Passion for farming

January 30, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

West Branch senior doesn’t steer clear of hard work

By JoAnn Jones

Like most teenagers, West Branch High School senior Billy Grammer is comfortable staring at a computer screen, exuding confidence and knowledge as he maneuvers buttons to get the information he wants.

Unlike most teenagers, however, Grammer isn’t surfing the ’Net or checking his Facebook status. He uses his computer to check on the Jersey dairy cows at his family farm in Smith Township.

He also uses it to check information on his Black Angus cattle at his own farm about a mile away.

Grammer, of Sebring, knows a lot about milking and breeding cows. So much, in fact, that he was the only participant from Mahoning County on Ohio’s 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl team that took top honors nationally in Louisville, Ky., in November.

For 31 consecutive years, the Dairy Quiz Bowl has been part of the North American International Livestock Exposition, the world’s largest all-breed, purebred livestock exposition.

“We were kind of the underdog story,” Grammer said. “We had gone undefeated until we played New York, and then we had to go through the loser’s bracket.”

Going through the loser’s bracket meant Ohio’s team had to beat New York’s team twice in the double-elimination tournament. When all the written scores, toss-up questions and bonuses were figured, Ohio came out as victors, Grammer said.

“Even though I was the alternate, I was in almost every match,” Grammer added.

He said he spent just as much time in the matches as the other players, who were from Champaign and Wayne counties.

Grammer has been participating in the Dairy Quiz Bowl for nine years. His parents, Debbie and Bill, urged him and his brother Ben to get involved.

“The judges ask questions about the animals, such as where Ayrshires come from, and about productions, such as who’s the leading state in cheese production,” Grammer said.

Grammer received another honor at the exposition as he was one of only three males selected by a panel of judges to serve as escorts for the Jersey Cattle Association’s queen and court.

“The association has a show for charity,” he said, “and it’s like a Super Bowl or World Series show. It was in Freedom Hall, it was dark, and they used a spotlight.”

“I think I was more nervous at that than at the Dairy Quiz Bowl,” he said with a grin.

Grammer garnered two more honors Jan. 22 when he received the Ohio Jersey Breeders’ Youth Achievement Award and the Ohio Dairy Breeders’ Outstanding Boy Award. He and his father attended the awards ceremony in Plain City near Columbus.

“It was a good weekend,” he said. “These are two very prestigious awards. I think my dad was amazed but really pleased.

All the knowledge he’s gained that has brought him these awards has come from his experience at the family farm and at his part-time job at a small dairy farm in Columbiana County, owned by the Russell Kiko family.

“I love raising cattle with a passion,” Grammer said. “Hard work pays off. If you work hard, you get rewarded.”

The rewards have paid off for the 18-year-old, who is raising 15 Black Angus cattle on a small farm of his own.

“I use my money from 4-H with the Jerseys,” said Grammer, who belongs to the Village Varieties that meets at the North Benton Presbyterian Church. He also uses the money from his part-time job on the Kiko farm.

Despite all his practical knowledge, Grammer still intends to continue his education and has his sights on several colleges where he can study agricultural business or animal science after he graduates in early June.

“I’m looking at Iowa State, the University of Kentucky, The Ohio State University and maybe its ATI [Agricultural and Technical Institute] branch in Wooster.”

“After college, I plan to come back to the farm and help increase the milk production,” he said. “I enjoy every minute of dairy farming. It’s my heart, my soul and my passion. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

What happens to his farm and the Black Angus cattle when he goes away to college?

“When I’m in college, my brother Ben will take care of them during the week, and it’ll be me on the weekends,” he said. “Ben helps me with my farm now.”

Ben, a freshman at West Branch who plays basketball, is very athletic, his brother said, but he still manages to help out despite his busy schedule.

“On nights he has games, I take care of things for him,” Grammer said. “We get along just fine. He’s basically my best friend.”

Grammer himself is pretty busy, having served as vice president and president of West Branch’s Future Farmers of America chapter over the last two years. In addition, he leaves school at 1:20 every day, goes home to change and maybe grab a bite to eat, and then heads out to one of the farms to “do his chores.”

Grammer believes all these “chores” will bring his ultimate reward one day — being in charge of the family farm.