Farmers on the Rise
Embracing Change FOR A BETTER
TOMORROW Story and photos by Maria N. Listman
The McHenry family farm has been perched in the charming town of Kennedyville, Maryland for 100 years. The farm has experienced a change in crops, a shift in livestock, financial stressors, and the heartache of losing a close family member. Not ones to back down from a challenge, the next generation of McHenry farmers have risen to the occasion.
8 LEADER
VOLUME 27 | ISSUE 1
J
oey and Jenell McHenry own McHenry’s Harvesting and Beef, a custom harvesting and direct-toconsumer frozen beef business. They recently won Farm Credit’s inaugural Farmers on the Rise award and received $10,000 for the work they’re doing as they grow their operation. Joey is a fourth generation farmer, where he and his wife, Jenell, lease the land from his grandparents. The same land that once grew tomatoes and raised dairy cows is now a beef cattle operation that also grows corn, soybeans, wheat, barley, and hay. The neighboring street is called Dairy Road, in recognition of the dairy farm that the McHenry’s ran all those years. Beef cattle were always on the property, but it wasn’t until 2012 that the family decided to fully transition from dairy to beef. After the passing of Joey’s father, the youngest McHenry knew he needed to do more to sustain himself and his grandparents. At the time, Joey was running their grain operation, and decided to expand into custom harvesting to continue the family’s agriculture legacy. “There’s no way to predict the future, you’re going to have to change with time, and see where things go,” reflects Joey. Since this young entrepreneur offers custom harvesting for other farmers, it has helped with the expansion of their beef business. Joey explains, “When you’re a grain farmer, you get a check in the spring, and the fall. That’s all you get.” Over the years, the McHenry’s have added to their herd, working primarily with Angus and Charolais. In 2019, they started offering direct-to-consumer frozen beef that is grass fed, grain finished. Joey focuses on the genetics and raising of the animals, in addition to custom work that includes baling, harvesting, trucking, and planting. Jenell likes to call herself a farm wife. She is an eighth generation farmer from the Eastern Shore who grew up on a poultry and grain farm. She works full time for an agricultural consulting company, while overseeing sales and communication for their beef customers. “In 2020, the business really took off because of COVID,” explains Jenell. “We currently have an online form that people fill out and they pick a day and time to pick-up.” Customers make their selection,
