Spencer Guinn of Boyle County

·12 min·1 clip

Spencer Gwynn left his job as an AGCO field test engineer in Kansas to become a first-generation farmer in Kentucky.

The episode is an interview format where host Alan Watts of Kentucky Farm Bureau speaks with Spencer Gwynn from Boyle County. Spencer begins by describing his farming operation, Circle G Farms, which includes row crops, beef cattle, pigs, and vegetables. He explains he is a first-generation farmer who grew up on a small farm in Pulaski County but worked as a field test engineer for AGCO in Kansas before returning to Kentucky in 2010. His farm markets freezer beef under the Circle G Farms brand, using heirloom grain they raise. Spencer details how the beef business started organically when people asked to buy meat after his family slaughtered animals. He shares his family's farming history, including his father's beef and tobacco farm and his wife's family's apple orchard in Ohio, where her grandfather developed the Melrose apple variety. Spencer discusses his community involvement, including serving as Boyle County Farm Bureau president, coaching his daughters' basketball teams, and participating in a community garden at his church. He identifies labor shortages and difficulty accessing land as major challenges for his operation. Spencer expresses enjoyment in working with other Kentucky producers and the varied, ever-changing nature of farming due to weather and seasons. He also values working with his wife and teaching his children about farming. The episode concludes with Alan Watts summarizing Spencer's role as Boyle County Farm Bureau president.

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