SharkFarmerXM's podcast
Ben Klick from Navarre, OH 7-23-24
[SINGING] Unstoppable, unshakeable. But it rolls off the town unfreakable. It's unavoidable. You saw a little bony between the lines. Start to loosen up your mouth. And welcome again to Shark Fummer Radio. Hey, I'm your host Rob Shark. You were in the studio today just outside of Bradford, Illinois. Now we're dry again. It's funny how that works, isn't it? You get the food plots in for the deer and now you need a little rain. And it's always something with varmint in it. It is. I always say, I say this all the time. I got to check in with you by the hour to know how to pray. Rain, too much rain, not enough, whatever. We are actually on our way out to a South Dakota Baltic, or Sioux Falls. They're kind of right next to each other. They are right next to each other. We go every year. It's an Ag PhD field day. And we go a day early. And we tape a whole season of the root of it for Acres TV. Yeah, that's an amazing show. It's a one day show. And there is a point in there where Brian and Darren have to get up on a truck. And the crowd just follows this truck as they go from plot to plot. It's like the pied piper. It is. It is. Yeah, they do. They have to hear all the details. And you know, it is kind of cool to just have a one day show, because everybody just sort of puts their all into it. You don't have to-- you know, I feel like some shows that are like three days by the second day, people are done. Actually by the end of the first day, people are done. All right, let's go out to Navarre, Ohio. We're going to be talking with Ben Klick. How you doing, Ben? Hey, guys. I'm doing great out here today. I appreciate you guys inviting me to have me on here today. I don't want to brag a little bit, but we actually have a little moisture in the ground. We could use a little more, but we're not too bad so far for the middle of July, so. Well, la de da. [LAUGHTER] How do crops look out there? Yeah, I tell you what, for kind of late as the start, we kind of had-- we had a three week hiatus. We got some good progress done the end of May, and then we didn't turn a wheel again-- I'm sorry, the end of April, and then we didn't turn a wheel again till the end of May. So it was like three and a half weeks. We didn't really do a whole lot. So we had quite a bit of a gap in the crop progress along. But overall, things look pretty good. Definitely more heat units so far this year, I think, than all of last year. So I don't think we'll be showing-- hopefully, not be showing a bunch of 30% corn in the middle of October as we go forward. But overall, very blessed so far. So hopefully that continues. So are you guys mostly tasseled out there? Yeah, so that's another funny thing is, like the area where we're at, the airplanes, helicopters, like, don't really like to be in our kind of smaller chopped up farm so much, so we have a lot of drones in the area. So that's been kind of nice for that. So we did the first part of our corn, was fungicide last week. And then we kind of a little bit of a break this week. We'll probably get the next half to two thirds of it done here, probably over this next weekend and next week. So that is one of the nice things with the spread out planning is it kind of breaks up the fungicide application a little bit. Yeah, actually, just for the first time yesterday morning, we used a drone on a couple fields. That's pretty cool to watch. It is. It really is. You kind of wonder, like, man, is this going to be, you know, for one economical to time efficient? And it's actually pretty crazy how much they can really get done today, you know, especially as they're kind of wearing, like, your four, I think, with using the drone, it's a friend of mine's got one. And he's gotten better and progressed and, you know, figure out things that work and don't work. So he's become more and more efficient year after year. So yeah, they don't like deer blinds. They're just spraying all along. And then all of a sudden, they, you know, they throw the brakes on. Ben, where is Navarre in the great state of Ohio? Yeah, so I am in Northeast Ohio. Stark County, be exact. I'm in the Southwest border of Stark County. So I was telling most people that Pro Football Hall of Fame is about 20 and 25 minutes northeast of me a little ways. But I'm just out of the snow belt as far as that goes. But I can be to Cleveland an hour and a half. I can be a Pittsburgh hour and a half. So kind of in that sweet little spot just outside Appalachia. The snow belt? Oh, yeah, yeah, the snow belt off Lake Erie. We there's there's times where there'll be nothing in the forecast. And then we get weather fronts when I came across the lake and just build up a pile of snow. And we'll just get snow out of nowhere in the midst