Stewardship in action

Dave Shively never set out to be a champion of organic farming, but his passion, practicality, and desire to help others led him there. This year, the Northwest Ohio grain farmer received the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association’s (OEFFA) prestigious Stewardship Award, a nod to the legacy he continues to build.

Farming runs deep in Shively’s family. He’s the fourth generation on his family’s farm, and over the years, has transformed his operation in McClure, OH, into a diverse, certified organic grain farm. He grows organic corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, sunflowers, spelt, and alfalfa today. The alfalfa is contracted to a local mill where it is dehydrated and pelletized into high-protein animal feed.

The journey into organic production began with a request from his wife, Jane.

“My wife was interested in growing edamame,” Shively recalled. “I asked, ‘What is that?’ She wanted to grow it in our little three-acre patch, and she wanted them to be organic.… Continue reading