PAGE B6 -THE POSEY COUNTY NEWS, NEW HARMONY, INDIANA, MARCH 15, 2011
WWW.POSEYCOUNTYNEWS.COM
‘Young Farmer’ Hoehn is honored by Pioneer program By Dave Pearce A 2004 Mount Vernon High School graduate, Kurt Hoehn never figured he would wind up at the Big Ten basketball tournament. A high school wrestler, Hoehn was never really much of a basketball fan. However, he always knew he wanted to be a farmer. Ironically, it was his success in farming that landed him at the Big Ten Tourney this week in Indianapolis. “It was always a dream of mine to farm with my dad,” Hoehn said, after retuning from the Pioneer Next Generation Farmers program this past weekend. “I never really gave much thought to doing anything else.” Hoehn credits the determination he learned in wrestling to his early success in farming. “You just have to have a feeling for something and go for it,” Hoehn said with a chuckle. “There are a lot of risks but there are no rewards without the risks. Hopefully, you can learn from your mistakes.” But just as in any farm family, more than one person is involved. In Hoehn’s case, he is at least the third generation to farm and when he married Amy, she became a farm wife. She and her mother run Floors and Walls, a Mount Vernon paint and flooring store. She has had to adjust to farm life. “We talked it over before we got married and she knew what she was getting into,” Hoehn said. “But it was new to her. She was from a business family who was accustomed to working from 8 to 5. It took some getting used to but she has adjusted well.” Part of that adjustment has involved young Paislee, the couple’s first child. To help save money, Paislee spends lots of time with her mother and grandmother at the store in Mount Vernon. Hoehn indicated that his wife’s knowledge of business has been an asset for their life together. Kurt, Amy, and Little Paislee Hoehn pose in front of Selection to the Next Generation Farmers group came as a the Christmas tree. Hoehn recently participated in the welcomed surprise to Hoehn as the company chose a total of Pioneeer Young Farmers’ program. 32 young farmers from Illinois and Indiana to participate in the
two-year program. “The first meeting of this group was held in Indianapolis this weekend,” Hoehn explained. “We talked a lot about risk management (buying farmland and equipment) at this meeting. We went to the Penn State-Indiana basketball game. I thought Indiana should have won it but they ended up losing.” But basketball was on the back burner foe Hoehn, who used the meeting to learn as much as he could. In today’s agricultural climate, education has as much to do with success as almost anything. “In August, we will go to the Farm Progress Show and will have a meeting in Bloomington, Ill.,” Hoehn said. “Then in February, we will be going to Chicago to see the Chicago Board of Trade and see how all that works. It will be pretty neat.” Production agriculture is an exciting, challenging, and competitive place to be. The business knowledge and skills required in this environment can be a significant part of the success of farm enterprises, according to a brochure supplied by Pioneer. In August of 2012, Pioneer will be flying the Young Farmers to Johnston, Iowa, Pioneer’s Hi-Bred’s World Headquarters. Other than the obvious, other advantages for Hoehn include networking with other young farmers throughout the area and learning what might be working on their farms that could help other young farmers. Hoehn said he has at least two cousins who he expects to join the farming family in the coming years. The keynote speakers included Moe Russell, a respected consultant and farm financial analyst who works with many successful farm operations in nearly all aspects of their business. Another key speaker was Kevin Spafford, a noted author and columnist in Farm Journal magazine. Spafford also leads Legacy By Design, a firm dedicated to succession planning in the agricultural community. Kurt is the son of Benny and Katie Hoehn of Mount Vernon.