(upbeat country rock music) - Welcome to "A Shot of Ag".

My name is Rob Sharkey.

I'm a fifth generation farmer from just outside of Bradford, Illinois.

There's a lot of reasons people get into farming, some very good, some kinda tough.

We're gonna hear some of those stories today.

We're gonna be talking with Breanna and Ethan Ely.

How you guys doing?

- Pretty good, how are you?

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

You're from West Jersey.

- Oh yeah.

- Illinois.

Nobody knows where that is.

- Big city.

(laughing) - Yeah.

It's got, what, like four houses?

- Yup, we're one of four houses.

- Yeah.

Is it actually an address?

- No.

- No.

- No.

- Nope.

- Our address is Toulon.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, but everybody knows, from our area, knows the difference between Toulon and West Jersey.

- Yup.

- Do you guys not like each other?

- Um.

(Breanna laughing) I mean, they're all right, I guess.

- [Rob] Yeah.

Did you go to, what, Stark County?

- Yup.

- Yeah.

Now Breanna, are you from this area?

- I'm from the Peoria area, but I grew up going to Peoria Christian.

- Okay.

Yeah, that's where my youngest goes right now.

- Really?

- Yeah.

Were they a good school?

- Mm-hmm.

I went there kindergarten through 12th grade.

- [Rob] Oh, you went the whole gamut?

- Mm-hmm.

- Okay.

- I was a lifer.

- Yeah.

- Is what they called us.

- [Ethan] She turned out pretty good.

(Breanna chuckling) - Well, we'll see, at the end of the interview.

(Ethan laughing) I don't want to prejudge anything.

(all chuckling) You guys are third generation farmers?

- Yup.

- Correct?

Now Ethan, did you grow up on a farm?

- Yup.

Yup, I've been on the farm all my life.

We had hogs all growing up.

And then- - Chickens.

- Yeah, we've had all the barn animals.

Chickens and- - Llamas?

(Breanna chuckling) - Uh, no.

No llamas.

- Yeah.

- But yeah, grew up on the farm my whole life, and yeah, now we just live three miles away from it, so.

- [Rob] Okay.

- Yeah.

- Where'd you guys meet?

- So we met at a church here in Peoria.

Church 214.

(bell dinging) At a, oh.

(Breanna laughs) Got the bell.

- Yeah.

(Ethan laughs) It's still a plug.

- Oh, yup.

There it is, then.

(Rob laughs) Met at the Young Adult Group there.

- It's for, like, 18 to 30s.

- [Rob] Oh, is it just to have fun, or is it like so y'all can meet dates and stuff?

(both chuckling) - I would say the top priority is to, you know, go to church and work on your relationship with God, but there's definitely a good perk in that on getting to meet a spouse.

(both chuckling) - Yeah, we were the first, so the group is called Collective, and we're the first Collective marriage, but there's two more happening, or one happening this summer, and one happening next winter.

- [Rob] Okay.

How long you guys been married?

- 10 months?

- Yeah, 10 months.

- Oh, heck.

- Uh-huh.

- You're newlyweds.

- Yeah.

- Yup.

- You still like each other.

(Breanna laughing) - Yeah, we do.

- Yeah, and you're expecting?

- Mm-hmm, I'm due late July.

So like, yeah.

- Okay, that's pretty soon.

- Yeah.

- Mm-hmm.

- So first kid?

- Mm-hmm.

- Nervous?

- Yes and no.

- Yup.

(all laughing) - I grew up babysitting, and I worked with kids, so.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- I'm not as nervous, but he's a little bit.

- I wouldn't worry too much, because I remember, like the first one we had, it's like you're all worried, right?

Everybody tells you you gotta baby-proof your house or something.

- Yeah.

- You have a kid, you take it home, and it doesn't go anywhere.

- Yeah.

- For quite a while.

- Mm-hmm.

- So I mean, before they roll or anything like that, they're literally just sitting there.

So I wouldn't worry too much about it.

- Yeah.

- But when they get to walking.

(Breanna laughs) (Rob exhaling) - Yeah.

