"TJ" English
“I’m not the normal generational farmer,” he said. “I started working for some farmers around the area and was able to get started on my own. The Lord blessed me since then.”
TJ English is not your traditional farmer. The English Family Farms Partnership is a first-generation farm in Prairie County. Initially, he worked for his neighbors, starting with 200 acres. Now, alongside his wife, he’s grown into a family operation of his own, growing rice, corn, and soybeans.
“I’m not the normal generational farmer,” he said. “I started working for some farmers around the area and was able to get started on my own. The Lord blessed me since then.”
Along with getting out on his own, there was no shortage of advice from his friends and neighbors around the community.
“I had a lot of advice along the way from those guys. They were good to me, a blessing in my life for sure,” he said. “They’ve shared lots of good advice, but I am still learning it. Still learning every single day. I brought my wife right into it. She’s learned just as much as I have.”
Riceland’s brought a lot of value to our table just being able to get [the crops] out of the field, get it in storage, and market it through [the cooperative],” he said. “Here in our hometown, we have a location real close so we can haul beans and rice. That's been a been a good working relationship.”
When TJ is not busy in the farm, he is making time for the folks who really matter.
“In the slower times, I like to spend as much time as I can with my family,” he said. “It doesn’t really feel like there's an off-season or much of one anymore, but we're always budgeting or planning ahead throughout the year. Desk farming, as my wife calls it.”
