By KEVIN MCLAUGHLIN

To Gordon Butterfield, of Butterfield Farms in Oxford, the key to keeping a farm alive is family.

     Butterfield, 68, attended Ross High School, in Butler County, Ohio, and comes from a family with a rich history of farming and raising cattle that dates back to the early 19th century. He has kept his family’s tradition alive. He and his children own one square mile of four farms that neighbor each other just two miles out 73 from the “Mile Square” of the city of Oxford.

     Butterfield lives on one of the four farms with his wife, Patricia. They have been living on it since 1963, although they purchased the land in ’61, at first for investment. It then took them six to eight years to buy the second farm, and by the end of the ‘70s they had purchased the first three. It wasn’t until the mid-‘80s that they acquired the property they have today.

     A sheepskin deed, signed by ex-President James Madison in 1813, hangs on the Butterfield dining room wall, documenting the ownership of the original Butterfield farm in the United States. Butterfield’s great, great grandparents left their plot in Connecticut during the Revolutionary War. According to Butterfield, they left to escape Indians and they saw Miami Valley as being a prosperous area. They brought their fine horses and hogs with them and helped settle the town of Ross. It was there that Butterfield’s great- great grandmother came to be one of the only doctors in the area, ironically also to the Native Americans of the area.

     The Butterfield home farm in Ross then raised cattle and even sent hogs to Cuba down the Miami River from Miamitown. The Butterfield family continued to prosper in Ross, where Butterfield’s father raised horses and showed them from coast to coast. When Butterfield was young, he started showing cattle for his father until he became a farm manager for a prominent family man in Hamilton, Ohio. The man bought a plantation in Thomasville, Ga., where Butterfield worked. He took the cattle all over the country until the owner fell ill. Then Butterfield decided to invest in property of his own, the original Oxford Butterfield farm.

     Butterfield said that he also feels lucky that he and his wife have their children, three sons and a daughter, living on the surrounding farms that make up the Butterfield mile-square.
His youngest son, Marc, who doesn’t farm, is an executive for Magnode in Middletown, Ohio. Butterfield said that he is very proud of Marc and that even when he was in high school, Marc had 100 sows all the time. Marc’s high school teachers told Butterfield that his son should go to college, and so he did. It was only after a few months in college that Marc’s teachers told him he was ready for the business world, and he has had a successful career at Magnode ever since.

     Two of his sons, Dallas and Brian, farm their land. When they were young, Butterfield started them off with 10 acres to farm vegetables, and with the money they made from the venture, they started the family vegetable stand that has been in business each year on St. Rt. 73. Butterfield doesn’t think they’ll have it this year due to his decreased mobility from a recent hip-joint replacement. Dallas and Brian produce corn, soybeans and hay. They typically produce 40,000 bails of hay per year, according to Butterfield.

     “We have become one of the biggest farms around,” Butterfield said.

     Others in the family are joining the business too.

     Following in the footsteps of her grandfather, Butterfield’s oldest grandchild is involved with 4H, showing pigs all over the United States, including Columbus, Ohio, Louisville, Ky., Kansas City, Mo., and Denver. “She has done very well,” Butterfield added.

     When asked how farming has taken shape in recent years, Butterfield responded with: “The way farming has been going, why the little farmer, it’s hard for him to succeed. I think my boys replace about 14 farms.”

     “Weather is always a gamble, too, but with the rise of soybeans in South America, it keeps it a competitive market. Plus, Ethanol, the oil from soybeans, creates a new market. Although, if war arises sales will go down due to limitation of exports. Last year the selling price for hay was $2.50, but due to the drought, it is now $5.”

     Butterfield predicts a decline in the number of future farmers. “Kids today are seeing more opportunities. The farms are run by older people.”
He foresees, “big farms getting bigger…for the last 15 years, big companies have taken over the hog industry, chickens, and now they’re doing it to dairy cattle.”

     Butterfield is safe for now. His cattle are for beef only.

     He thinks that Oxford has changed over the years. He said that Oxford used to have a lot of small farms, mainly hogs and dairy, but many kids didn’t keep the farm alive.

     “One hundred and fifty acres weren’t enough to keep them going, and the families didn’t keep together,” Butterfield added.

     He said that four or five farmers now pretty much control the Oxford area. The sale of farms is also partly due to the increased values of farms, especially if production is not going well.

     “A farmer can now make a deal with the state and get around $2,000 per acre for their farm,” Butterfield said.

     Butterfield is the only one left farming out of his siblings from his original home farm in Ross. His parents wanted to keep the farm in the family, but after Butterfield is no longer around, he wants to leave the decision up to his children. He wants the best possible life for them.

     “Some kids in the community can’t sell their farms after their parents are gone,” Butterfield said. “They left it that way.”

     Farms really are an investment.

     “They’re worth 50 times more than you paid for them in the ‘60s,” Butterfield said. “If you want to get out, you can get out and you’re in good shape. A farmer has a little hard time, but if he sells out, he’s rich.”

     As for now, the Butterfield family is not selling out. As long as Gordon Butterfield is around, he and his family will keep the farm alive.

Read a story by Kevin about the farmers who meet at McDonald's