My time spent as a farmhand provided many learning and advancement opportunities — including starting my own farm in Connersville, Ind., which stitched together the one-generation gap in my family’s farming heritage.

Starting a farm from scratch using no-till, EQIP and CSP programs proved the best and easiest path to production for my wife, Cassandra, and me.

My soils were on the verge of giving out on me when I finally made the switch to no-till. I’m a first-generation farmer.

I’m not afraid to listen to my kid. My dad, Dale, was a little more skeptical, but then again, skeptical is understandable — especially when it was his living that was on the line when my son, Brad, and I wanted to do a little experimenting

No-till is all I’ve ever known. The practice was developed just 2 hours south of us in Christian County, Ky. My dad and grandfather bought an Allis-Chalmers no-till planter in the 1980s. By the time I purchased my first piece of land as a sophomore in college it wasn’t even a thought to put a plow to it. It just wasn’t how we farmed

Efficiency drove our shift to no-till in 1999. The practice meant less fuel, fewer tractor passes and reduced man hours. For all other aspects of our operation, though, it was more, more, more.

Every year I tell my friends I hope I make enough this year to farm again next year. So far, so good. Despite what’s going on in the world around us, I feel positive about my farm’s future.