It’s All About Relationships for this Young Farmer

-- Customer Story

“We’ve been farming here since the 1840s. It’s definitely part of who I am,” says Dan Baum, who earned a degree from Iowa State University in 2000 and worked in the large farm machinery sector briefly before returning to the farm. “Realistically, I am not in the business just to say I am farming. I am making a living.”

Baum and his wife, Emily, are in it to support their family and leave behind a successful operation for their three young sons. The Baums’ acreage base extends almost 120 miles from their home farm near Geneseo, Ill.

“It’s a unique situation. Our family’s always traveled a ways from the farmstead and back, so we were already used to that.

“Because of the size and efficiency of our equipment today, traveling 120 miles is about the same to us as it was to them back then,” Baum says. “It does cause some of our operational costs to be higher for things like fuel, but we try to think about all of that when planning for those farms.”

Managing corn and soybean fields over 120 miles is something Dan Baum takes in stride thanks to a solid fieldwork strategy and the right machinery.

 “We couldn’t do all of this without our machinery technology. We’re not always on the leading edge of technology unless it helps us gain efficiency.”

Baum was one of the first farmers in the U.S. to own and operate a Massey Ferguson® 9545 combine. The machine is outfitted with a Massey Ferguson 9250 DynaFlex® draper header, which helps him maintain the high level of efficiency he needs during the busy harvest season, an important part of his operational equation.

“Young farmers like us need to be willing to work hard and work differently,” Baum says.

To read more about Dan Baum, check out the full story at http://www.myfarmlife.com/features/its-all-about-relationships-for-this-young-farmer/.