Mitch and his wife Brooke are farmers in Lena, WI. It was a different way of life than Brooke was used to but not for Mitch.
He’s been farming basically his whole life. He used to help his Uncle when they had a dairy farm, until they had to switch paths. They decided to sell the cows and focus on the crop side of agriculture. It’s since worked out great for him! He’s been on this land now for 20 years. They have about 4,000 acres, including soybeans, corn, wheat, and some wheat. He also does cover crops, and commodity hauling.
Mitch said that looking back at 2019, it was challenging. Mainly because of the wet weather since it delayed things for them. Luckily, they finished getting corn off the fields at the beginning of this month.
Mitch’s son Jason has helped out a lot on the farm and is taking more responsibility. He had to take over in some aspects a few years ago when his brother was diagnosed with Leukemia. Mitch said that it happened right during harvest so he needed Jason’s help so he could be at the hospital with his son. Thanks to technology like the good old phone, he could be connected to the farm even when he was at the hospital.
He also had a lot of help from his wife and the rest of the family, along with people from the area, including Seed Concepts in Pulaski. They even sent two salesman to the farm to run their planters. Sadly, after their son relapsed, he passed away.
He did give some advice to people that are just starting to get into agriculture. Two big things stuck out to him.
1. Go to a Tech School and learn as much as you can.
2. Get a job off of the farm for a bit to learn what it’s like working under someone else’s rules.
Once again, congratulations to Mitch Hodkiewicz, our January Farmer of the Month!
