Two young brothers from northwest Ohio are making their way in a man's world by successfully running two businesses. Hunter and Cody Haar, 20 and 16, respectively, run a 550-acre farm in Elmore, Ohio, and own Haar Brothers Equipment in Gibsonburg.
According to a report from the Fremont News-Messenger:
"Hunter runs the businesses full-time, and Cody, a junior at Woodmore High School, works after school and on weekends. Both brothers put countless hours into the farm they started five years ago after their father had some acreage planted.
"Hunter is a former FFA student at Woodmore, and Cody is currently in the program. There, they have learned some basic farming skills, such as tractor repair. Last year, Cody's two-person team took second place in the tractor troubleshooting contest at the FFA district competition.
"The skills they learned through FFA allowed them to start a second business, Haar Brothers Equipment. The business sells used tractors, combines and other farming implements, and the Haars are also dealers for the Summers line of new equipment.
"'They came to us,' Hunter said of his connection with Summers Mfg. 'There was nobody in northwest Ohio, and they were driving by.' The Haars sell their used equipment at their farm and online at tractorhouse.com. They find used equipment to sell through several venues. 'We go to auctions. We buy from people going out of business. We find it for sale along the road,' Hunter said.
"With any business, an owner must be as knowledgeable about finances as he is about the items he produces or sells. The brothers learned about business budgets — and hard work — from their mother, Samantha Haar, who owns Speed Trap Diner in Woodville."
