Farm News, IA
08-31-07
Young farmers transition into farming fields
By KRISS NELSON, Farm News staff writer
A.J. Blair and his wife, Kellie, pose next to a corn field located near their family’s
century farm. Blair is one of many young farmers looking to take over the fields
for future generations.
Not only is A.J. Blair a young farmer in southern Webster County, but he is a
young farmer that lends his time to serve on a number of boards within the
agricultural industry.
Blair lives and farms on his family’s farm that he grew up on near Dayton. Both
Blair and his wife, Kellie, are graduates from Iowa State University, Kellie in
Forestry and Agronomy and Blair in Agricultural Business.
Blair said he is transitioning into his family’s century farm and the fact that they
are structured as a corporation has made bringing in the next generation simple
from an ownership standpoint.
He said he is very fortunate in that he works with great land owners that have
entrusted him to farm their land and he gets help every spring and fall from his
parents and has also recently teamed up with a neighbor for those crucial times
of year.
“Behind the outsider’s view of a tractor and a pig and a field of corn are the
relationships that the farm is based upon,” Blair said. “I don’t take those
relationships for granted and I am always trying to make myself a better tenant.”
One way Blair tries to improve himself to be a better not only as a tenant but as a
steward of the land is he spends a lot of time reading and attending seminars. He
says his best resource, however, are other farmers.
“If there is a product, production method, piece of equipment or idea, some
farmer has tried it and they are usually willing to share their experience,” said
Blair.
As a young farmer, Blair says he may be a little quicker to tray a new technology
compared to a farmer that may have plans to retire within a year and admits that
he doesn’t have any industry changing secrets hiding in his machine shed and
that young or old, all farmers have the access to the same information.
In order to let those landowners who might live out of the area get to the now his
family, Blair said they have set up a Web site at www.krfarm.com that includes
their contact information and a mission statement as well as their farm history,
seasonal crop information, etc.
To help supplement their farming income, Blair said his wife, Kellie works for The
Maschoffs Inc, a family owned business that offers management to a number of
Midwestern family pork farmers, on their Environmental Team as a Nutrient
Planning Agronomist. She travels the state of Iowa and helps production partners
to comply with environmental regulations. The couple also raises pigs so these
both compliment the grain farming.
Blair also serves as a director for the Iowa Soybean Association, is part of the
NCSRP (North Central Soybean Research Program) and the Dean of
Agriculture’s Executive Council at Iowa State University.
“My wife and I both graduated from ISU as well as all of our parents, so I
especially enjoy serving on this board and taking a part in the direction of the
College of Agriculture at ISU,” Blair said.
Growing up surrounded by farming and being active in 4-H and FFA helped Blair
choose his career and he was fortunate to have a place on the farm when he
was finished with college.
“Both of my parents grew up on a farm and I am fortunate that my parents
worked very hard so I had a place on the farm if I wanted it,” he said.
For those younger persons wanting to pursue a life in farming, Blair advices to,
“go to college, understand basic accounting and learn all you can about risk
management.
“There will always be a need for farmers,” Blair said. “The keys to success for a
farmer are the same as for any other small business owner. The farmers I see as
being successful would have been successful regardless of their career choice.
They are excited to get to work each day because they enjoy the work. My
observation has been that successful people are self-education, and put a lot of
investment into themselves.”
Blair recognizes the fact that there will always be some good and some bad
when it comes to farming but hopes he as learned some wise lessons through
the generations before him that will get him through anything.
“We have a land title for the ground around my house that shows my great
grandfather purchased the land in 1907. My family has kept farming through the
1930s and the 1980s,” Blair said. “I am optimistic about the future of agriculture
for a long time to come, but I know that there are always ups and downs. I don’t
know what my biggest challenge will be or how it will compare to my father or
grandfather, but they have taught me, through their challenges, to be financially
conservative and to manage risk. These are lessons that bring quality to the
relationships I have with landowners and make our family farm attractive to
landowners looking for a tenant.”
Kriss Nelson can be reached at jknelson@frontiernet.net