A simple lesson from his father has carried 2018 Michigan Master Farmer finalist Bob Ohse through his time working the land that was settled by his grandfather.

“He told me, ‘Bobby, if you want your farm to take care of you, you have to take care of the land, and your animals will take care of you if you take good care of them,’” he recalls.

Ohse, 79, calls himself a “daddy’s boy” growing up as one of eight children in a German family in Custer, Mich. He remembers as early as 3 wanting to be just like his father, August Ohse II. “If he wouldn’t take me to the field with him to ride on the tractor, I would find the field and follow him until he would pick me up,” he says.

Ohse thanks his older brother August Ohse III for picking up the farming reins after their father passed when Bob was 13 years old. “He and my mother kept the farm together, or I wouldn’t have been a farmer today,” he says. In the 1940s, Ohse describes the family farm as very small with a few cattle, hogs and chickens, along with a couple of acres of cucumbers, strawberries and snap beans that were handpicked. Following the encouragement of others, Ohse went to Michigan State University to major in agriculture on a 4-H scholarship.

“College turned out to be really challenging for me; I really wasn’t prepared for it,” he says. But, hard work paid off. Ohse graduated in 1961 with honors and worked as a seed inspector for the Michigan Crop Improvement Association during his last two years at college. “I had a wide awakening about where other people farm compared to the area where we farmed,” Ohse explains.

After college Ohse considered joining the Peace Corps, but an Army recruiter warned him against it. “They said the day you get out of the Peace Corps, you’ll be right at the top of the line to be drafted,” he remembers. Instead, Ohse volunteered for the draft and served two years where he was “shipped off” to the veterinary division to work as a food inspector. Ohse returned home after his service to work with his mother, Edna, and brother on the farm for about 30 years.

“I sometimes jokingly say I never forgave my grandparents for settling in this part of Michigan because it’s very marginal farmland,” he says.

During their time farming together, the Ohse brothers finished a couple hundred feeder steers each year. “I showed four steers in the county fair, and I think that’s one reason why I wanted to feed cattle,” he says.

A drive to always do his best has helped Ohse expand the farm through the years and try new pursuits. “I didn’t think much about expanding until the later years; you’ve got to have more acres to keep the farm together,” he explains.

Today the farm has expanded from 130 to 1,800 acres and grows alfalfa, corn, soybeans and wheat. Ohse married wife Carla soon after returning home to the farm. Carla says she most admired Bob’s ambition, work ethic, honesty and good looks. “Now after 50-plus years, three children and three grandchildren, I can say without a doubt, I could not have married a better man,” she says.

One of Ohse’s proudest accomplishments is helping to start a grain elevator in the community. “Up until the 1970s, there was not an elevator in our area to store or dry grain, and I was part of a group of farmers to get that started,” he says.

Acres Co-Op in Scottville, Mich., has grown tremendously since then and now serves every farmer in Mason County.

Finding a new generation
About 10 years ago Ohse started shifting his farming model. “The equipment I used in my cattle business was wearing out, and I was wearing out, too,” he says. At 70 years old, Ohse turned his focus to solely cash crops, while managing a woodlot that has expanded from the original homestead. “In 1948, my dad bought these 120 acres so his sons could farm, which included a 7-acre woodlot. For the last 20 years, we’ve harvested a lot of valuable timber,” he says.

When he turned 70, Ohse decided it was time to bring on another partner to farm since his children went to pursue other careers. The neighbor boy, Jacob Zwagerman, now 35, worked on and off for Ohse as a kid, raking leaves and baling hay. He wanted to farm, and Ohse saw him as a good fit. “I said, ‘You come and do the harder work. I’ll do the easier work, and I’ll give you half of everything we can make. The harder you work, the more you can make,” he says.

Ohse says Zwagerman had previously worked on a thrashing crew out West and continues to care for the land the same way Ohse learned from his father. “Jacob had been out West using these big combines, 35- to 40-foot headers, and he talked me into getting a bigger combine. It’s been a big help,” he says. Part of the partnership has included Zwagerman buying machinery and investing back into the farm as well.

Leaving it better than before
Without cows, Ohse says he missed the animal manure for the crops and found an alternative. “I had the chance to make a manure contract with a large hog producer,” he says. “We’ve got 3,500 to 4,000 hogs on our place, and I don’t have anything to do with them except utilize the manure from the barns,” he says.

Zwagerman now owns the barns that are leased to a hog producer. The hog manure is injected into the soil with a satellite guidance system. In the spring, corn is planted within an inch of the same row. Zone tillage is used on corn, while wheat and soybeans are all no-till.

The Master Farmer nominator Nate Wittkamp, technical sales representative for Wilbur-Ellis, says Ohse’s farm is one of the more progressive ones in his territory, covering northern Muskegon, Mason and Ocean counties.

“Bob uses grid sampling and variable-rate technology to put nutrients where they are needed, and incorporates data into his decision-making by participating in both Dekalb Market Development and MSU corn variety trial plots,” he says.

Ohse says they also tile all of their own fields with a laser control to keep the grade on the tile, and they plan to upgrade to a satellite system down the road. “Our soils are marginal, and some practices, like no-till and cover crops, can really help,” he says.

Seth Earl, district conservationist, says Ohse has been actively involved with soil conservation and environmental stewardship for many years. “Bob’s farm is nestled in the eastern reaches of Mason County along two trout streams, and his efforts to maintain environmental and water quality has been made evident in becoming MAEAP [Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program] verified in the cropping system,” he says.

Ohse’s woodlots are managed under a forest management plan that includes practices to be incorporated over decades, solidifying his commitment to the land. “Bob has been an advocate for planting trees and has planted well over 20,000 seedlings on ground that’s unusable for agricultural production,” Earl says.

Ohse says the land that was passed on to him was only meant to be used and made better. “I’ve always believed the land isn’t really mine; it’s only for us to use and make a living. But we have the responsibly to keep and maintain it, and make it better for future generations,” he says.

Heslip works as the Michigan anchor and reporter for Brownfield Ag News.

Master Farmer Profile

Name: Bob Ohse

Farm: Bob Ohse Farm Inc. in partnership with Jacob Zwagerman; 1,800 acres, owned and rented; cash grain production of alfalfa, soybeans, corn and wheat

Nominator: Nate Wittkamp, technical sales representative for Wilbur-Ellis

Leadership: 40-plus years on Mason County BranchTownship board

Ag leadership: Michigan State University corn hybrid trial participant for more than 30 years, Dekalb Market Development variety trial participant, Farm Service Agency Mason County board member for more than a decade, Mason County Conservation district broad, former Acres Co-Op board member, Michigan Farm Bureau member and Michigan Soybean Association member

Awards: Mason County Conservation District Farmer of the Year