COLUMBUS, Ohio — Kelly and Michelle Abfall of Albany and Kristin Reese of Baltimore have been named, respectively, as the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation’s Outstanding Young Farmer and Excellence in Agriculture winners.

 “We farm 1,030 acres, 850 acres of corn, beans and wheat and the balance in hay and pasture,” said Kelly Abfall. “We feed some feeder calves; we have fed some steers to finish weight. We are figuring out the best way to go with that; we have facilities here because we used to contract dairy heifers.”

The loss of that contract was just one of a couple of curveballs the Abfalls have not only survived, but flourished through. They started farming out of college, in 2003. Kelly had worked on farms near Athens while he was growing up. Michelle had no farm background.

They rented land, being careful not to take rental ground away from other farmers, Kelly said. Most of the landowners approached them about renting their land. They contracted to raise dairy heifers.

“When the dairy prices were bad (the contractors) downsized, which meant we got cut,” he said. “Our facilities were only two years old. We bought this farm (of 157 acres) in 2005 and raised heifers without facilities on pasture, but in the winter months it got to be a nightmare. We built facilities and got to use them for a couple of years, and then did not have an income from them anymore.

“We refinanced the farm. It was a little scary, but we got lucky and grain prices rallied about that same time. We row-cropped as much of our ground as we could.”

Then in 2011 Michelle was laid off from a full-time job. Kelly had worked the first year out of college, but then there was enough farm work and income, so he was able to quit.

“Getting laid off worked out well because we had twins that year,” she said. “It all fell into place. So now, the farm supports the five of us. We have a five-year-old son, Riley, and three-year-old twins, Kyle and Megan.”

One way Michelle can help is by moving equipment. They have little patches of Athens County ground with about a 30-mile spread.

“We built our farm little pieces at a time and a lot of it had been neglected,” Kelly said. “It needed a lot of help. We don’t have great yields, but the rent is reasonable because of small fields, poor fertility and distance to markets.” He is conscientious about not putting row crops on ground that might erode.

Despite the curveballs, neither Kelly or Michelle can imagine doing anything but farming. “I don’t know that we ever doubted that we could do it,” Michelle said. “It is challenging, but it is good and we enjoy it. I didn’t grow up on a farm ... one of my greatest joys is seeing my children get that experience.”

Other finalists in the competition were Nicholas and Jessica Dailey of Sardinia, Andy and Tera Wentling of Navarre and Craig Pohlman of Venedocia.

Excellence in Agriculture

Kristin Reese works as a realtor with Real Living HER and owns a catering business, Local Flavor Foods. She lives on a small farm with her husband, Matt, and two children, Campell, 7, and Parker, 5. They raise horned Dorset sheep, meat chickens and layers.

She started Local Flavor Foods because she loved to cook.

All of the food she prepares comes from her own or a neighboring farm. But she had a bigger premise in mind with the business.

“It was a unique opportunity, I thought, to add that direct connection with our more urban neighbors about where their food comes from,” Reese explained. “Since we’re a smaller farm, many people automatically felt at ease talking to me about where food comes from.

“Because I’m local they automatically assume that I am kind of against traditional agriculture, which is not the case at all. We need traditional agriculture.”

Reese is diverse and is involved in the agricultural community. A favorite project is volunteering with CommonGround, a group of women from across the country, volunteers who are involved in starting a conversation among the women who grow food and the women who buy it.

“We have this network and we talk about food and where it comes from,” she said. “We generate conversation and answer people’s questions about food and farming. We all volunteer; there are dairy farmers, corn and soybean, hog, beef, organic producers. We have an expert in every different area.

“I think that we have to work together, urban and rural. My consumer is a niche market and it is a little different from someone else’s market. What I wish we had, is that every form of agriculture supported one another.”

The United Soybean Export Council recently selected four women from across the country to visit China to talk about genetically modified (GMO) food. Because of her involvement and volunteering in agriculture organizations, Reese was one of the four.

“Every third row of soybeans in America is exported, and most of it goes to China,” she said. “We were, hopefully, educating and making the Chinese consumer feel more comfortable about GMOs and what they’re used for.”

Other finalists in the Excellence in Agriculture contest were Matt and Morgan Aultman of Greenville and Nicki Gordon-Coy of Carrollton.

The winners will each receive an all-expense-paid trip to San Diego, Calif., to take part in the competitions at the American Farm Bureau Convention in January 2015.