INTRODUCING COREY EHLERT!
Some of the interviews that I have done that really stand out to me are the ones in which a young man or woman is finding and following their path into traditional farming or production agriculture. My guest in this interview, Corey Ehlert, is doing just that.
Corey was a national proficiency finalist in 2017 in crop production. He is leasing 85 acres in Minnesota and farming corn and soybeans right now. To overcome the high input costs in acquiring equipment, he is trading his labor for the use of family farm equipment.
It is this part of what Corey is doing that I want to really focus on from an entrepreneurial standpoint. Corey works for his father, and in exchange for his labor he gets to use the equipment. He uses the equipment to prep fields, plant and harvest his crop. This is gamble. There may be no return. He may lose money. He may make money but make less than if he had just worked for an hourly wage from his father. Or, he might have a great year and advance himself closer to his dream of being a farmer himself.
So many people get stuck on short term thinking, that they only see the money that they can make today and focus on it. They will not expand their vision enough to allow them to trade their labor for equipment rental to use on a high risk venture. And, they will find themselves still working by the hour five or ten years from now and fighting for $1 or $2 more per hour.
However the person with the vision. The person willing to trade labor for opportunity. The person who is willing to forgo a paycheck right now for a lifestyle in the future is who we all strive to be. It took me almost 20 years of working for a wage to finally develop this vision and to believe in it. It is great to see a young man like Corey who already has it.
SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Crop Production
HIGH SCHOOL: United South Central High School FFA; Wells, Minnesota
MASCOT: Rebels
FFA ADVISOR: Dan Dylla
CONTACT INFORMATION FOR COREY EHLERT:
Click on the picture below to be taken to the United South Central High School website:
Corey’s FFA Advisors’ Email Addresses: ddylla@unitedsouthcentral.org
United South Central High School’s Telephone Number: 507-553-5819
FFA LINKS:
Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE’s)
Donate to FFA – One way that FFA students are able to start small businesses is through an FFA grant of $1,000. In 2014, 141 FFA students received these grants. With your donations, more students can get this head start – pay it forward.
REASONS TO DONATE TO FFA:
“Because American farmers are able to provide for so many of us, they give more and more of us the freedom to pursue goals and livelihoods beyond growing the food we need to survive.”
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack
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