When the time came for Mike Geffert to pick his future career path, he hesitated for only a moment. Did he want to continue a farming tradition that began when his grandparents settled in Allen County in 1918?
Friends warned him, “If it ever disappears, you’ll never get it back.”
That philosophy has carried Mike and wife Barbara through the years as they kept the farm going and raised two children. Daughter Kimberly Geffert is a graphic artist for a printing company in Gardner. Son Shawn and his wife, Kylee, continue to work on the family farm with boys Wade, age 8, and Hayes, 3.
“We don’t know what the boys will decide, but hopefully one or both of them might carry it on to another generation,” Barb said.
Mike and Barb Geffert have been selected as Farm Marshals for this year’s Farm City Days parade.
Farming relies on both tradition and innovation, principles that have guided Mike from the early days when he learned at the knees of his father and six uncles.
“Farming has changed a lot from the time I got into it. With each generation, there’s been changes,” Mike said.
Though they supported him, Mike’s uncles didn’t always agree with his “new ideas.”
“I always goofed around with whatever technology they had at the time,” Mike said. “There wasn’t as much as there is now.”
“But you always kept up with what was new,” Barb added, and explained: “He was getting bigger equipment, and his uncles swore it was never going to work.”
“If they could see the way Shawn’s farming now, with all the technology he’s got, they wouldn’t have ever dreamed of that,” Mike said. “He’s got a drone. He has a sprayer with a camera that recognizes when it comes across a weed, and squirts a certain chemical right on a certain weed.”
As an example of how farming has changed, Mike and Barb talked about tilling practices. Years ago, farmers tilled and turned the ground, determined to eradicate every possible weed.
“I wanted it spotless,” Mike said.
Now, Shawn practices no-till farming. Mike recognizes how much more productive it has made the land. The Gefferts grow corn, soybeans and wheat.
“He’s done well, the crops have done well,” Mike said.
“Even though the farming practices and machinery and all have changed through the generations, one constant that has been passed down is that it takes a lot of hard work and good time management to keep a farming operation going,” Barb said.
Mike’s leadership in the family farm grew over time. His father and uncles gave him space to farm his own way, and slowly stepped aside. Mike let their example guide him as Shawn grew into his own, too. Health issues have forced Mike to pull back even more, though he still enjoys his time mowing and maintaining the homestead.
