ON THE FARM — Brent Nemeth walked amid some of the cattle on his Dillonvale farm. -- Christopher Dacanay

DILLONVALE — Sledding the snow-covered hills of a mutual friend’s orchard, a young Brent Nemeth wasn’t aware that someday he’d run a cattle operation on the very same land.

Beginning in 2000, Nemeth has managed a 75-head seedstock cow-calf operation on more than 200 acres that includes the former orchard. Now, Nemeth is excited to share his passion for agriculture through his new position with Ohio Farm Bureau.

Nemeth was recently named organization director for Ohio Farm Bureau, covering Carroll, Harrison, Jefferson and Tuscarawas counties. The role will see him engage with the four counties’ farm bureaus, helping address issues important to their members and communities, according to a March 27 release from Ohio Farm Bureau.

A lifelong Jefferson County resident, Nemeth was dubbed Jefferson County Soil and Water Conservation District Conservation Farmer of the Year in 2009. He has served previously as village administrator in his hometown of Rayland and general counsel for his family’s concrete block manufacturing business, Walden Industries Inc.

Nemeth graduated in 1998 from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind., with a bachelor of science in civil engineering. Also a 2010 graduate of West Virginia University College of Law, Nemeth taught as an adjunct professor at West Liberty University from 2010 until 2020, lecturing on environmental issues and business and leadership philosophy.

Staff with the Ohio Farm Bureau district office in New Philadelphia said the district hasn’t had an organization director hail from Jefferson County in at least 30 years.

“I come from a blue-collar, working-class background, enriched by valuable life experiences, a bit of education and a deep passion for agriculture and rural living,” Nemeth stated in the Jefferson County Farm Bureau’s April newsletter. “I am eager to leverage my knowledge and enthusiasm for both the science and art of farming as your organization director, working to make a meaningful impact in our four counties and communities and throughout the state.”

Nemeth was raised near the banks of the Ohio River in Rayland. He’s always harbored a love for the outdoors and raised small animals while growing up.

After transferring from Buckeye South Elementary School and graduating from the Linsly School in Wheeling in 1994, Nemeth attended Rose-Hulman — ranked by U.S. News and World Report as the best undergraduate engineering program school that doesn’t offer a doctorate.

Among many Midwest farmers in the student body, Nemeth became familiar with his roommate, a Nebraska native whose father was a large animal veterinarian and owned a beef cattle operation. Nemeth spent many breaks visiting the farm and helping with duties.

Following his graduation with a magna cum laude designation, Nemeth was “itching” to work with cattle. He deferred that desire, spending his early career as a data analyst with Consol Coal and later as an engineer with Michael Baker Jr. in Pittsburgh.

When the opportunity arose to purchase the orchard from his childhood memories, Nemeth seized it. He operated the orchard for a few years but began converting the land into a cattle farm in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Nemeth raises cattle to sell as breeding stock. Others purchase his cattle to bring new genetics into their own herds. Everything about the farm’s setup is designed for the cattle’s health and safety, Nemeth said Friday, noting that a healthier cow means a better food product in the end.

Using another 140 acres for hay, Nemeth raises his cattle on about 90 acres organized for management-intensive rotational grazing. Cattle don’t roam free around the property. Rather, they’re enclosed in one of multiple paddocks for two-to-three days of grazing. After that period, they’re moved to a separate paddock. This gives the grass time to regrow, fertilized by the cattle’s manure, and keeps cattle from eroding water sources or polluting them with waste.

Like spokes on a wheel, the paddocks surround a number of buildings located centrally on the property. Specialized huts keep cattle warm and breathing well during cold months, and a new, enclosed space calms cattle during artificial breeding — a practice Nemeth mostly taught himself. Breeding his animals artificially to obtain the best genetics, Nemeth is working with pure-bred angus cattle, which he’s crossing with Simmental cattle.

Of the property’s buildings, some pre-existed Nemeth’s ownership. He’s made additions, including his current house, as well as some upgrades. With every modification, he’s sought to maintain the structure’s original character, such as with similar colors, materials and an orchard motif he’s incorporated into the brickwork.

“The people that were here over the generations before me, they put a lot of work into this stuff,” Nemeth said. “That’s the thing about farming: You build up over generations. I never like to see a farm get split up. The land has history behind it.”

Now about 25 years into his operation, Nemeth has been slowly building up the farm throughout that time. He’s hands-on and does most of the work himself, all while maintaining the cattle — he did the same while pursuing his law degree and raising two children, with only a slight decrease in the herd size.

“On the farm, you’re never done,” Nemeth said of his continuous projects.

Nemeth, whose engineering expertise has contributed greatly to his farm’s buildout, loves the fast-paced and challenging nature of farming. The occupation combines his passions for physics, chemistry, the outdoors and even communication. All of these factors play into agriculture, a sector that’s vital for keeping society fed, he said.

“When you’re a steward of the land, you’re a steward of the stuff that God has blessed us with. You don’t take it for granted. You just have to be humbled by it and think: ‘God, thank you for blessing me, that you’re putting this into my hands.’ Every day I feel blessed that God has given me this opportunity in life.”

Since his 20s, Nemeth has been a member of Ohio Farm Bureau, which has nearly 70,000 members. He appreciates how the organization amplifies farmers’ voices in the legislative realm, and he wants to be a part of advocating for public policy that supports agriculture.

“Our society has become too complex and too big to deal with things on your own,” he said. “You need organizational power behind you.”

Becoming the local organization director was a great way to be involved even more, Nemeth said. He enjoys the role’s engagement aspect — hearing from members in the four counties, their developments and problems. These individuals are “salt-of-the-Earth” people who choose this difficult way of life for self-fulfillment.

Nemeth looks forward to bringing new people, perspectives and ideas into Ohio Farm Bureau to demonstrate the agriculture industry’s diversity. He noted his own, non-traditional entrance into farming, as well as the unique challenges that local farmers face in the rolling Appalachian hills.

Nemeth also wants to bring more youth into the agriculture industry. Perhaps farming isn’t for them, but many jobs exist that support farming, which is concerned with productivity and innovation. Nemeth aims to inform the public about agriculture and the rural way of life, while combating false stereotypes.

Nemeth can be contacted by e-mail at bnemeth@ofbf.org or by calling the New Philadelphia office at (330) 339-7211.