Local farmer wins statewide contest

GROTON TWP. — A local farmer recently won a prestigious state award. Kent Edwards, the co-owner of Maple View Farms in the Castalia area, won the 2023 wheat yield contest put on by an organization known as the Ohio Corn & Wheat Growers Association. The association advocates for supportive public policy on behalf of its farmer members who grow corn and wheat. "Our wheat yield contest allows us to recognize growers who have enacted best practices and innovative techniques to improve and increase Ohio's wheat supply," said Tadd Nicholson, executive director of Ohio Corn & Wheat. "We're proud that this year's contest was especially competitive with 24 growers making the 100-bushel club." Amid this competitive field, Maple View's wheat yield came in at nearly 170 bushels per acre, the most across Ohio. "It makes you feel good," Kent said. "Farming is all I grew up with. It has to be in you to be a farmer. You have to take pride in your land. You have to take pride in how the fields look." The weather plays a big role in determining how much wheat, among other crops, Maple View can produce. His farm also harvests corn and soybeans. "We don't irrigate," Kent said. "It's all rain and what God gives us." Kent credits many people for receiving this recognition, including his: • Family, consisting of his wife, Hanna, a school teacher at Townsend Community School in Castalia, and their five daughters: Lilly, Lucy, Londyn, Kenna and Karsyn • Father, Keith, who also co-owns the farm; They both learned from the trade from Ken Edwards, Kent's grandfather and Keith's father. Ken established their farm in 1953. • Colleagues also working on the farm: Mark Downing, Josh Dauch, Joe Dauch and Perry Haynes Kent also gave a shout-out to Brian Sutorius, a sales representative and the owner-operator of nearby Sutorius Farms, who convinced him to enter in this statewide contest. "We saw who won the contest before and thought we could win," Kent said. "So we took the time last year, entered our yields and ended up winning in the state and got third in the country." Kent plans on submitting again in the 2024 contest to, ideally, repeat as Ohio's champion and take home the national prize as well. "That would be really cool," he said.