BY LINDA McGURK
Indiana Correspondent ROSSVILLE, Ind. — When Jane Skiles, 46, was in her teens and living with her parents on a hog and grain farm north of Rossville, she was reluctant to learn how to drive a car.
But behind the wheel of a tractor, the young farmers’ daughter always felt right at home. “They called me a tomboy. I never thought of myself like that, but I guess I am,” she said, and laughed.
Skiles’ affection for heavy machinery has come in handy over the years, as she’s been able to help her husband, Chris, run grain trucks, drive tractors and load corn on their hog and grain farm not far from where Jane grew up.
She also keeps the books for the farm and brings meals to Chris and their sons Chad, 24, and Neil, 20, who help run the operation. A third son, Darren, 22, works with construction technology but helps his parents whenever he gets a chance.
Chris and Jane originally farmed with his brother, Scott, and father, Tom, but in 1993 the couple built their first hog barn, and the following year they farmed on their own for the first time. In 1997, they expanded their operation by adding another barn.
Then, the hog crisis struck. Prices fell to as little as eight cents per pound and, like all other hog producers in the United States, the Skileses felt the pinch. For a year, Skiles worked at a nursing home to supplement income from the farm.
“I had to hire a babysitter, and that’s not how we wanted to raise our boys. I felt like I needed to help out, but in the end I think I helped out more by staying home. You just learn to do without some things,” she said.
“We just hung in there. Chris never thought of giving up.”
Today, the couple and their sons farm 1,400 acres of corn, soybeans and wheat, and run a 250-sow farrow-to-finish operation. A recent empty-nester, Skiles is still adjusting to having the house to herself.
“I miss my boys, even though I see them every day,” she said. “And they all live within five miles of here.”
With her sons taking on more responsibilities around the farm, Skiles is also trying to get used to a dwindling workload. “It was just Chris and I for a long time,” she said. “I used to put the kids in bed and go back out to the farm.
“Now it’s time for (the kids) to start out, and I’m okay with it.”
That means Skiles has more time for one of her biggest hobbies: Gardening. The neighbors already know her as “the one who mows all the time,” and last year the Skileses bought a Case IH DX35 tractor, which she uses to put out mulch and do other yard work.
“We never had a little utility tractor, and it was a good deal,” she explained. “I tend to think of it as mine, because we bought it around my birthday.”
Conveniently, the dealership where they bought the tractor, Koenig Equipment in Rossville, is located just down the road, so the Skileses have easy access to Case IH machinery.
“It’s close and we’re happy with the prices and service,” said Skiles.
Although her role on the farm has changed since her sons got involved with the operation, she and Chris still make the main decisions together. And she’ll always be a farm woman at heart.
“I guess I don’t know anything other than this, but I can’t imagine doing anything else,” she said. “I can’t say that we can come and go as we want, but we don’t have to ask anybody for days off. I enjoy it, and I just love being outside.”
This farm news was published in the June 6, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee. |
