Today, some thirty years later, Spring Fork Farms, Inc. has a new assistant manager, Aaron Boerger. Boerger is a graduate of Clark State Community College in Springfielld, Ohio, majoring in Agriculture. Danny, meanwhile has followed his father's footsteps, becoming manager. And Roger? He loves to joke that he does as little as possible, although that has never been his style.
The crop year consists of 800 acres of corn, 900 acres of soybeans and 200 acres of wheat. Roger and Lila own 2000 acres of the farm acres and the other 800 are leased. "Today's large machinery makes for short work of the acres", says Roger. "With 30 foot grain heads, twelve row corn heads and 300 horsepower tractors, farmers are able to get crops planted and harvested a lot faster than we could 30 years ago".
Roger is proud of the rich history of his acres and does his best to maintain the historic 1848 farmhouse and protect the land. To keep topsoil in place, he employs no-till and minimum tillage techniques when planting his acreage.
Courtney Whatley, Lynne's youngest child, attends Milford Center Elementary School. Aaron and Shannon have three children:
Eli, Kara and Ethan. Granddaughter Amanda and Eddie have two children: Logan and Adyson. Grandson Brandon will graduate in 2010 from Fairbanks High School.
Having passed management responsibilities to the younger generation, Roger and Lila enjoy traveling and golfing.
To what do the Stewarts credit their success? "Both Roger and I learned sound work practices from our parents" said Lila. "We have taught these work practices to our children and grandchildren in the hope of passing this farm on to future generations of our family." In the future, perhaps Danny's son, Brandon, or some of the great grandchildren will contribute to the operation of Spring Fork Farms.
