My name is Kyle Hellman; I am an incoming junior at The Ohio State University studying AgBusiness with a minor in Agronomy. Growing up farming was my first love and first passion. I grew up on a family farm where my father and I farm around 1,000 acres of corn and soybeans and also sell Pioneer seed. Most of my childhood memories involve riding in tractors with my dad or playing in the basement with my toy tractors. That love for agriculture brought me to Ohio State where I am majoring in AgBusiness. I was interested in coming to Ohio State because I knew of their excellent Ag program and it has been a dream of mine since I was a little kid to go to Ohio State. I am also a huge buckeyes fan which just makes my experience at Ohio State even better. I have loved every second of being a buckeye and am excited to see what these next two years will bring.
On our family farm we are members of two cooperatives, Farm credit and Jennings Gomer Equity which is an elevator in my hometown. Other than knowing about those two cooperatives and a few others around my hometown, I did not really know much about Co-ops. That is why I took the Co-op class at Ohio State, AEDE 3141. At the end of the semester, our class was presented with a job opportunity through the CFAES center for coops. Because I found the class interesting and it was an opportunity to learn more about cooperatives, I decided to apply. I was offered the position and I am enjoying working with them. I am a student assistant for the CFAES center for coops at OSU’s South Centers. I am helping create a directory of professional cooperative service providers in Ohio and West Virginia.