Special Report

Coffee Stops tour helps bridge generation gap

Williamsport, Ohio, hosted Tuesday’s Brownfield Ag News and Case IH Coffee Stop at Pettit’s, a local hang out for farmers.  Brownfield’s Dave Russell and Case IH sales representative Mark Essman joined area farmers in conversations about planting, weather, and another very important issue in agriculture: the generation gap.

Joe Carle, a retired farmer from Circleville, Ohio, farmed soybeans and raised cattle for about 50 years.  Now, his son takes care of the farm with the help of Carle’s three grandsons, who also attended Tuesday’s Coffee Stop.

Carle says that he’s tried to teach them what they need to know about farming, but he realizes that it will be difficult for all three to stay in the industry.  Still, he says that he’s glad they take time away from other jobs to spend working on the farm and drinking coffee with their grandfather and talking to other farmers.

The next Coffee Stop will be Wednesday morning at 8:00 am in Bucyrus, Ohio at the Crawford County Fair.  The list of all Coffee Stops in Ohio and Indiana can be found here.