

I interviewed Craig Stoltzfus and his sons, Ryan and Quintin, on their hay farm on a beautiful day in Elverson, Pennsylvania.

Good fences make good neighbors, but they also can lead to a good contracted grazing setup. New farmer Amy Fenn is using contracted grazing for her neighbor Christopher Baird in southwest Wisconsin.

Stretching a ranch’s resources to support three families isn’t the easiest task in the world, but as Nerbas Bros. Angus proves, it can be done.

Jerry Baker started Baker Angus in 1982. What started out as a small plot of land that had housed his father’s dairy has, after 45 years, grown to 900 acres of hay and cropland that comprises the home ranch in Vale, Oregon.