Like many of our farmers, Justin Oberholtzer worked on his parent’s farm as a boy. His mother and father still have about 40 dairy cows, and Justin still helps out with milking and field work. He now owns the neighboring 107-acre farm, which his grandparents purchased in the 1950s. He and his wife Angie met at church youth group. “She caught my eye the first time I saw her, but she doesn’t remember me,” he jests. Justin worked off the farm cleaning poultry barns for a while and then started doing masonry. But he longed to farm again.
“I looked at the options and then contacted Pete and Gerry's” he says. The two barns of hens take up most of his time, and the majority of his income comes from the eggs. “Farming is a lot of work, but it’s rewarding. I like the flexibility of time. I got to be at home a lot when the twins were born. And teaching the children to work is great too.”
“I like working the fields, but I particularly enjoy being in the barn with the hens when the lights come on in the morning. Everyone’s just waking up. Two barns are enough for me. They provide us with a good income. If things continue like the last few years, the future of small family farms should be good.”
