There have been few constants at Ken-Maur Farms over the past half decade. Most of the equipment is new. Several barns have been replaced. Fences that washed away in floods have been rebuilt. The workers, who once came from the neighborhood, now come from foreign countries.
But three things are permanent: Jerry, Grady and Lynn Ebelhar. The brothers – ages 63, 61 and 51, respectively – have worked on the farm since they were old enough to help. Their father, Ken, previously owned the farm with his brother, Maurice, after they bought it from their father.
“If it hadn’t have been for them getting us started, we would’ve never made it on our own,” Jerry says.
Jerry and Lynn both attended the University of Kentucky, but aside from those years, none of the brothers has ever lived anywhere else. Grady can see the house he grew up in from the house he built. They know each other so well that they barely need to speak – a nod or wave will often suffice.
Once, while moving soybeans, Grady encountered a problem with the equipment while Jerry was on the other side of a building. Grady yelled, “Hey!” and Jerry went to fix the malfunction. They never saw each other. Jerry just knew what to do.
“If its not going right, you either shake your head or grunt and they know that something’s wrong,” Grady says.
The best thing about working with his brothers, Jerry says, is knowing they will show up every day and that arguments will quickly fade. They don’t need to coordinate daily duties; they just know what to do.
Some days they hardly see each other because they’re working separate areas of the farm. Other days they all work alongside migrant workers on large tasks, such as getting tobacco out of the barn for stripping. The Ebelhars join the migrant workers because they don’t want to be the type of bosses that won’t or can’t do difficult jobs.
“(The workers are) our right arm sometimes,” Jerry says. “We’ve got to have them around.”
Still, the workers don’t share the Ebelhars’ roots on the land.
“I’ve been in the field a lot of times and looked across the field and I can look back and see my granddad working in the same field,” Grady says.
The Ebelhars’ advancing age hasn’t limited the farm’s output, but Grady and Jerry will retire soon. One of Grady’s sons hopes to take his father’s spot and work with Lynn, continuing the family tradition.