- You might find something to do on a farm, you know what I'm saying?

- Well, and we have a puppy, too.

- Well that's your own fault.

(Breanna laughs) - Yeah.

- What kinda dog do you have?

- Six month old, he's a yellow lab.

- Okay.

You know how they say oh that's good practice for a kid?

No.

(Breanna laughs) - That's what I was asking one of my buddies, I was telling him that I've had to get up at night with the puppy and stuff, and he's like, "Eh, it's a little different."

- Yes.

(all laughing) Oh boy, I remember those fights with my wife.

(Ethan laughs) I got him last time.

(all chuckling) Okay, so where'd you get married?

- We got married, it was actually at my farm.

We've got a barn, old barn.

I think from when we looked up, it was built like 1890s, somewhere around there.

- [Rob] That's cool.

- Old draft horse barn.

- Yeah.

- It's all wood pegs holding it together and everything still.

Pretty nice old barn that we've made into a, we've had various weddings and stuff like that there, and yeah, got married on the lawn right out front, and then had the reception at the barn, so.

- All right.

You got married outside.

I always wonder how worried you are about weather.

Were you checking it every ten minutes?

- We had, yes.

(Rob laughing) But we had a rain location just in case, our church.

And then I bought clear umbrellas.

I was like planning for everything.

- [Rob] All right.

- But also as a farmer, it was last June, and as a farmer, you know, it was pretty dry here last June.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- So I was kinda, if it rains, that'd be the best wedding present ever.

(laughing) ♪ It's like rain on your wedding day ♪ (all laughing) - Whereas I was like praying for rain these days, but then praying for no rain these days, and yeah.

(laughing) - Are you looking at utilizing the barn more in the future?

- Yeah.

- As a business?

- Yeah, we've, uh, it's kinda just been word of mouth so far.

But yeah, we're looking to maybe make a social media page or something like that, and wanting to advertise it more for weddings and stuff like that.

- [Rob] It's really popular now.

- Yeah.

- Mm-hmm.

- Everybody wants that rustic chic, or whatever they call it.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

I think a few people are gonna use it for graduation parties, right?

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

Now, let me get this straight.

Breanna, you asked him out?

- Uh-huh.

- Okay.

- I asked him for coffee, 'cause I'm a big coffee drinker.

- As a date?

- Uh-huh.

- You asked him?

- To go to coffee.

- To go for a cup of coffee?

- Mm-hmm.

- Well how very 1950s of you.

(both chuckling) What'd you think, Ethan, when she asked you to go for a cup of coffee?

- I wasn't really much of a coffee drinker then, and I'd never really been to a coffee shop, so I was like, didn't want, I was probably gonna be pretty awkward at a coffee shop, out of my place, so I asked her to go out to supper instead, which, saying supper to somebody, you know, they just think I was a big hick, basically.

- You thought he was a hillbilly for saying supper?

- No.

I just grew up- - Yeah, she did.

- Calling it dinner.

- Dinner is what you eat at noon.

- Yeah.

(Breanna laughs) - Yeah, supper is- - Supper?

- We won't get into that.

- Yeah.

(Breanna laughs) - We'll leave it go.

- I call it supper now.

- Okay, well good.

- He's rubbed off on me.

- You call it supper, and now you drink coffee?

- Yup.

- You're a coffee snob?

- Yup.

- What did she make you buy?

(Breanna laughs) - We got one of those espresso machines.

- Breville.

- Yeah, you can make all sorts of drinks with it.

- [Rob] Is it the one that- (imitates coffee machine) Does it go like that?

- Oh yeah.

- [Rob] Really?

They can make that for home?

- Oh yeah.

- Uh-huh.

- Okay.

- Amazon Prime Day, $200 off.

- $200 off?

- Yeah.

- Uh-huh.

- Okay.

I would say you could pretty much buy a new tractor whenever you want to.

- Yup.

(both laughing) That's what I'm thinking.

- Okay, you are third generation farmer?

- Yup.

- Did you think that you were gonna come back to the farm as a kid?

- Uh, yeah.

