Farm Family of the Year: A passion for farming and advocating for ag

FRENCH LICK, Ind. — Just like farming, helping others runs in the Everett family’s blood.

The Everetts were honored by AgriNews and Beck’s Hybrids as the 23rd Indiana Farm Family of the Year during the Indiana Farm Bureau State Convention at the West Baden Springs Hotel in French Lick.

Recognized on the convention stage with Gov. Eric Holcomb and INFB President Randy Kron were: Aaron and Carolyn Everett; their son, Doug, and his wife, Nanette; Doug and Nanette’s daughter Sally Steffy and sons Tyler, with his wife, Brittney, and Luke, with his girlfriend, Logan Glassburn; and Nanette’s parents, Dave and Carolyn Patrick.

Between these three generations, the Everetts have a long list of community involvement and share a true passion for farming and advocating for agriculture.

“The more people that are educated in agriculture, the longer agriculture will be sustained in our economy,” Tyler said.

Each year, Doug speaks to the local school’s kindergarten class about farming and welcomes a group of adults to the farm through the Community Foundation of Boone County’s Leadership Academy.

Their farm, founded in 1919, is truly a family operation. Everyone chips in.

Nanette, who taught middle school and high school home economics classes in Indianapolis, helps load semis in the early hours of the morning.

“As a city girl, I didn’t grow up on a farm,” she said. “After Doug and I got married, I saw how everybody helps everybody else on the farm. Tyler and Doug and some neighboring farmers are working together, since we are all done with harvest, to haul grain for some other farmers in the area.”

The family members boast a combined 200 years of involvement with 4-H, serving today as club and project leaders, judges and council members. It was in 4-H where Aaron and Carolyn first met.

In addition to 4-H, the family supports FFA by plowing and harvesting the local FFA chapter’s plots, volunteering at the chapter’s annual fish fry fundraiser and judging competitions.

The Good Fight

The Everetts continue to fight for their rural community in many ways.

Aaron helped start a volunteer fire department in the local area 60 years ago — and still to this day, he, Doug and Tyler are all active volunteers.

The 83-year-old Army veteran takes minutes of the monthly business meetings and pays the fire department’s bills. Doug is the fire chief, and Tyler is a volunteer firefighter and certified emergency medical technician.

“It’s really neat when people come up to you after the fact and say, ‘Thank you, I don’t know what we would have done without you,’ because for a time, we were the only fire department around here,” Doug said. “It took a long time for paid fire departments to get out here to the country.”

Doug recently was involved in stopping involuntary annexations of farmland and homes by a nearby municipality. He spoke at a Statehouse committee hearing, which led to a new state law limiting the powers of cities and towns to annex land without permission from a majority of the landowners involved.

Tyler is the Young Farmer representative for Boone County Farm Bureau. He married Brittney this past summer, and they plan to continue expanding the family farming operation.

They grow soybeans, corn and wheat, working closely with Purdue University agronomists to experiment with different types of no-till drills and search for better weed control methods.

Each member of the family is involved at the First Baptist Church in Lebanon. Aaron is an usher, Doug runs the multimedia and soundboard during services, Nanette is on the Mission Board and led the Children’s Ministry for three years, Tyler drives the church bus to pick up members who can’t drive, Brittney teaches Children’s Church and, occasionally accompanied by his sisters, Luke leads the Praise Band every Sunday.

“We put God at the forefront of everything we do,” Luke said. “We always help each other out, no matter the task or how long it takes. And, we always spend time together, even when we’re not farming.”

Indiana Farm Family of the Year award winners:

1998 — The Kohlhagen family of Jasper County

1999 — The Walker family of Blackford County

2000 — The Bontrager family of Elkhart County

2001 — The Stinson family of Clinton County

2002 — The Ambriole family of Huntington County

2003 — The Schlatter family of Allen County

2004 — The Johnson family of Orange County

2005 — The Perkins family of LaGrange County

2006 — The Bell family of Wayne County

2007 — The Leininger family of St. Joseph County

2008 — The Ring family of Dubois County

2009 — The Minich-May family of Carroll County

2010 — The Mohler family of Clinton County

2011 — The Coy family of Decatur County

2012 — The Hayden family of Lake County

2013 — The Baird family of Washington County

2014 — The Duttlinger family of Jasper County

2015 — The Hadley family of Allen County

2016 — The Clauson family of Fulton County

2017 — The Miller Family of DeKalb County

2018 — The Ramsey Family of Shelby County

2019 — The Wenning Family of Decatur County

2020 — The Everett Family of Boone County