Today, the Scotts grow wheat, corn and soybeans on the family farm homesteaded almost 200 years ago. They also have a cow-calf operation and raise hogs.
On their nonirrigated farm, the Scotts primarily grow crops using little or no tillage. They also plant a rye cover crop during winter to further improve soil health, prevent erosion and capture nutrients that might otherwise be lost.
“We also installed waterways to control erosion,” Gary says. “We try to do as good a job as we can limiting sprays because, while we need to control pests, we also want to protect our beneficial insects and other organisms. We care about the land. We live here.”
And lived here they have. The Scott farm was settled by their family with an 1836 land grant. It has been in the family ever since.
Similarly, the family of Gary’s wife, Tery, homesteaded their family farm in 1879.
“We both came from a Hoosier Homestead farm and now both original farms are part of our operation with our sons,” Gary says.
Eric and Kyle are the seventh generation of Scott farmers on the land.
“We’ve always been connected to the farm,” Kyle says. “Eric’s path to the farm was more direct than mine, but it’s always been the plan for both of us.”
Kyle, an Indiana Wesleyan University graduate, found his way to the family farm via Calcutta, India.
While at college, he traveled to Calcutta on an internship for a nonprofit and found himself returning time and time again for almost eight years. He’s now back on the farm full time.
Eric and his wife, Kathleen, have two sons, Levi and Landon. Kyle is married to Sera.