I always thought I was as a kid, and then got into high school, and got into sports and football and basketball, and then I actually went and played football down at a school by St. Louis.

And I was actually, athletic training was my major then, so I thought I was gonna go and help athletes with their injuries and stuff like that.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- Got into the world of college sports, and you kinda gotta eat, sleep, breathe college sports if you wanna play there, and even as big as I am, there was guys a lot bigger than me down there, so I was kind of- - That's something.

Yeah, you are- - It's crazy.

- Believe me, we've had professional football players sitting here, and he's talking about how he's the smallest guy on the team, and he was a mountain.

- Yup.

- Yeah.

(Breanna laughing) It's amazing.

- So being a tackling dummy was not very much fun, so.

(both laughing) - It's fun for the other guys, right?

- Yeah, it is.

(all laugh) So yeah, then I kind of, I don't know if I was maybe feeling homesick, or I just wasn't the right fit for me, so I kinda saw an opportunity maybe to help Dad on the farm, and stuff like that, so I went to Black Hawk East.

- [Rob] Okay.

- Up by Kewanee for my second year.

(bell dings) Yup.

- There you go.

- And then you might as well keep that bell going, 'cause then I went to Western Illinois University for my last two.

(bell dings softly) (all laughing) So, yeah.

And graduated with an ag degree.

- Okay.

- From there, so.

- We alluded to it earlier, I mean, a lot of people that get back to the farm, it's exciting, it's happy.

You, kind of on the other spectrum.

Tell me about it.

- Yeah.

I mean, it was 2015 is when I would've graduated.

And I came right back to working on the farm then.

And yeah, it was good, and then 2017, March of 2017, I lost my young brother, Brayden, in a car accident.

He was 16.

And I mean, that just kind of, that just kind of changes your whole world on a dime.

And just kinda working through that, and definitely, my faith in God definitely played a big role in all that, just getting through that.

- [Rob] I don't know how you get through it without it.

- Yeah.

- Honestly.

- Yeah.

- [Rob] Not that, believe me, I'm not pretending that it's easy at all.

- Yeah.

- [Rob] But yeah.

- I mean, still, you know?

Years later, it's still, you know.

- [Rob] The triggers never stop.

- No.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- Especially being on the farm, and it's, I mean, he was my little brother that was gonna help me on the farm, you know?

We were gonna farm together, so it's everywhere.

And then so working through that, and then 2020, I lost my dad.

He had prostate cancer.

And that was pretty tough.

I remember harvest of 2019, he was in the hospital, and that was a late year, and I was going, spending nights at the hospital with him, and then coming back in the day, and farming, and had a couple buddies helping me, that really hadn't been on the harvest before either, so I was kind of training them, and it was- - Which is extremely tough.

- Yeah.

- I mean, the equipment that we run, yeah.

- And yeah, that was definitely a, but I learned a lot as well, too, just on managing the farm, and kind of, I guess, trial by fire.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- And learning things that way.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- So yeah, and then, well, I lost my grandpa in 2022.

- [Rob] Boy, just- - It's been one after another.

- Yeah.

You don't even get to catch your breath.

- Mm-hmm.

- That just keeps coming.

- Yup.

- Yeah.

So, the farm now, who's all involved?

- Yeah, so I primarily do all the day to day stuff, and run all the machinery, and you know, everything except my mom helps, or does a lot of the bookkeeping.

Which she kind of got thrown into it, 'cause my dad was the bookkeeper.

- [Rob] Sure.

- So we've kind of learned together, and now finally, these years later, we're finally starting to kind of get the hang of things, you know, and starting to kind of get comfortable with our positions, I guess.

- Yeah.

- But yeah, it's pretty much just me and my mom, then we have a few seasonal guys that come help us.

- I don't even pretend to understand what you've gone through, but when you're out on the farm, are you able to enjoy it?

Or does it just bring up a lot of memories?

- Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, once again, just the faith in God part, and knowing all three of them are very strong Christians, and just having the promise that I'll get to see them again in heaven someday, and yeah, I still definitely, I guess I tried to, as much as I can, all the different things around the farm that they had maybe worked on that I've picked up, or anything like that.

