Hal and Sheila

Carrying on a family tradition

Hal: I’m the third generation to operate this farm. My grandfather started in the early 1900s and now the fourth generation is starting to take on more responsibility. My greatest hope is that the fifth generation will be here as well. We take a lot of pride in the fact that we’re probably one of the longest-standing family operations in this area.

What success looks like on our farm

Sheila: Success is getting up daily, striving to do our best and coming together as a family. It also means enjoying the fruits of our labor, but not necessarily working 24/7, which is kind of hard to balance. I’m very proud of Hal and the kids.

Our biggest challenge is our greatest asset

Hal: It’s always a challenge to work with other family members. But I think what is a big challenge is also a huge asset because it’s becoming harder to find people who want to become involved in agriculture as a labor force. We want the whole family in the picture.

Lessons we’ve learned and the next generation

Hal: I can see our kids are going to have to be much better money managers than I was in my lifetime. You’ve got to know your costs and everything almost right down to the penny to turn a profit now. There’s so much volatility in the marketplace, but once the decision’s made, you’ve got to go on and hope you do better next time.