Gordie Hofer, G&C Hofer Farm
When you’ve been farming for over 40 years, you’ve witnessed first-hand the huge technological advancements in agriculture. That’s the case for Gordie Hofer, who we’ve been fortunate to work with for about 11 of those years.
Some of Gordie’s earliest memories include raking hay as an 8-year-old boy on an old open-air Ford tractor. He also remembers running a 2-row corn head on a combine along with a 4-row corn planter. “We now run a 24-row planter and a combine with a 12-row corn head with an air-conditioned cab that’s as comfortable as my living room,” says Gordie. “Things have certainly changed.”
What hasn’t changed is a story that’s familiar to many farm families. Gordie is a third-generation grower and has many fond memories growing up on the farm. “It’s just a great place to raise a family – the best place to raise a family.” Gordie spent 35 years farming side-by-side on his operation with his father. “You learn how to work when you grow up in a farm family. I loved the opportunity to farm with my dad as long as I did. He’s been gone for 15 years. I wish he could see the technology that we have now. He would love it.”
Gordie has been working with our Joe, our Precision Ag Specialist, for many years and has had countless positive experiences with the Innovation Center thanks to Joe’s dedication and reliability. “I got to know Joe about 11 years ago when he was an applicator and I remember the day he called me and told me he’d no be longer doing that. And I got mad at him! I didn’t want to see him leave because he’s dependable. When you have someone else spray your fields, you’ve got to have a lot of trust in that person. And I trusted Joe. Within a year I switched all my equipment over to what Joe sold because he knows his stuff. And he takes a lot of pride in what he does.”
“One spring we were having some issues with the corn planter. We were trying to get two different kinds of technology to work together and it just wasn’t happening. So one night I was working in the shop and all of a sudden the door opens up at 11 o’clock and here comes Joe. And I looked at him and said ‘What are you doing here?’ and he said ‘Well I knew you had a problem. I was in the area, and I’m going to help you.’ I think he left about midnight that night.
“Now, I don’t know of too many places that would go to that extent to help out. If you run into a problem, he’s there. Or if he can’t figure it out that minute, let him sleep on it and he’ll get it fixed the next day. That guy knows his stuff.”
The Innovation Center team has also worked with Gordie on many of his equipment upgrades such as putting the latest technology into his 20-year-old combine. By doing this, his older combine, his 7-year-old combine, and his grain cart all have the same monitors synced together to see exactly what the yields are as they are coming in and where the grain cart is located in the field at all times.
When you build an 11-year-long relationship with a customer, it becomes more than just a business relationship: it turns into a friendship. Gordie relies on Joe and the Innovation Center team to keep his equipment maintained and upgraded during the off season so it’s ready to go during the busy Spring planting and Fall harvest seasons. We do our best to keep Gordie’s operation running strong all year long.