You know, I try to just think of it as good memories, rather than, you know, bad memories, 'cause I've, yeah, I've been in the bad places within it, and it sucks.

- Yeah.

- So I just try to count them all as good memories, and all as blessings, so.

- Well, it says a lot about you.

It says a lot about your faith, because honestly, you could curl up in a ball.

- Yeah.

- And nobody would blame you, I mean, for what you're going through, but here you are, fighting through.

- Yup.

- And not only being able to run the family farm, but now start a new family.

- Yeah.

- So yeah, it says a lot about you.

- Yeah, thank you.

Yeah, we've come a long way, and come through a lot.

So, and like you say, yeah.

Without God, I definitely wouldn't be where I'm at today, so very thankful for that.

- And Breanna, you've been teaching?

- Mm-hmm, seven years.

- Okay.

Seven years?

- Mm-hmm.

- That is going to change?

- Yes.

- Okay.

- So I taught pre-K one year, third grade five years, and that was like the sweet spot, 'cause third graders still love their teacher, and still love school.

- [Rob] I didn't like my third grade teacher.

- Oh really?

- [Rob] She had a paddle.

(Breanna laughs) This was back in the day, yeah.

(all laughing) - That's funny.

Not funny.

- It was not.

- Not funny.

- Wasn't funny at the time.

- It wasn't funny.

It's funny looking at it now, but it was definitely not funny then.

But this year, I teach fifth grade.

- [Rob] Okay.

- And I actually, it was very different at the beginning, and it was kind of hard at the beginning of the year, but I've really enjoyed it.

And I enjoy the school that I'm at, 'cause I switched schools since I moved.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- But yeah, this fall, I've decided, or we decided, that I'm gonna be a stay at home mom.

- [Rob] Okay.

- So I'm excited.

- Whatever people choose is great, but I mean, I have a soft spot, because that's we did as a family, when Emily had the first child.

- Yeah.

- I think it'll be good for you to be on the farm, and create new memories with your husband and all that stuff.

- I'm really excited.

- Are you excited, or are you a little bit nervous?

'Cause sometimes the spouse gets on the farm, and they're not quite sure what their position, job is.

Have you thought about that?

- Yes and no.

I know eventually, I might take over bookkeeping for his mom, whenever his mom is ready.

And then I've also talked to her about helping with social media for the barn, if we were ever to use it for more weddings and such.

- Yeah, yeah.

- And then I did it a little bit last year, but not too much, but I was cooking meals for him and some of the workers, too.

So I might do that more, too.

- They seemed to come back the next day, so it was pretty good stuff.

- I'd ask you if they were good or not, I mean, of course you're gonna say they are, 'cause she's sitting right by you.

(both laughing) But you know.

- Never had a bad meal.

- Why are you winking at me?

(all laughing) - No winks.

No winks.

- My baked goods are the most popular.

- The baked goods, huh?

- Uh-huh.

- Okay.

I mean, honestly, because you are in the middle of harvest, or planter, or whatever, and you are all out there all day, you do really look forward to the food.

- She made homemade apple cider donuts, like Tanners has.

- Oh, come on.

- She made them.

- Why would you mess with that?

- She made 'em homemade.

It was real good.

- Go ahead and tell me they're better.

- Yeah, they were.

- Oh, come on.

(Breanna laughs) - They were good.

- That's true love right there, folks.

(all laughing) What's this?

- That is an emblem from a Gleaner combine that burnt down in fall of 2016.

So.

- [Rob] Was it yours?

- It was mine.

- Well first of all, what were you doing with a Gleaner combine?

- My grandpa and dad, they've had Gleaners and Allis-Chalmers and AGCOs for- - [Rob] On purpose?

- Oh yeah.

(Breanna laughs) Ever since I can remember.

- Okay.

- Oh yeah.

- All right.

Well, for the people at home that don't understand agriculture, there's one company that makes it green, and it obviously is the best.

The red ones, okay.

You know?

If you wanna do that.

And then the rest of the people who like to torture themselves.

