Meet Our Growers: Myers Family
Meet Our Growers: Myers Family
Meet the Myers Family, our wheat producers in ‘Big Sky Country’.
The Myers family brings a global perspective to the sparsely populated plains of northern Montana. Jason is originally from the area, but spent part of his childhood in Wales as well as a stint living in Germany as an adult.
He and Jessica met while attending college in Bozeman. They have been married for 17 years and are parents to three children: Maddie (11), Brooke (8) and Walter (5).
Before farming, Jason had a successful career in the corporate world, including overseas assignments. Over time, the widely traveled Myers family yearned for a different lifestyle, and moved to the tiny hamlet of Hingham, Montana, to be near the family farmstead.
Jason joined his grandfather and uncle in managing the family farm about two years ago, growing a variety of crops ranging from winter wheat, spring wheat and chickpeas. His time working outside of farming prepared him for embracing more of the “outside-the-box” thinking being applied to farming in an effort to implement practices that reduce impact on the land.
“There is a lot more strategy that goes into farming today,” said Jason, when asked about technology advances. “Better knowledge of fertilizer, improved management techniques, more wheat varieties and planting options are available, including new crops such as chickpeas.”
The increase in farming pulses such as lentils and chickpeas reflect how farmers are reacting and adjusting to market preferences, along with consumer desire to better understand how their food is grown and the broader farm-to-table movement.
Jason continued, “I think it’s great that people want to know more about the origins of their food. They might even learn how much effort goes into that product on the shelf, the risks farmers encounter every growing season and how many people each farmer feeds.” The Myers family is hard at work feeding the world, while applying land-management strategies and testing new technologies in the pursuit of sustainable agriculture. It’s a big job, and through ADM Grower Connect, they hope to better connect consumers to their food and increase awareness of the challenges facing modern farmers.