Farmers without fields

“It is a good time to be a farmer.” How many times have you heard that over the past 3 years? Probably quite a bit I bet.

After spending a couple of hours with my Grandpa last week I realized that, although this is a good time to be a farmer, there really isn’t a bad time to be a farmer. Even though he is doing well these days in the real estate industry, you can tell he misses it.

As you may know, I come from a dairy background. My Dad, Grandpa and Uncle Scott farmed on County Line Road between Delaware and Licking Counties. It was a modest operation with just over 100 head of Holsteins and also some acres of row crops. The farm did not survive the dairy crisis of the mid 1980’s, and being a kid then I did not get to do much more than bottle-feed the calves and hose down the parlor every once in a while. I do remember a good part of the farm, from the barns to the silos to the house to a big hole that was never filled in the yard that I would trip in now and again. But what I don’t remember, Grandpa reminds me.

When he talks about it I picture him in his MMI hat with his mutton-chop sideburns. He worked hard; he was a farmer…and still is. He wakes up early, drinks his coffee and watches RFD-TV, just to stay informed on the industry. Sometimes he tells me what is going on in agriculture and we have some lively conversations.

I love what I do and I can’t imagine doing anything else. I am not qualified to do anything else that I have a passion for and I know many farmers feel the same. Yes that is definitely true in these times, but I am sure it was just as true when times were as trying as they ever have been.

There is a song that has always made me think about Grandpa and other former farmers that have faced the same challenges in their lives. It’s Sawyer Brown’s “Café Down on The Corner”. There is a line in that song that goes…there ain’t no fields to plow, he’s wishing for one now. He’s just a little out of place…that is the one that speaks the most to me. I can just image Grandpa on his first day of not being a farmer wondering, “What do I do now”? As I mentioned, he is selling real estate now and his personal real estate is his pride and joy. His yard is the greenest and plushest yard in Sunbury and if it were a corn field it would yield 300+ bushels to the acre.

Yep, Grandpa’s still got it.

Ty Higgins joins the Ohio Ag Net as a Farm Broadcaster and director of broadcast operations. He brings a farm background, on air radio personality and farm broadcasting experience to the company. Higgins anchors the new afternoon programs for the Ohio Ag Net.

He was born and raised on a dairy farm in Croton, Ohio. He graduated from Johnstown Monroe High School in 1996 and went on to The Ohio State University to study broadcast journalism. Along the way, he was given the opportunity to start his career as a farm broadcaster at AM880 WRFD. From there, Higgins spent over 12 years at WHOK-FM.

Higgins enjoys golf, cooking and time with his family. He and his wife Angela reside in Powell with their two children, Paige and Calvin.

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