(Ethan chuckling) They buy Gleaners.

Yeah.

It obviously caught on fire.

- It did.

- And it's gone?

- It is gone.

- Yeah.

- Yup.

- Their new ones, they had a string there of equipment maybe that was a little tough, but their newer stuff's good, isn't it?

- Oh yeah, I mean, all the jokes about silver seeders and whatnot, you know what they say?

I mean, I may be biased, but I've been and looked at some fields that some of my buddies who have the green stuff, you know, and eh.

- [Rob] They must've been doing it on purpose.

- Yeah, I don't know.

- To feed the ducks, yeah.

- Yeah, I don't know.

(Breanna laughing) - I mean, Gleaners are mainly made out of, what, cardboard and wood?

- Something like that.

- Is that right?

- Yeah, something like that.

- Okay, all right.

Well.

- No, they're made out of solid steel.

- Are you still running Gleaners?

- I am, yup.

- Okay.

- Yup, and that fire was actually, my grandpa was driving the combine.

He was 84.

- Yeah.

- And still driving the combine, and then I was down a mile or so, dumping beans, and I seen the column of smoke, and figured I'd better hightail it, and he was out on the side of the road waiting for me.

Said he made sure to grab his lunchbox and his toolbox out of the combine.

- [Rob] Lover.

- Yeah.

(laughing) - That's a glader.

Nobody cares.

- And then after that, we got a Renault, and then we ended up getting a new one the next year.

And he said, "Ah, it's too big for me.

"Ethan, you're in."

And that was my training to drive a combine.

- That's exactly what farmers do.

- Yup.

- Yeah.

- I remember teaching my daughter to mow, and I'm like, why do I have to tell you anything?

Literally figure it out.

- Yeah.

- That's the best way to learn.

- Yup.

He said he'd tell me if I was doing it wrong, and I never got told so, so I guess I'm doing okay.

- So let me ask you this.

Say there's somebody that wants to come back to a family business, and some bad stuff has happened, either it's hard feelings, or there's a loss in the business or whatever.

What advice would you give 'em?

- I would definitely say communication is definitely key with whoever's already involved with the farm.

Also, I had a lot, or have a lot, of good neighbors, good neighbor farmers, who I could go to for advice, and I can still to this day give them a call whenever, and ask them any question, and they'll answer me honestly.

Yeah, I would really say, and then just having a, if you got the passion for it, go after your dreams, and yeah, I would say going after your dreams, and just communicating with the other generations, even in the tough conversations about transition, and stuff like that.

Those are- - [Rob] We don't talk about that in farming.

- Yeah, I know.

(Rob laughing) Yup.

And that definitely is a major key to do.

- Yeah.

Now Breanna, you've come onto the farm, right?

- Mm-hmm.

- I mean, have you, is there a feeling of being a part, being proud of it?

I mean, what's your experience been marrying into a farm?

- So I grew up in Peoria, but farming wasn't completely new to me.

My family, my dad is originally from North Dakota.

- [Rob] Okay.

- Like 30 miles south of the Canadian border North Dakota, and they're farmers.

So I wish I paid more attention growing up when I was up there during the summer, but I rode in the combine and tractors with my uncle and my cousins a few times, but like I said, wish I paid more attention.

But I saw how hard they worked, and just like, that was their life.

And I just saw how good of a work ethic they had.

So when I learned that he was a farmer, I already knew before I even knew him well that he was a hard worker.

- Her family had to work really hard though, because they had the green equipment.

- Yeah, John Deere.

- They worked extra.

- Oh, come on.

(Breanna laughing) Here's the thing, when she's telling the story, I'm like, well of course they had to work hard.

They're farming in South Dakota.

- North Dakota.

- Whatever.

(Breanna laughing) It doesn't matter.

He's from Illinois.

You barely even have to seed the stuff and it grows 200 bushels.

- Yup.

- Yeah.

They grow like canola and other things that aren't here.

- Flax, and all the weird stuff.

- Yeah, her uncle came for our wedding, and he was just amazed at the corn growing and stuff like that.

