May/June 2019 - 10

A portion of the tight-knit crew at Sklarczyk Seed Farm. The staff is about two dozen employees most of the year, but grows to
approximately 40 during the summer months. Sklarczyk Seed Farm is the small rural community of Johannesburg's second-largest
employer. The school system is the largest. Photos: Zeke Jennings
my grandfather served on his local FSA
committee for several years in central
Indiana. He died when I was young, so
it's neat to learn about the connections
I share with my grandparents. "
FINDING POTATOES
Both of Sklarczyk's parents, Craig and
Carol Hinshaw, were elementary school
teachers. One set of grandparents were
farmers in central Indiana, however.
" We would spend the summers with
them playing with the sheep and riding
in the tractors, " Sklarczyk recalled. " My
parents are both really outdoorsy and
Past winners
2018: Melanie Wickham,
Empire State Farms
2017: Addie Waxman,
1,4GROUP
10
Spudman.com
let us go with the mentality if we could
catch it, we could keep it, at least for a
minimal amount of time. Baby bunnies,
snakes, turtles, whatever - we always
had a rotating menagerie at home.
" I would say my love of livestock
and farming probably comes from my
grandparents. "
While Sklarczyk wanted to be a
veterinarian when she arrived at
Michigan State, once she realized all of
the different avenues of animal science,
she turned her focus toward livestock.
After graduating and getting married to
Ben, who already had plans to follow his
parents' footsteps and get into potato
seed farming, Alison worked briefly at
the seed farm until she found work as a
veterinary assistant.
" When we got married in 2005,
I started working here only as a
placeholder until I found something
else, " Sklarczyk said. " (Ben) knew that.
This was a very temporary job; I didn't
want to work here. "
Alison loved working with animals
and it gave her - self-described as
" independent " and " strong-willed " - a
chance to forge an identity aware from
the farm. She and Ben and Ben's parents
all lived in close proximity.
As much as she enjoyed her job,
something began gnawing at her. It was
like a calling to go back to the farm.
" I fought it; I did not want to be
part of the family business, " she said.
" Finally, I couldn't fight the decision
that I should be back here. So, I sat
down with Ben and his parents and we
decided there was a spot for me where I
could work with Ben's mom (Mary Kay)
in the lab. "
Alison served as a field technician and
lab assistant at Michigan State, so there
was an obvious fit.
'A FAMILY AWARD'
Six months after Alison returned
to Sklarczyk Seed Farm to work in
the lab, the person who started the
tissue culture lab and had been the
only person ever to manage it, Mary
Kay Sklarczyk, was diagnosed with
breast cancer.

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May/June 2019

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