Air Force veteran finds passion for farmland

MONON, Ind. — Craig Stevenson, an Air Force veteran from Monon in northern Indiana, learned many skills during his time in the military that have aided him in his most recent job.

He is now the co-owner of Geswein Farm & Land Realty LLC.

“I hired construction companies to come on base, where they would build or demolish buildings, pave roads, put in sidewalks — anything construction related,” he explained. “After that, I went to Iraq and managed a large logistics contract.”

After four years of active duty, Stevenson stayed in the reserves for nine years before deciding to focus on farm realty.

“The biggest challenge is to correlate what you do in the military to the civilian world,” he said. “You have to translate that and focus on skills opposed to actual specific tasks.

“Veterans tend to be disciplined, detail oriented, highly capable of learning and great at working on teams.

“I use a lot of the things I learned in the military every day — short- and long-term planning, identifying issues before they become an issue, problem-solving, completing tasks in a timely manor.”

The discipline Stevenson learned in the Air Force has helped him meet deadlines as a farmland real estate agent.

With his business, he’s on a mission to do the best job possible.

“We want to do better than our competitors, better than what we did last year,” he said. “We’re always looking for continuous improvement.

“The way buyers get information is changing. We’re focused on social media strategies, online marketing and also local, grassroots marketing, building relationships in the local farm communities. We have a do-it-all approach.”

Stevenson enjoys working with a wide range of clients to meet their specific goals when it comes to buying, selling or managing land.

Geswein does both listings and auctions to accommodate customers’ unique needs.

“This gives us a lot of flexibility to give our clients the best recommendations — what meets their goals and aligns with their personality type,” Stevenson said.

For any veteran farmers looking for resources, Stevenson spoke highly of Vets IN Farming — an Indiana-based, non-profit organization — and The Farmers Veteran Coalition.

Learn more at vetsinfarming.wildapricot.org and farmvetco.org.