Knicely Done: Farming with Jerry and Jerry

Jerry Barger and Jerry Newsham have much more in common than their first names and the fact they're both in their late seventies..

"We've been friends for a long time," said Newsham in an interview WOWT 6 News. "I went to Ashland High School and he went to Waverly."

"We played football against each other and there was some trash talk," added Barger.

They live three miles from each other west of Ashland and both have been in farming since they were in their early teens.

"I've been scaling back," said Barger while harvesting soybeans in his combine. "I'm down to two-thousand acres and I sold my grain bins, but farming is still in my blood."

Newsham has partnered with Tom Sherman on the four-thousand acre Cedar Ridge Farm. They have several combines and rather than drive one himself, Newsham depends on his grandson, Aaron Ochsner.

"I started driving when I was thirteen," said Ochsner. "Now with this equipment I can just about go hands free."

The on-board computer not only helps with navigating the terrain, it actually measures the number of bushels as it moves through the field.

"I remember when my Dad had horses hauling corn," said Barger. "There have been so many changes it's really amazing when you think about it."

"The first self-propelled I had was an old International," said Newsham. "It was a used one and I bought it for $800."

Both Jerrys hope to have soybeans out of the fields by early next week and they're less anxious about the corn that can stand into November if necessary.

"Usually I go through harvest on adrenaline," said Barger. "I get up early and go hard and then when harvest is over I collapse and have a good feeling because harvest is over and I usually catch the flu or something because of the let down."

"You never have a crop until you get it in the bin," added Newsham.

Jerry and Jerry, still farming and going strong.

Knicely Done!