Wheelock Family Farm – ‘Thank a Farmer’

We’ve teamed up with Whites Farm Supply and James Wesley to ‘Thank a Farmer‘ at FrogFest.  We’ve been asking you to nominate farmers who deserve recognition and 2 will be James Wesley’s special guests at FrogFest June 15th. Today we recognize the Wheelock Family Farm in Litchfield nominated by Brittney Harvey.

I would like to thank William Wheelock. He has been farming all his life. His grandfather, Danford Wheelock bought the farm they are still running today. At one point, it was very large until they had a family crisis and lost a large portion of it, but that happens with small farms. He was very close with his grandfather, Dick 'Old Man' Barrett. They did rodeos together from the time he was 3 and he sadly passed away in May 2011.

He and his father are still running the farm today, at a much smaller size, but every farm no matter the size is a great help. A few years ago William was in a terrible car accident. The driver that hit him was not paying attention when she swerved into his lane at about 60 MPH, and totaled his truck. The impact was entirely on the driver’s side so he was injured pretty badly.  He had to get rods put into each leg because the damage was so bad.

He still has problems today, but that doesn’t stop him. He is still working on the farm and chasing steers at all hours of the night. Not only is he working hard to help keep the farm going but he also provides for his family. He has a one year old son and a fiancé he is marrying on July 5 2014. This young man has worked hard all his life, and the past few years have been particularly hard, but he keeps going.

It is the small farmers that have to work the hardest to keep their farms going, and it is them who get the least amount of credit for what they do. I would love for him to get some recognition for all his hard work not only providing for his family, and working hard on his farm, but for never giving up even when things got very difficult. All farms no matter the size are a huge help. Small farms. Big help, Little recognition.

Thank you Brittney for your nomination and thank you William Wheelock for what you do everyday. We’ll put you in the random drawing to be James Wesley’s special guests at FrogFest June 15th, so he can ‘Thank a Farmer.’