Timm Rush Farm

Timm-Rush Farm

Otto and Florence

Turn of the century combine

Otto with his sons - Duane is the child on the bike

Farmhouse in 1902

History:

August timm immigrated from germany in 1888.

Dorothea, August’s wife, immigrated through Ellis Island one year later in 1889 with the three eldest children in tow.

Their family grew to 13 children before Dorthea passed away around 1911. The original size of the farm was 160 acres. 

Their son Otto took over the farm. He married Florence Thornbrue and they had 3 children -Gordon Lee, Robert Dale and Harvey Duane.

Duane took over the farm and married Dona Marie Hose (his highschool sweetheart). They had five children - their daughter Tracy, along with her husband Mike (Rush) eventually took over the farm.

Mike and Tracy had two girls and daughter Michelle (Shelley) took over operations in 2019. Shelley has a 6-month old baby boy Finnian (Finn) and she hopes that one day he might be interested in continuing the legacy. 

The Farmhouse today

Today:

they farm 2,700 acres of wheat and some rotational crops.

Tracy started the practice of no-till farming and that is something Shelley is very proud of and will continue that practice. She has a full-time field manager as her husband works in the tech world and does not have a farming background.

Shelley said there was never a time when she didn’t want to be a farmer, although her relatives told her not to do it! She said she has always had a love for the farm and a connection to the legacy. Her parents encouraged her to go to college and get off of the farm before she made her final decision, so she became a teacher and lived in Baltimore. But, it didn’t last long before she decided to return to the farm.

biggest changes:

One of the biggest changes she has seen is the amount of labor needed. When she was younger and helping out with harvest they would need crews of 15-20 people, but today that has been reduced to 5-7 people.

Tracy and Shelley on the farm.

The other major change is moving from conventional tilling to a no-till practice. She said that while her ancestors weren’t trying to hurt the land, “it has become a priority for her Mom and her to be good stewards of the land so it can continue to provide for future generations.”