of winter. And you know, there's nothing in the forecast. So the Lake Erie can really have a funny effect on our weather pattern at times. Gotcha. Now that's where you grew up, right on a family farm? Yeah, yep, yep, yep, yes, sir. I am a fifth generation on our family farm right there in Perry Township. So we've seen a lot of what we'll call progress. This is what people like to call these days around us with kind of we're in the Interstate 77 Route 30 corridor. So we've been still farmed. We're by grip. I like to tell us now we're we're kind of farming in town, but too dumb to know it is kind of the way we like to go about it sometimes. Well, you mentioned smaller fields like are you less than 80 acres? Yeah, yeah. So our largest continuous field is 90 acres. There are some large ones around in the area, but our average field size is about 25 acres. Oh, mercy. Yeah, so it can be it can be it can be a challenge at times, especially in drier years when wildlife pressure seems to really take a strangle hold it can be fun. But you know, it's home. So I know when we we get the chance to travel elsewhere, I got some friends, not too far for you guys who are out in Illinois and some parts of Iowa. And whenever I get a chance to get out there and just kind of like, man, couldn't they just stay on the horses for another few days? You know, actually, we in Illinois feel the same way. OK, with that, you said there was a lot of development. So you have these smaller fields. And then is it a struggle to get from field to field with traffic? Yeah, yeah. So like right where the home farms at is that is probably the worst. So like for my wife and I, the farm, we live all and we have some ground around us. We're about 10 miles south and it's kind of crazy how we get a lot more rural, just the more we live. But around home, there's definitely there's definitely times where we choose when and where to travel. But this way, when John, you come out with the narrow transport planner, that was definitely a lifesaver to us back in the 2000s. And even certain equipment, you know, we try to run narrow tires and their equipment. I mean, we can't run wide implements like we try to, when we buy implements or whatever, we try to buy off of the folding frames, you know, widths that are the overall width of things, you know? Yeah, absolutely. All right. We do got to go to break today. We're talking with Ben Click from Navarre, Ohio. We come back. We're going to talk about his farm. We're going to talk about all sorts of stuff. All right, after the break. This segment is brought to you by Common Ground. Are you looking for an easy way to buy, sell, or release your land? Well, check out Common Ground, where they connect landowners and farmers and hunters too, by the way. Go to commonground.io, that's commonground.io. Tonight on RFD TV, a brand new fresh out of the box episode of Shark Farmer TV, we're at a brewery. So, you know, that's always good. Oh, always so much fun. And I think you slammed a beer there, which was hilarious. In the show. He wasn't expecting you to drink the whole thing. Well, you know, I thought it'd be funny, but I didn't realize the beverage was going to be that cold. So, you know, when it hits that much, cold in your gullet, my gosh. Oh, geez. We also went to their hops farm, which was super cool. I think it was called Bells of the South. And I've, you know, I've never been on hops farm before. It's neat. They have to train up the hops to climb these trellises. Trellises? Trellises. That's a word. A lot of fun. So, we basically went from the hops farm to his brewery and got to see it all the way through. He built an old pole barner like the, what did they call it? The peg barn. The peg barn. Yes. Wooden peg. Yeah. Yeah. Like, build it himself. Yeah. I think he's going to move the brewery out there someday. But yeah. Yeah. And even built the windows. Like, dude. You went to a lot of work. It does look wonderful, though. Yeah. He's awfully proud of it. So, fun episode. That's tonight 830 Central or FDTV be there or be dumb. I don't know. Ben Click from Navarre, Ohio. He's a fifth generation farmer. Works at the Wendy Way Farms L.T.D. Is it Wendy there, Ben? Yeah. So, it's funny. We get all kinds of folks that like to ask that question. Like, why, you know, most business farms are last name or so-and-so brothers or whatever, whatever. And my great-great-grandfather was like, you know, you know, we could be simplistic, I guess, and just name it after our last name. But you know, it's always Wendy up here on the snolf. So, we're going to call it, you know, Wendy Way Farms. So, that's just kind of all its stuff. And it's kind of like the little backster I can give to everybody. It's like, where did this come from? You know, we're not in