By Mina Reising

Every year, Gunther Kreps gives away farmland.

When compared with the millions of acres farmed in Indiana, 11.5 acres may not seem like much. For Kreps, vice president of AgXplore, allowing student to use this land for free each year is part of a larger initiative to help form the careers of local high school students.

“FFA is very near and dear to our hearts,” Kreps says. “We have a lot of passion for helping out and giving kids the opportunity to see what’s out there in agriculture, off the farm.”

Kreps has donated a career plot to the Rossville FFA Chapter for the past three years. Throughout the growing season, members can learn how to farm the land and gain experience with applications, equipment and important processes.

Gracie McDonald, co-reporter for the chapter, says going to the career plot and learning about what farmers do on a day-to-day basis has been an educational experience for all the members.

“We really appreciate everything Mr. and Mrs. Kreps have donated to us,” McDonald says.

Over the past two years, revenue from the career plot has brought in more than $24,500 for the chapter.

“Everything in this farm has been donated,” Kreps says. “It didn’t cost the chapter a dime.”

Kreps said that part of what AgXplore loves to do is give back to communities. For him, this means giving students an opportunity to experience the kinds of careers that could be in their futures. 

Related:National FFA Week brings community together

Beyond the field

To advance professional development for FFA students, Kreps and his wife Andrea — both Purdue alumni — hosted an FFA Ag Awareness Day on Sept. 7. The event brought chapter members, industry professionals and Purdue faculty to the Kreps’ home in Rossville.

“We’ve had a lot of businesses that have decided to reach out and want to be a part of this,” says student Coleton Heater, who is vice president of the Rossville FFA Chapter. “It’s really introduced me and a lot of others to opportunities that are outside of a tractor cab.”

Kreps’ network of supporters at the event included industry professionals from BASF, Keystone Cooperative, Case IH and Dekalb. Representatives from the Farm Service Agency also were present, along with local school leaders.

Top Crop TV, soon to be sponsored by AgXplore, televised the event, and the footage will be released during the 2025 National FFA Week in February. Executive producer Seth Wood traveled from Virginia with his family to film the day’s events.

Kreps’ intent on inviting different professionals was to emphasize the different forms of opportunities in agriculture for young people. Since he loves public speaking, Kreps wanted to give students the opportunity to present about what they’d learned while participating in the career plot project. AgXplore sponsored a public speaking competition at the event, with eight chapter members participating.

Related:Indiana FFA state officers are natural leaders

Heater, a senior at Rossville High School, won first place for his presentation on plant growth regulators. McDonald, a junior at Rossville High School, took second place for her discussion of the soybean traits that were used in the career plot. As a prize, AgXplore will sponsor Heater and McDonald’s trip to the Commodity Classic in Denver in 2025.

Career opportunities

Scott Downey, an agricultural economics professor at Purdue and a friend of Kreps, was a guest speaker at the event. He emphasized Purdue’s impact on agriculture and said that the university continues to be engaged in rural communities, keeping farming alive and redefining it in terms of data and policy.

“When you look around the room here and you see how many people continue to be involved in agriculture, beyond just their jobs, it’s one of the really cool things about our industry,” Downey said. “People still matter. We’re still part of communities.”

Related:FFA leadership winners punch ticket to nationals

This kind of community has already been beneficial for the Rossville FFA Chapter members. Heater says he was undecided about his career path until Kreps’ event. But he is now exploring career options in chemical sales.

Pilot Brian Townsend also attended the event as a guest speaker. A Purdue alumnus, Townsend is a former Army pilot who flew in Iraq, Korea and Afghanistan before coming home to fly small planes as an aerial applicator for farmers.

“There’s a lot of freedom with my job,” Townsend said. “The fact that I get to do something that’s really cool, I don’t take that for granted.”

His flying demonstration served as an example for the students that job opportunities aren’t just found within tractor cabs.

“FFA provides so many opportunities for people interested in ag,” McDonald says. “That’s really what’s pushed me to find what I love to do.”

Career advice from a ‘legacy’ crop duster

Townsend’s helicopter soared over the soybean field, banking on the field’s edge to fly back over the crops. As the aircraft circled back around, Townsend and his co-pilot, his fifth-grade daughter Ella, waved to a spellbound crowd below.

As a guest speaker at Kreps’ FFA Ag Awareness Day, Townsend shared some words of wisdom for FFA students seeking careers outside of a tractor cab.

“I go to work every day, and it’s not really work,” Townsend said. “I go play and get paid to do it.”

The pilot grew up in Kenton, Ind., and knew from a young age that he wanted to be a helicopter pilot. His father, a helicopter aerial applicator, was a strong influence.

After graduating from Purdue, Townsend joined the Army. After attending flight school, Townsend flew in Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan before coming home to be an aerial applicator in 2010. He joined the family business and later began his own operation, On Target Applicators LLC.

His helicopter previously belonged to Bill Elliott Racing. It is a 1973 aircraft with more than 28,000 hours. It flew in Saudi Arabia, Jamaica and South America before beginning its crop-dusting exploits.

Townsend estimates that he sprays about 40,000 acres each year. He describes the helicopter as a custom tool that many people prefer to use for spraying due to its slower speed and greater mobility.

“The airplane and the helicopter do the same thing,” Townsend explained. “They just do it a little bit differently.”

Although Townsend often is asked for agronomic advice, he emphasized that he’s not an agronomist and always turns to the label for verification.

“The label is my bible,” Townsend said.

The pilot said he retires every October and starts work again in April. He starts spraying wheat in May and June, then sprays corn and beans during his busiest time in July and August. He estimated about 150 flying hours in July out of 300 hours each year, highlighting the growing season’s peak.

“It doesn’t get much better,” Townsend said. “I hope to do this until it’s not fun anymore.”