That in itself could be said of many young farmers, but what sets Hardesty aside could be the fact last year he raised 20,000 pounds of tobacco, cut and baled 25 acres of hay and had 31 cows, 12 bred heifers, 15 calves, one bull, and seven sows that produced approximately 110 piglets. He also earned and invested more than $100,000 in his farming operation during the last seven years. By the way, he is 20 years old.

Now there could be other 20-year-old farmers that have achieved all that Hardesty has with one exception, Hardesty’s family doesn’t own a farm.

This young man from Meade County undertook the task of becoming involved in farming by talking to local farmers and trading his labor for the use of a tobacco setter and land to produce his first tobacco crop. Next came his breeding swine operation, which he started by purchasing a hog and reinvesting. His operation was successful enough to allow him to buy his own equipment and land. Now, because of his success, he has been named by the National FFA Organization as an American Star Farmer finalist, one of the organization’s highest honors. He will compete with three other finalists at the 80th National FFA Convention, Oct. 24-27, in Indianapolis.

All finalists will participate in interviews at the convention by a panel of judges, who will ultimately name the top candidate in four areas including American Star Farmer, American Star in Agribusiness, American Star in Agricultural Placement and American Star in Agriscience. The winners will be announced in an onstage convention ceremony and will receive a plaque and an award of $4,000. The runners-up will receive plaques and $2,000 each.

Hardesty has been honored by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture by being recognized as the top swine breeder for the last three years and this year, he will have 290 acres total for tobacco production.

Besides his full-time farming operation, Hardesty also attends Elizabethtown Community College and is a business management major. He hopes to expand his farming operation in the future to include more livestock and crops. He is the son of Eugene and Debra Hardesty and is a member of the Meade County FFA, where his advisors are Jeremy Hall and Marc Adams.

Hardesty’s supervised agricultural experience (SAE) program led him to apply and earn the American FFA Degree, in which a student must earn and invest $7,500 or have earned and productively invested at least $1,500 and worked 2,250 hours in excess of scheduled class time.

An SAE program is one of three components that make up the agricultural education program. Students like Hardesty are able to make a positive impact on themselves and others by combining the SAE career entrepreneurship or job placement component with classroom instruction from agricultural education instructors and leadership development from the FFA.

“Being named as a finalist for the award is a tremendous honor and all of Kentucky FFA is proud of Nicholas Hardesty,” said Kentucky’s FFA Advisor Curt Lucas.

“Nicholas’ application is a testimony to his work ethic, determination, and management skills. We wish him well as he prepares for interviews at National Convention.”

Hardesty doesn’t know what the next 10 years hold for him except the wish to be bigger and better. If the first 20 years are any indication, the sky is the limit.