the-we're not on Wendy Road. We're not on Wendy Ridge or whatever. You know, it's Wendy Way. So, kind of funny. You need to make a better story. Say like, oh, my grandmother, she talked all the time. So, they called it that. That back really does run then the click gene very well. I asked any of my friends that there was a reason they called me a little, little Wendy. My dad's big Wendy. So... Ben, what are you doing right now? Yeah. So, you know, our nice and diverse operation we have here. My father started a trucking company in the, I guess we'll call it the mid-90s. So, in the '88, my grandpa told my uncle and my dad that they both had to go get jobs during the Route '88. So, my dad left and got a trucking job, truck driving job. And that's part of his interest in having a truck for whatever reason. So, he bought his first truck brand new in '96. And he's added from there. And today we got three full-time guys with us. And then my dad, I picked up driving too, but we all-and commodity. So, we had a lot of small feed mills in our part of the state. Like the feed mill, I'm currently out of calling a little bean meal out of a bungie processor into this feed mill. We call one of the two loads in here a day. So, I do the strong after good drive this morning. So, not too bad. Gotcha. Is it good bean mail or do you get a sitter and beat on your trailer to get it out? So, that varies by the day, it seems like I don't know what the deal is going on right now. But, typically, the bean meal flows pretty decent out of the hopper. And, of course, I'm holding the hopper without the vibrator on the side of the door. So, I get the opportunity. I get a nice rubber mallet. I get to get my morning worked out, my sledgehammer worked out in the morning. But, typically, it's been flowing pretty deep. Sometimes, I say that today. It's gonna probably be a day where I have to beat on it for 15 minutes and love every second of it. You know? So, you like growing up. I mean, did you always want to be back at the farm? Yeah. So, no, it's the easiest answer to that. I mentioned a little bit ago. I grew up in a school of-I graduated with almost 500 kids in my graduating class. We were one of the only farm families in the area. So, you know, I was really in the sports travel ball. I played soccer. We travel a lot. It was really in the sports type of thing. And, you know, my dad never pushed the farm over the landing, which I think is probably one of the reasons why I ended up wanting to come back and be in this, right? Yeah. I had my chores. I was in 4-8 and all that. We didn't have FSA. But, I was always around. And, you know, when they kind of, you know, they got into, you know, games and ground work, till it's worked and stuff like that and helping out around the town by a little bit of fall. I kind of helped spark some of that, you know, fun interest and stuff, you know? And then when I got there to my later high school years, my dad was, you know, what do you want to do? And, you know, I think I would like to come back and try to farm here. And at that point, kind of like coincidentally, my grandpa had a first stroke and a series of strokes. And he lost a lot of his peripheral vision and he could no longer run the corn fire. So, dad was like, okay, hey, now I'm trying for you to, hey, you know, we could use the help. So, kind of jump in if you want to. So, kind of deal. So, it kind of happened and never was back. So, did you get a chance to go away to college? Yes. Yeah. So, and that's one thing I kind of, I think about sometimes and I kind of regret. I wish I would have finished that. I got my two-year ground degree in Ohio State. Ohio State's got a great ag campus here in Worcester, Ohio, about a half hour west of me. And I communicated there for two years, made some of my best friends I still talk to today. But, you know, I'm looking back. I wanted to just get back home to the farm and help out, you know, just that and the other, like every other kid wants to do if they're in that position. But, you know, I wish I would have had that voice telling me, you know, hey, go on, finish your, finish your other two years out of Maine and then see where else. Life could take you because I really wish I would have had people to take the opportunity to, you know, farm somewhere else, somewhere different for at least a year. You know, I mean, just get that other experience of here's how other folks do. And here's, you know, maybe I'd be appreciate home more, you know, kind of that's the way I think about it. Yeah, definitely could go both ways. I mean, we've talked to people with both sides of it, the ones that have did leave and they regretted it and the ones in your situation too. You know, you'll never know. There's a lot of questions in life like that. But it sounds like it sounds like you're getting along pretty good. You and your dad, I mean, is it a good working relationship? Yeah, so I guess all the short answer that is, I guess we'll compare that to about every other father and son relationship, right? So yeah, he's wrong a lot. That's what you want to say. Yeah, well, I often tell people, my dad's famous line is you think that she went to college, you know, everything and I don't, right? So that's kind of the joke we have with ourselves when we get into it. We get into arguments on the sound of the other. And most of the time, it's just simplistic things of, you know, like, I want to try X, Y, and Z. And certain times he's got the mentality of, you know, hey, this is work. This is work. So I really don't feel a need to maybe have to try, you know, something new all the time, right? He's more apt to what usually happens is I'll try something on my own personal acres. And then if we see success or he likes them, oh, yeah, maybe we'll try some of that. You know, so I'm kind of like the guinea pig with certain ideas on my own personal acres and we'll do more and more on his stuff. And it goes a long little. Yeah. Well, that's good. I mean, generally, if it's a bad situation, you can tell right away when you ask that question because they don't say anything. Today we're talking with Ben Click. Now he is from Navarre, Ohio, fifth generation farmer out there. Wendy Way Farms, L.T.D. When we come back, we're going to talk some cattle. We're going to talk building new facilities. We're going to talk all sorts of stuff right after the break. This segment is brought to you by Common Ground. Are you looking for an easy way to buy, sell, or lease your land? Well, check out Common Ground where they connect landowners and farmers and hunters too, by the way. Go to commonground.io, that's commonground.io. It's time for Navarre, Ohio's favorite radio segment. Where in the world is Will? Will, what do you have for us today? Today I'm in Navarre, Ohio, which is a village in southwestern Stark County, United States. Uh, southwestern. Gotcha. The population was 1,846 at the 2020 census. It is a part of the Canton-Macillin metropolitan area. Okay, the penicillin metro, I got it. Navarre is located along the Tuscarawas River. You so said that wrong. I said that wrong. I don't know what it is, but it's- Oh, that was good. Oh, come on, Ben. No, Ben. Don't ever tell me he's doing a good job. And according to the Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 2.05 square miles. Oh, okay. The village is named after the Navarre region in Spain. And we got some notable people from here, some real notable people. Orlando Metcalfe Poe, Union Army Officer and Engineer, born in Navarre after helping General William Tecumseh Sherman march to the sea. He was responsible for much of the early lighthouse construction on the Great Lakes. Oh, okay. Also, Lou, otherwise known as Blue Lou Marini, the saxophonist and member of the Blues Brothers band. Oh, fantastic. Oh, fantastic. Okay, wait. The sax- he was the one with the beard. Mm-hmm. Gotcha. Okay. And this is interesting, because I am actually familiar with Navarre from this guy Mark Kozilek's music. He is the singer-songwriter for the slow-core band Red House Painters and also a folk rock solo project Sunkill Moon. In his album Benji, he talks about Ohio growing up in Ohio a lot. And he talks about living in Navarre. And it brings me to a question I have for Ben. Do you guys burn much trash up there? Oh, Ben, do you guys burn trash? Hell, let's put this away. From our farm, I can see the big landfill and ball over. So our trash services aren't really an issue. We like to burn free. Yeah, my other farmer does. But I'm curious now as the trash question. Well, in this album Benji, there are two separate songs where he talks about it. He talks about the death of two different family members, his uncle and his second cousin dying in a fire because they were burning trash and an aerosol can exploded. Oh, geez. Two separate members of his family. And so listening to that, I would always be like, wow, in Ohio, I guess they burn trash. You know, we do on our farm if it burns, we burn it. And then recently we got a dumpster. So if things are changing, I guess. Well, I guess this is a PSA. Don't throw an aerosol can in that trash fire. You'll know it if it's in there. Hopefully it's not too late before you do. Okay. What was in the Red House? Red House painters. They're really good. They have two albums, both called Red House painters, but they have different album covers. They're different albums and they're really good. Sun Kill Moon is also really good. That Benji album, it's very interesting music. It's kind of like, he has an interesting writing style where he just kind of like talks and like tells a story. It's sort of podcast-y. It's like Johnny Cash. Yeah, but even more so. It's like very droning and he's like telling a story. And on Benji, Sun Kill Moon, he tells some of the most depressing stories you'll ever hear. They're sad to the point where they're like kind of funny. Like how sad. I can't wait to listen. I got a feeling well that your playlist is different than mine. What gave you that idea? All right. Well, thank you very much. Today, we're talking with Ben Click from Navarre, Ohio. He's a fifth generation farmer out there. He's currently delivering a soybean meal. And how's it flowing, Ben? I tell you what, a quick trip with their ever mallet and we're flowing good. It's a good Monday. Nice. Okay. So tell me you got back to the farm. Tell me about the cattle operation and what all happened there. Yeah. So actually the cattle operation is actually one of the ways I was able to come home and farm. Right? So like I mentioned a little bit ago with my grandpa having a stroke that year and kind of needing some help to figure out kind of what the plan for the farmers here was like in the next few years. We were feeding some cattle at the time, about 40, 50 head, just selling the local packer there, a couple of head of the time or whatever, and then freezer beef. And then we had some Greek cows and, and, but that was kind of one of dad and I's interested. We really do enjoy feeding cattle. So we, we have a couple of older bank barns on farms that we had. And we actually retrofitted those two barns in 2012 and 2013 to basically be able to house about 120 head of peace. And at that time we were looking for a more transparent way to feed as well. So we actually built ripstone silos in 2012 and 2013. So we were probably the only crazy people in modern agriculture that were building ripstone silos at the time. But, so we still feed out. Where did you even find somebody to build them? So actually the farm science review and down in near Columbus there is a house they put on the joint egg show. There was a gentleman there that sold like concrete bunkers, concrete, J-bunk, walls like that. And they actually still built ripstone block. So they actually still poured and formed block and you could buy the guy's name was Earl. So he's actually in our phone still with silo Earl. But we, we talked with him and they had a, they had a men like crew from Indiana come in. They put the silo up and we poured the foot, Earl, they put the silo up in two days. It was crazy. My gosh, if, if you could only move one, imagine how many you could have. Oh yeah, that's right. That's right. So we did those two barns at that time. It's kind of like our, a fun thing we get to do, you know, is going from a primarily the grain farm to back to, we bought an old John Deere three row pool type chopper and some old bagging. So we, we get to have our fun and chop our, you know, 50 acres of corn a year. That's, that's dad's old time back to the past in the fall. But when I got a college in 2015 and trained, obviously transitioned back home full time. We kind of still wanted something more, I guess, per se, right? So we had an opportunity kind of like on the marketing and the market cattle to look into something to, to increase our numbers. Right. So we looked at, looked into a larger finishing barn, which is what we ended up building and 2016. We went all around the state, looked at some different buildings, mono flip barns, some slatted floor barns, some bed bedded 10 pack barns. And that's what we ultimately build a 10 pack barn. We can house 275 head there. It's 80 by 200 with an enclosed nerve fit. We made that investment there in 2016 and actually the way life transitions. We kind of lost that contract with those cattle a couple of years later, kind of when things transition on the whole scene side with the big packers and then God showed us away for another opportunity here that we're able to sell all of our beef. Now we feed about 600 head a year and all of them stay within the state of Ohio and go to small local packers and get processed and redistribute around the state. So it's been a blessing. Yeah. Well, that's fantastic that you guys were able to find something out that you were able to come back to the farm. That's the kind of stories that we love to hear. So, yeah, Ben, it's been a pleasure to talk to you from Navarro, Ohio. And again, congratulations on your soybean meal flowing out of here. I've been there before. My gosh, just tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. Ben, thank you very much, but don't go anywhere. Sean Haney's coming up next. He's never had soybean meal clog up on him. The man's at Navant like that somehow. All right. We'll catch everybody next time. [MUSIC] ♪ Shake 'em ♪