I knew I wanted to farm when I was a kid. My dad farmed some but had a full-time job off-farm. He knew a farmer who was planning to retire and told him I would be interested in farming the ground. I rented that farm and that’s how we started.

I went to college and earned a diesel mechanics degree, then operated a custom-trucking business for many years while we farmed. About 18 months ago, after crunching the numbers, we felt we could go to farming full-time.

Without a doubt, it’s marketing – when to sell the crops.

We’d like to pick up more ground, but with four kids we have to be careful about our decisions. We don’t want to take chances unless we’re pretty sure they will pay off.

I’m very optimistic about the future of our industry. It might be tough for a few years, but agriculture is the backbone of America and I’m proud to be a part of it.

Having a sound lender is important because we rely on them. They have deep knowledge about agriculture because that’s what they do. I appreciate that they are willing to listen to our plans and can offer ideas about things like cash rent. I make my own decisions but value their input.