Getting up every morning and going to work on his northern Oklahoma farm is the greatest achievement for Kay County Farm Bureau member Garrett Haskins.
While today he works on his farm north of Blackwell raising crops and cattle, Haskins’ path to becoming a full-time farmer didn’t start at birth.
“When you do something you love every day, it’s not work,” Haskins said.
Haskins grew up off the farm with his grandparents. He had an uncle who custom-harvested crops for area farmers based out of Crescent, Oklahoma, who served as an agricultural mentor.
Haskins was introduced to his first combine at 12 years old. Every summer, Haskins would run combine for his uncle. When his uncle retired, Haskins purchased the combine from him and started custom-harvesting crops for community members in the Blackwell area.
The headquarters of the farm Haskins operates by himself today holds a special place in his heart. He began mowing the lawn for the farmer who previously owned the operation when Haskins was 10. As Haskins’ interest in agriculture developed and their relationship grew, Haskins was promoted to farming at age 14, allowing the farm’s owner to focus on raising cattle.
Throughout the years, Haskins continued to work on the farm during the summers. When Haskins graduated high school, he took over the farm.
The farmer Haskins worked alongside lost a combine to fire about the same time Haskins purchased his uncle’s combine, providing an opportunity for Haskins to move his machine to the farm and harvest the farmer’s wheat and other crops.
“He sent me to OSU for four years and told me I was going to come back to the farm to take it over,” Haskins said.
While Haskins was in college, he came back to the farm to work on the weekends and during the summer. During his junior year of college, he took over the farm full time in addition to his full college class schedule.
“He gave me a start and said, ‘You can carry on with that,’” Haskins said about the farmer who gave him the opportunity to farm.
Haskins bought back some of the farm’s original cows that a neighbor purchased once he was out of college and farming full time.
Haskins continued to run his custom harvesting business in the Blackwell area for about 10 years.
“Everyone I custom cut for asked if I would start farming their land for them,” Haskins said. “They were older people and didn’t have anyone coming back to the farm, so I started farming their land.”
As the farm grew, Haskins got out of the custom harvesting business in 2017 and focused on farming full time.
“It’s been my goal since college to be able to say I’ve farmed all my life, and I have never done anything else,” Haskins said.
Today Haskins has grown his operation to around 100 cows along with 2,000 acres of farmland and 1,000 acres of pasture. His current crop rotation is wheat, milo, soybeans and alfalfa. He has integrated no-till farming practices, focused on modern seed selection and installed GPS-guided precision agriculture systems in his current tractors.
Growing up, Haskins was involved with Boy Scouts and went on to become an Eagle Scout. He has taken his leadership skills and applied them to his roles on the Kay County Farm Bureau board.
Haskins has made his own path with OKFB, serving as a leader on his county Farm Bureau board as a board member and even as president. He also serves on the OKFB YF&R State Committee as the District 7 representative.
“Being able to farm on my own as young as I started has been quite an accomplishment for me,” Haskins said. “It takes a lot of hard work and dedication.”
Haskins was recognized for his agricultural achievements as the 2024 Oklahoma Farm Bureau YF&R Achievement Award winner.
As the 2024 YF&R Achievement award winner, Haskins will travel to San Antonio for the national competition in January 2025. The YF&R Achievement award recognizes young farmers who make their sole income from the farm alone.
Haskins’ hard work and love for agriculture have been the backbone of his success, earning him the YF&R Achievement award. However, Haskins does not take all the credit himself for his successful farming career.
“I would contribute most of my success to the people in my surrounding community,” Haskins said. “I don’t take the credit for it; they’re the reason for giving me a chance.”
Although Haskins’ farming career didn’t start from birth, his mentors instilled a love for farming in him as a young boy.
“They carved out a life for me I didn’t even see,” Haskins said. “They took a kid like me, and I guess God really can make a farmer.”
