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18 POTATO GROWER | DECEMBER 2016 Manufacturer of Lenco Equipment Made In The U.S.A. Custom built Potato Harvesting Equipment Visit us on the web @ www.lenco-harvesters.com 5773 Crystal Road • Vestaburg, MI 877-287-5711 Watch it on You Tube 8 Row Self Propelled Folding Windrower 157690AdvFar12h.indd 1 8/16/16 11:32 AM "That was a huge turning point," Jack says. "I started looking at farming from a different perspective. It gave me the scientific exposure and backing as to why we did everything. That's when things started clicking for me, and that's when I really started to look at farming as a really unique opportunity. It painted a different picture for me of what we do. I just found a real passion for it." The timing couldn't have been better for the farm and, more importantly, for the family. In 2009, Dan's wife Jan was diagnosed with cancer, which ultimately took her life in 2012. In the midst of struggling through his wife's health issues, Dan fell from the top of a grain bin while working one day and severely injured the rotator cuff in his right shoulder; the residual effects of the injury still limit the joint's movement. Dan naturally took a step back from the farm, and Jack was there to fill in. "It put my feet to the fire," Jack says now. "I was given challenges before I was ready, but when you put somebody up against adversity, they rise to the occasion. Had I never had the opportunity to do that, maybe I wouldn't be the person I am today." In the ensuing years, Jack has kept many things on the farm the same. But he has made a few significant changes. One that has paid major dividends is reducing potato row spacing from 36 to 28 inches, creating five-row seedbeds in a 12-foot space.