Schwieterman stars

The FFA acronym derives from the title Future Farmers of America.
Though he’s still a member, the “future” part really doesn’t apply to Jacob Schwieterman anymore.
Schwieterman, a 2014 Jay County High School graduate, was honored Wednesday evening with the State Star Farmer award during the Indiana FFA State Convention at Purdue University.
“It was amazing, just being able to show the whole state what good old Jay County can do,” said Schwieterman, who raises hogs and farms corn and soybeans in eastern Jay County. “I just did what I normally do, what I have been doing for my whole life.”
The award goes to an FFA member who has started his or her own business and is judged to be the top agriculture production program in the state. Schwieterman was one of four finalists for the Indiana award after having won in District VI, which includes Jay, Adams, Blackford, Wells, Huntington, Wabash and Grant counties, and Section II (21 counties in the north central area of the state).
It’s something he’s had his eye on ever since his first state convention as a JCHS sophomore. He had joined FFA a year earlier as a freshman, but his involvement began even before that.
Schwieterman remembers his older siblings, Stephanie and Tony, bringing home information about different aspects of agriculture when they were in FFA. It seemed like fun, so he started looking through them, studying entomology and crop judging — the two aspects he would eventually specialize in for the Jay County chapter.
A few years ago he and Tony started their operation with a few pigs.
“He eventually did not want to do it anymore, so I kept on raising the pigs and buying and expanding a little bit,” said Schwieterman, who put all of his profit back into the operation to help it grow. “And before I knew it I had a whole barn full.”
It took some work to get that barn ready, as only its shell had been rebuilt after it was struck by lightning and burned about five years ago. Schwieterman approached his grandfather about renting it, got permission and spent hours after school and on weekends fixing it up.
There are only about 100 hogs in that barn now because he’s in the process of clearing it out, but he’s had as many as 2,200.
There are only about 100 hogs in that barn now because he’s in the process of clearing it out, but he’s had as many as 2,200.
He also farms about 400 acres of corn and soybeans, which he uses to grind into feed for his animals, works in one chicken barn apiece from his dad, Steve, and grandpa, Jerry.
He handles all aspects for the operation from making sure his animals have plenty of food and water to providing medication when needed.
“Seeing it build up over the four years of him being in high school and then the two years he’s been out of high school, it’s amazing to see … somebody at the age of 20 years old accomplishing what he has,” said Brittany Kloer, an agriculture teacher at JCHS and one of the Jay County FFA advisers.
Schwieterman’s State Star Farmer win is the second in six years for Jay County after Travis Homan earned the award in 2011.
The success also runs in the family, as Jerry Schwieterman, a Fort Recovery High School graduate, earned an American Farmer Degree during his youth.
Grandpa, who bought his farm in 1960, was on stage, as were Schwieterman’s parents, Steve and Jenny, and sister, Sarah, when he was announced as the winner Wednesday.
“That was amazing,” said Jerry. “It made me feel great.
“It just really makes you feel good that somebody is going to continue on with what you tried to start …”
Schwieterman has also tried to continue passing on a passion for farming through his continued involved in FFA. (Members can continue after high school until the age of 21.)
He’s a past president of the Jay County chapter, which this year set a record for the most Hoosier Degrees earned by a chapter in a single year.
“Jacob is a fabulous leader,” said Kloer. “He’s able to reach out to all over the members on different levels, which is what makes him unique.
“He has been very involved and has been a great mentor to all the younger members to guide them.”
Schwieterman said he hopes to hold steady with his hog operation for a few years while possibly adding more acreage for farming.
Mostly he wants to follow in the steps of his own mentors — dad and grandpa — by continuing a tradition in farming.
“That’s what I love to do,” Schwieterman said, “and that’s what I’ll keep doing.”