Farmer’s Guide to Trucking Regulations available to Ohio Farm Bureau members
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We’re proud to announce this month’s Feature Farmer is Bill Massey!
Bill and his wife, Janice, have a 160 acre farm in Malta Township; it’s a grassland farm with commercial beef cattle. Also, Bill is a retired agriculture education teacher who taught for 34 years at Morgan High School.
Bill just really loves what he gets to do as a farmer! He especially appreciates watching things grow and seeing the results of his work, from seeing the baby calves grow into feeder calves and the hay ending up in round bales. Plus, he and wife like the country life their farm allows them to live.
Bill has been on the farm that he grew up on for the past five years, and his 90-year-old mother still lives on the property as well. However, before moving onto his family’s farm, he ran an apple orchard for 40 years; that operation included apple and cider production as well as traveling to farmers markets and other events.
During his “off season,” Bill spends his time getting machinery ready, building fence and generally maintaining the farm. He has also had the opportunity to make several major improvements to the farm thanks to his being approved for seven major practices endorsed by Soil and Water Conversation District. A few examples of the practices include spring development, a concrete feeding pad and building interior fence.
When asked what the biggest challenges he faces for his operation are, dealing with the various required licenses and the uncertainty of markets are the first things that come to Bill’s mind. He also mentioned the economic pressures that the majority of farmers face.
Bill and his wife enjoy being Farm Bureau members for the councils! They said they enjoy getting together and visiting with neighbors to hear about policies, trends, current events and learn from different perspectives. The council is what got them started in Farm Bureau and it’s continued to be a vital part of their operation.
Thank you Bill and Janice for being such an excellent part of our community’s agriculture! We appreciate all that you do!
Labor has always been an issue, mainly because we are a seasonal operation. So that's a challenge finding somebody who only wants to work three months out of a year, sometimes up to six months.
I appreciate the benefit of having a strong voice in my corner. The extras that are included in membership are wonderful, but I'm a member because of the positive impact to my local and state agricultural communities.
I see the value and need to be engaged in the community I live in, to be a part of the decision-making process and to volunteer with organizations that help make our community better.
Farm Bureau involvement has taught me how to grow my professional and leadership experience outside of the workforce and how to do that in a community-centric way.
With not growing up on a farm, I’d say I was a late bloomer to agriculture. I feel so fortunate that I found the agriculture industry. There are so many opportunities for growth.
Knowing that horticulture is under the agriculture umbrella and having Farm Bureau supporting horticulture like it does the rest of ag is very important.
If it wasn't for Farm Bureau, I personally, along with many others, would not have had the opportunity to meet with our representatives face to face in Washington.
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