At the age of 8 and with plenty of ambition, Tim Brodbeck gladly accepted a half acre his father, Larry, set aside for him. That fall when the corn came off, the harvest was trucked to the Sunfield Elevator. A whole crowd of farmers were gathered there, Tim recalls. “I sold my corn, and Theo Lennon, who managed the place, held up the check and announced, ‘I just want you to know that I bought this man’s entire corn crop.’ When he did that, I knew farming was what I wanted to do,” Tim says. “I couldn’t tell you how much the check was worth; I just remember the feeling.”

In his quest, Tim has set goals, taken on risk, endured setbacks and reinvented his operation. He was born into a farming family, the fifth generation, but he farms because it’s his passion. “I set my mind to it, and I knew there would be sacrifices, but it’s what I wanted to do,” he says.

Not only has Tim built up a farming enterprise in Lake Odessa, he and his brother Kevin brought new business to the community by working to establish an ethanol plant in nearby Woodbury 12 years ago. His impact on the community goes deeper with his commitment to his church and various ministries. He’s also taken on ag leadership roles and enjoys mentoring startup farmers and other young people. His conservation practices garnered him the title of District Conservation Farmer of the Year in 1998.

Today, Tim Brodbeck is being honored as a 2017 Michigan Master Farmer. He was nominated by his children, Jamie (Krenz), Mallorie (Schrock), Alexis (Haskins) and Owen.

Early beginnings
He grew up on a dairy farm, the youngest of five children, doing various farm chores. The cows were sold when Tim was about 10 in favor of concentrating on row crops. “I was a sophomore in high school when Dad approached me and wanted to know if I intended to farm,” says Tim, who describes his dad as a visionary. “Dad was a driver;  he knew where he wanted to go. When I responded yes, it put him into a growth phase. Our first set of grain bins went up, as well as a new shop.”

Tim would eventually join his father and brother Kevin working the farm, but first, his dad insisted he get an off-farm job. He went to work for Lakewood Schools as a para-professional in the ag department.  “I found out soon enough that I wasn’t cut out to do that. When I’m having my worst day at the farm, I remember how I didn’t like that and it makes it better.”

He returned to the farm full time in 1984. Together, the three expanded and improved the farm, with the help of his mother, Marie. “She was very detailed and a very hard worker on the farm and in the house,” Tim says. “She kept the books and helped out wherever needed. They were a good team.” They are both now retired.

Looking to get out of his father’s shadow, Tim says he started a maple syrup business with his uncle in 1989. “To me, my dad’s larger than life — in a good way,” he says. “I needed something on my own. Dad thought it was stupid, but it taught me how to work independently and manage my time,” Tim says. Now, with 1,000 taps, Tim says it’s fun to watch his son, Owen, 24, take over the syrup business.

When Tim and Kevin were young, they did as they were told. But as they got older, Larry started to relinquish more of the farm tasks. “He gave us each areas of responsibility.  Kevin did the planting, and I sprayed and harvested,” Tim recalls. “My brother also went back into dairy.”

In 2000, Tim and Kevin jointly bought the ADM-owned elevator in Woodbury, which now stores over 2 million bushels. “We had outgrown our grain facility,” Tim says. “It needed a lot of work, but we ran it as a country elevator until we sought out information about possibly bringing an ethanol plant to town.”

Locating an ethanol plant in town, which became a reality in 2006, is one of Tim’s proudest accomplishments because it benefited the farm community, the general community through capital investment and it created 44 jobs.

Improving efficiency
The Brodbecks were early adapters of grid soil testing in 1994. “As soon as that service was available, we knew we needed to do that,” Tim says. “It’s a much more efficient way to get nutrients where they need to be and not where they don’t need to be.”

Calling it a key, first step to unlocking healthy soils, the improvement was noticed within two years. “We cut our overall expenses and got nutrients where they needed to be. We also saw benefits with how the soil was working, and it was producing more constant crop yields across the field. That was huge.”

The farm also uses integrated pest management and has transitioned mostly from no-till to vertical tillage.

“With heavy crops, no-till quit working for us,” Tim says. “Now we use vertical tillage to manage residue. We try to use the least amount of tillage possible, but there is a place for it.”

Branching off
In 2006, Tim made the difficult decision to separate from his brother. “We had different approaches and different management choices,” says Tim, who went from farming 6,000 acres to about 2,000 acres. The cemented farm shop was replaced with mud and dust and. Also lost in the division was security, the infrastructure (except for half of the grain bins) and a valued labor force. “It was a very difficult decision, and I’m not complaining, because it’s what I wanted,” Tim says. “I became a master at repairing machinery and getting it to last twice as long as it should have. We had to run a tight ship.”

Tim’s wife of 31 years, Tammy, says it was rough, but also an adventure. She’s Tim’s first go-to for new ideas and developing decisions. However, that is changing some as their son, Owen, is stepping up. “My brother has two sons, so I knew in order to pass the farm to my son, it needed to be a separate entity.”

The farm is now 3,200 acres, including about 200 acres of managed woodlots and recreational land.

“What I learned through the whole process [is] if you are going to take your value in farming 4,000 acres — if that’s where you get your sense of worth — six months later it’s going to take 4,500 acres,” he says. “If you find your value in how many acres you farm, you’re chasing your tail. I’ve farmed a lot and farmed a little, and found that my happiness does not correlate with the number of acres I farm.”

Looking ahead
In recent years, at Tammy’s urging, Tim has focused more on buying land and not equipment, as well as transitioning leadership to Owen. “In the last year and half, my son has showed me he’s got what it takes to step up the plate,” says Tim, which welcomes the thought of him doing more in the community. “My goal is to be servant-leader; I’m thinking that’s where my focus will be.”

He loves to talk to young farmers. “First thing I tell them is you have to want it; otherwise, you’re wasting your time. If you want it, you’ll find a way. Set goals and have your spouse on board. Everything you do has to check back to what you want to do. It doesn’t happen overnight and doesn’t always work on paper.”

Being a Christian is a foundation for Tim, he says. He’s a practicing member of the Kilpatrick United Brethren Church and over the years has taught Sunday school, led youth and adult groups, served on the governance board, and started new ministries, including the newest called Broken Cycle. Tim says he sees this as being an umbrella over several smaller discipleship ministries that are helping to break negative cycles.

“I want to give back, because when one person can affect others to the good, there’s a lot of satisfaction in that.”

Master Farmer Profile

Name: Tim Brodbeck
Farm: Brodbeck Farms, 3,200 acres, owned and rented; cash grain production of soybeans, corn and some wheat.
Nominator: His children, Jamie (Krenz), Mallorie (Schrock), Alexis (Haskins) and Owen
Leadership: Board member on the Union Bank board of directors, several leadership positions within the Kilpatrick United Brethren Church, former youth basketball coach, and coach for the Odyssey of the Mind team
Ag leadership: Former vice president of the Vermontville Maple Syrup Association, FFA parliamentary procedure team coach, and member of Farm Bureau, National Corn Growers Association, Michigan Corn Growers Association and Michigan Soybean Association
Awards: District Conservation Farmer of the Year in 1998