HAMILTON, Ohio — The Beeler Farm in Reily Township was one of 52 farm recognized as Century Farms by the Ohio Department of Agriculture in 2011. Michael and Elizabeth Beeler bought the farm in January of 1901 It was a dairy farm until the cows were sold in April of 2011.

Current residents, Edward and Rosemary moved in when Ed’s parents, Earl and Lillian, who had lived there since 1955, moved into a house up the road. They had taken over from Earl’s parents, Ivan and Harriet, who had been there since 1951, following Charles and Clara, who had taken over farming from Charles’s parents, Michael and Elizabeth.

The original farmhouse burned to the ground in 1932, during the Depression, and was rebuilt by the barter system, Ed said. The workers were fed meals out of the garden. Earl’s memories of the farm stretch back to his childhood.  

“We had milk cows, we milked by hand,” said Earl, who is still active on the farm. “We had hogs, chickens, we got rid of the team of horses around 1944. Dad bought an Allis Chalmers tractor in 1935. I was four years old. 

“Back then we sowed the wheat in between the corn rows, that was the old style. We used to do it with horses and mules. We had Tom and Queenie. We would send Tom through the field and we had to stay with Queenie because she wouldn’t stay in the row,” Earl said. 

“Tom would go to the end of the field and stop and wait until we got to the end of the row with the other drill - we used to sow with two narrow drills,” he said “Then we’d turned Tom around and he’d go back through the field and wait at the end until we got back with the other horse. They had 42- to 44-inch rows then.” 

“We had a 110-acre farm and we made a good living on it,” Earl said. “We took care of it; put field tile in by hand. We’d take a team of horses and plow one way with a one-shovel plow then plow back the other way. Dad would spade down one spade deep, I would clean the ditch out and lay the tile.” 

When Ed took over the operation Earl, who said he was grateful for his life in farming, told him: “Just give it back to the Lord as good as you received it or better.”

Ed has been a farmer “since I was old enough to hold onto a tractor steering wheel.” He rented his first piece of ground as a freshman in high school, in FFA, in 1968. He now farms about 800 acres, much of it rented.

“Currentl,y we run steers, we’re raising dairy heifers, and starting a brood cow herd,” he said. We have corn, beans, wheat and hay. Rosemary did all the milking till we sold the dairy herd.”

Neither Keith nor Amy, Ed and Rosemary’s two children, want to farm.

“I don’t blame them,” Ed said. 

 

“There is not the money or enjoyment in it that there used to be. There is so much government red tape and paper work. There is a lot more management involved, a lot more of watching the markets, the merchandising of the product is not like it used to be. The inputs- seed, fertilizer - are extremely expensive.”

“I have enjoyed farming, it’s had its ups and downs,” Ed said. 

For information on the Century Farm program visit www.agri.ohio.gov/divs/cent_farms