He's like, I gotta get down here for corn harvest.

- Yeah, he wants to come down here sometime.

- That's swell.

Until he finds out you have Gleaners.

(both laughing) - Oh, he saw it.

It was on display.

We took some wedding pictures by it.

- Yeah.

- Did you?

- Oh yeah.

- That was his one request for photos was in front of the Gleaner.

- Okay, so learning a lot about this couple right here, folks.

- Yup.

- Okay.

Are you proud of him?

- Very much so.

- Mm-hmm.

And how do you feel her transition to the farm has gone?

- I feel like it's been pretty good.

She maybe sometimes doesn't like when I'm working a little bit later, but- - [Rob] She'll get over that.

- Yeah.

We're, yeah.

It was pretty good, I would say.

- [Breanna] Yeah.

- Yeah, last year was just our first, or last harvest was just kind of our first, I guess, farming busy season married, and yeah, it went pretty well, I would say.

- Yeah.

I'm just a big quality time person, and then moving away from most of my friends and family was hard.

But his mom and his brother and sister-in-law are close by, so it's also nice having family close by, too.

- Do the Gleaners have a buddy seat?

- Oh yeah.

- They do.

- Okay.

- While we were dating, I sat in it for like six plus hours.

Now it's more like three hours.

- But you want quality time with him?

(both laughing) That's how you're gonna get it.

- Yeah.

- Okay.

Gosh, where did we meet you guys?

- Groundbreakers Conference.

- Yes.

- Oh, I was- - In Wisconsin.

- Oh, in Wisconsin.

That's right, yeah.

- Lake Geneva.

- I could tell then, and I can tell now, you guys obviously are in love with each other.

And it's exciting.

And you guys seem to be a very, very good fit.

I can't imagine what the future is gonna hold for you guys.

Any big plans?

- I would say just, well, the baby on the way is definitely part of the big plan.

We've talked about different little ventures that we may do here in the future.

Maybe some little side businesses, stuff like that.

Maybe some freezer beef, or something like that.

But yeah, just kinda growing together, and growing our family, and starting to be parents together.

- Just buy ground.

Whenever it comes up.

- Yeah.

- Don't even ask the banker.

Just show up with the note that says you bought it.

- What is it, better to ask forgiveness?

- Forgiveness.

- Yeah.

- Than permission.

- Yeah.

- Than file bankruptcy, or something.

- Yeah.

- Something like that.

You guys on social media?

- Mm-hmm.

- Yeah, I mean, I don't have a farm page, I guess.

It's just my name.

- [Rob] Okay.

- [Breanna] We should start one.

- Yeah.

- [Rob] And Ely is E-L-Y?

- Yup.

- Yeah.

And Breanna, do you have social media?

- Mm-hmm.

It's just Breanna T. Ely.

- [Rob] Breanna T. Ely?

- Mm-hmm.

The T is my middle initial.

- [Rob] So this is post marriage?

- I updated it.

- Oh, you can do that?

- Uh-huh.

- Oh, I didn't.

- But it used to just be Breanna T. Turner, so I just changed the last name.

- Okay.

- Mm-hmm.

- Moving up in the alphabet.

That's exciting.

- Uh-huh.

- Yeah.

You know, I wish your story obviously had a better beginning, but that just means that it can be that much sweeter of an ending.

- Yup.

- Hopefully.

Yeah, I'm excited for you two.

- Yeah.

- You can tell when a couple is in love.

You can tell when they respect each other, and I definitely get that vibe from you guys.

- Yeah, thank you.

- Yeah.

And you're winking at me.

I don't know what that means.

(Ethan laughing) - Are you really?

- No.

(Breanna laughing) Or am I?

(all laughing) - No, I think that is the key to any business, is having the support of the spouse, so.

Breanna and Ethan Ely from West Jersey, Illinois.

Really appreciate you guys coming on the show, and congratulations on the new family.

- Thank you.

- Yeah, thank you.

- And congratulations on all of your success so far.

- Yeah, thank you.

- Everybody else, we'll catch you next week (upbeat country rock music)