Jerry Warren was enjoying farming and living life as a farmer. He saw his friend, Jon Peacock, often. The two attended Purdue University together; both live in Randolph County now. Peacock, his son Shane and son-in-law Kevin Kouns operate a DuPont Pioneer seed dealership. Agronomist Brian Raszkowski also assists with the seed business, of which Warren is a customer.

“He is more than a customer to me,” Peacock notes. “He is also a very good friend. We often bounce ideas off each other about crops, farming and the like.”

Then one day, Warren wasn’t feeling well. Long story short, he wound up in a hospital in emergency care. His situation was serious. And although he was a fighter and would survive, some suggested he might have to think seriously about whether he could continue farming or not.

That wasn’t a tough decision to make, Warren recalls. Despite the change in his health status, he knew farming was in his blood, and he would figure out how to continue. At the same time, he realized it might mean making some changes in how he did things. For example, he bought seed in bags, and he would no longer be able to lift the bags and empty them into planter boxes by himself.

“I still remember him calling me from the hospital one evening and telling me he had an important question to ask,” Peacock says. “He wanted to know if he could trade in seed in bags for seed in bulk boxes. I was surprised he was worrying about something like that at that point, but I figured it was a good sign he was going to recover.”

So Warren now buys seed in bulk in plastic boxes. But he still farms and even operates a hog operation. And he still turns to his longtime friend, Peacock, when he needs advice about anything related to crop management.