MU | Features
W hen Paul Mikesell ’ 17 clutches his Manchester University diploma this month , he ’ ll complete a journey that started in the freshly tilled fields of his Miami County home .
And unlike some of his fellow graduates , he knows exactly where he ’ s going – back to the farm he started when he was only 16 .
While Paul is young to own his farm , he isn ’ t an anomaly as a collegeeducated farmer . What sets him apart from the crowd is that he chose MU ’ s College of Business over Purdue ’ s College of Agriculture . Business acumen is critical to farming success , says Paul , and a farmer with a business degree understands how to run the operation and has an easier time securing a loan . “ You can prove ( to the lender ) you know how to do it ,” he says .
At Manchester , Paul majored in business management and minored in sales and entrepreneurship to help him run his farm and manage side businesses that diversify his cash flow . He and his dad , Brian , grow grain on their combined farms – more than 200 acres . Paul also sells locally grown pork and may expand that business since his more recent acquisitions include a building he could use for hogs .
In addition , Paul fabricates truck bumpers and other custom parts . He ’ s been welding since the third grade . It ’ s a trade he learned from his dad , welding teacher at the Kokomo Area Career Center . “ If we can ’ t find a part , we ’ ll make a part ,” says Paul .
And Paul ’ s also exploring the viability of constructing greenhouses and growing vegetables such as tomatoes , cucumbers and squash year-round . “ In America , there ’ s a severe lack of greenhouse-grown
vegetables ,” he says , “ and you can make a lot of money there .”
A typical school week during planting and harvest seasons finds Paul on campus Monday , Wednesday and Friday . Then on Tuesday and Thursday a lighter class load allows him to go home and work from the seat of a tractor or combine until 9 or 10 p . m . After eating dinner , he drives back to North Manchester and , approaching midnight , starts his homework .
What may exhaust the average person inspires Paul , especially at harvest . “ It ’ s my favorite time of year ,” he says . “ I love doing it .”
Paul comes by his work ethic honestly . In addition to farming and teaching full time , dad Brian is an assistant football coach at Kokomo High School . His mom , Carolyn , commutes 90 minutes daily to Fort Wayne where she is president and chief executive officer of Public Service Credit Union . And Paul ’ s younger brother , William , also attends Manchester with plans to become a pharmacist .
It was Paul ’ s hard work that positioned him to buy his first 30 acres in the first place . He worked for his dad and other farmers “ my entire life .” He saved his money . By 19 , he took out a
$ 150,000 loan ( his parents co-signed ) to buy more property that includes a house and outbuildings . This summer , he ’ ll move into the house .
Paul knows he may end up pursuing some businesses he hasn ’ t yet imagined . Manchester has provided him a solid foundation and connected him to a lot of good people . He ’ s especially grateful to his mentor , Joe Messer , the Mark E . Johnston Professor of Entrepreneurship . “ I ’ ve been picking Professor Messer ’ s brain ,” says Paul , “ what he thinks will be good , what he doesn ’ t .” Paul ’ s entrepreneur and sales education has helped him identify new ideas and given him skills in persuasion . College also taught him to research an idea and analyze its merits . “ I ’ ll be able to understand the risks and rewards better than someone who doesn ’ t have a business degree .”
And while his other business ventures will be carefully weighed , Paul ’ s first love will always be an inherent risk . A farmer can use the best seed , prepare the best ground and apply the best fertilizer , “ but if the weather ’ s bad , it doesn ’ t matter . You ’ re going to get a bad crop . I ’ ll never need to go to Las Vegas because I gamble with my life every day .”
But he ’ ll take the gamble . And he ’ ll take Miami County over Vegas , too . One U . S . farmer feeds an average of 155 people , says Paul , and he loves that sense of helping people .
And there ’ s another satisfaction he gets from land that leaves him feeling more free than tethered . “ I love the smell of fresh-turned earth ,” says Paul . “ I love spring and turning the ground and you can just smell it . It smells so good .”
Paul Mikesell ’ 17 started a farm in Miami County when he was only 16 and prepared for the business side of farming in Manchester ’ s College of Business .
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