OFI 1093: Sleep Is Unnecessary When It’s Time To Farm | FFA SAE Edition | Cody Keefer | Alexander High School FFA

Ah, the energy, optimism, and strength of youth. So many of us let that part of our lives pass by without taking full advantage of what we were capable of at that time. Our guest today, Cody Keefer, is not one of those people.

Cody is farming with his brother, father, and grandfather on a farm in Ohio that has been in their family for almost 50 years. Cody just graduated high school, and there is no question that his passion is outdoors, on a tractor, and in a field. His family’s farm is a traditional, production agriculture row crop farm with some cows on the side to keep them busy during the winter. Now that Cody has graduated high school it almost like he has been unleashed to go out and get farming!

In addition to farming with his family, Cody got started growing and selling hay a few years back. Since that initial launch, he has started obtaining more and more hay ground and selling more and more hay. He is currently up to about 50 acres, which he says is plenty for him considering all of the other work that he has to do.

I asked Cody about his future plans now that he is done with high school, and he had an interesting answer. He has already identified a couple of employers in his area that offers shift work, including overnights. He has got his eyes set on working at one of those places so that he can put in his off-farm hours during the night and farm during the day!

Most people work overnight shifts because they are just starting with a company, and they do not have enough seniority to work during the day. However, Cody is looking for that overnight work so that he has the daylight hours to work. Sleep? What about sleep? Well, Cody figures he will find some time for sleep when the farming and the off-farm work is done for the day. However, right now, sleep is a distant third on the priority list for Cody.

I am excited for this young man and where he is headed. He knows exactly what he wants to do, and his energy and thinking are all geared towards getting there. It is this drive and passion that is going to get him through on those days that he is short on sleep, and it is this same drive that is going to cause him to take full advantage of this time in his life when he is capable of hours like this.

Cody is literally and figuratively going to be making hay while the sun shines, and this is going to set him up well for the future that he is looking for!

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Keefer Family Farms

HIGH SCHOOL: Alexander High School, Albany Ohio

MASCOT: Spartans

FFA ADVISOR: Jenna Meeks

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR CODY KEEFER:

Click on the picture below to be taken to the Alexander High School Website:

Cody’s FFA Advisor’s Email Address: JMeeks@alexanderschools.org

Alexander High School Telephone Number: 740-698-8831

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE’s)

Support FFA

Donate to FFA – FFA students can start small businesses 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:

Only 2% of Americans grow and raise most of the food and livestock consumed by the other 98% and the rest of the world. FFA provides the needed education, training, and resources to Americans to carry that torch forward and ensure that America continues to have inexpensive, quality food.
Rural Communities will rely on entrepreneurship in the future for population growth and job creation. The FFA is a major catalyst to that entrepreneurial growth.
Farmers, ranchers, and those working in agriculture give the rest of America incredible amounts of freedom because the food search is as simple as going to the grocery store:

“The future of American agriculture depends on the involvement and investment in America’s youth, In order to prepare for the population of tomorrow, we need to encourage America’s youth today, and show that careers in agriculture are profitable, rewarding, and vital.”. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue