I grew up on a dairy and swine farm in west central Ohio situated along the Mercer/Darke County Line. The farm remains in operation and has expanded to 200 cows, 150 sows farrow to finish and close to 900 acres of cropland. As all farm kids, I worked year-round on the farm prior to attending college. While I attended college, in the summers I worked for Menke Consulting where I had the opportunity to work with and learn from a few great consultants. Foremost is Tom Menke who was a great mentor and so knowledgeable in many aspects of agriculture. Then there was Jeff Wuebker, who left to take over the family farm which coincidentally coincided with my graduation from college. After Jeff had left and I was hired full-time, I learned a great deal from Mike Evers (RIP). Between the three of them I had been provided with the tools and knowledge to become a great consultant. I worked for Menke Consulting until March 2015 when I signed into an agreement with Tom to transition all of the Menke agronomy clients to my new business. The transition was officially completed March 2019. My brother Marc, is currently my only full-time employee.

I am the oldest of 7 children. I have 4 brothers and 2 sisters. I graduated from Marion Local High School in 1996 and then graduated from Wilmington College (Ohio) in 2000 with a degree in Agriculture. While I attended Wilmington, I was fortunate enough to play football and was again fortunate to have received several accolades for my successes on and off the field. The most notable being in the top 10 for the Gagliardi Award, which is the Div. III equivalent to Div. I Heisman Award.

I have been married since July 2022 to Angie (West) who I met in college. It was your typical jock meets cheerleader scenario, but she also was an Ag major which was an obvious bonus. We have 5 children (Peyton 18, Kyle 16, Brody 13, Alyse 10, Emery 6) and they keep us busy with all their activities throughout the year. Angie is currently a Director of Retail Operations for Farm Credit Mid-America and has worked for there for 17+ years.

I coach football at my high school alma mater and have been coaching since 2001. In the last two decades we have been very successful, winning 11 state titles (tied for most in Ohio high school history) and 3 state runner – ups. In the last decade alone, we made it to the state finals every year except one (2010). Three of my brothers have been on state title teams and contributed very much to that success. My oldest son, Peyton, was a major contributor on the 2019 title team as a sophomore. Our kids love everything sports and the fair. The fair is considered a vacation in our household. The kids bring pigs and cattle and that keeps them busy all spring and summer long.

I have a camel personality and love organization..