Family and quality workers allow Eck to chase goals for agriculture 

By Dave Blower Jr. 

As a verb, the word farm describes the work that is performed to produce a crop or commodity. Tilling, planting, cultivating and harvesting are a few of the verbs describing that work. There are also verbs like marketing, communicating and planning. 

As a noun, a farm refers to the people, places and things that can make agriculture special. When many generations have worked the same farm for several decades, those nouns are tied to special memories. The land, a home, a family and people who make the workload lighter are the important nouns. 

For Chris Eck, memories of a lifetime are tied to the farmhouse where he is raising his family. Eck is the third generation of his family to live in the red, brick home. 

“I grew up in this house; I haven’t moved very far from the nest,” he said. “The house has been a part of my whole life. Growing up, living here, all of the action was here in my backyard. I farmed with my dad and my grandfather growing up. Those are special memories.” 

In 1955, Eck’s grandfather was looking for a larger farm for his family. He settled on the property the family still owns near Boggstown, Ind. “He sold the farm he owned to a neighbor and moved into this house right here,” Eck said of his grandfather. “When I was born, he bought another house, and my dad moved in here. When I got married, my wife and I lived on another farm for three or four years, but then I bought this off of my dad. All we’ve done is change the names on the ownership a few times.” 

As his grandfather grew older, Eck and his father, Stephen, took on more responsibility with the farm. “My wife and I started farming with my parents,” he said. “We always farmed together until Dad passed away in 2012.” 

Eck has taken the lessons learned from his family and applied them to his work on the Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA). Eck is a lifetime member of ISA’s Membership & Policy Committee and the Indiana Corn Growers Association. 

Defensive policy work 

As a lifetime member of the policy organizations, Eck recognizes that some legislation is poor because of unintended consequences. He said there are federal and state lawmakers who try to solve a problem for one constituent but end up hurting someone else inadvertently. That’s why, he believes, that farmers need to pay attention and represent themselves in these discussions. 

“In my opinion, getting involved in politics, I’d say we are as defensive in our policy work as we are on the offensive,” Eck explained. “There are more bills out there affecting farmers negatively – even if not on purpose – than bills that are out there supporting agriculture. It’s like this: Some congressman will work on a bill to help out someone with a problem. What they don’t realize is that bill will hurt someone else – sometimes that other person is a farmer. If there is no one there to watch or to keep an eye on what’s going on, then farming can get inadvertently affected by a bill like this.” 

Through his policy work, Eck said he’s gotten the opportunity to meet and talk with his representative in both state and federal government. Eck appreciates how most lawmakers respond in these meetings. 

“You would think that a politician would go into a meeting with a farmer and do a lot of talking,” he said. “Really, they don’t. Mostly they just listen. Often, they have never met a farmer before.” 

Eck is pleased that farm policy groups will often work with other groups to achieve shared goals. These partners can come from economic development or pro-business groups. 

“Between the expansion of the POET ethanol plant in Shelbyville and the expansion to Bunge in Morristown, we’ve had a lot of good ag-related business grow in our area,” he said. “In our county, this is just a big deal. Shelby County has the least amount of urban sprawl of the ‘donut counties.’ It’d be easy for the leaders around here to want to just build houses and clear land for some other purpose. But Shelby is an ag county, and getting those processors in here is a big deal. It’s a way to add value to every acre in the county.” 

Adding value to every acre is also behind his work with the state’s soybean checkoff program. 

Adding value to soybeans 

Although he grows soybeans, corn and wheat, none of his corn goes to POET and none of his soybeans go to Bunge. Eck grows high oleic soybeans that are taken to a plant in Frankfort, Ind., he grows seed corn and seed wheat. Eck’s farm produces a waxy corn that is used in food and beverage products. He grows green beans and cover crop seeds, and he will consider many other crops. 

“I’ve spent 30 years chasing specialty contracts,” Eck admitted. “Everything from tomatoes to green beans to popcorn. I have been approached by companies wanting specific stuff grown. Nearly every acre is tied to a premium and a specific customer. 

“This isn’t a proof of concept, but our name is out there enough that some companies realize here’s a farmer who is willing to put up with all of the headaches to get us the product that we need. And we’re capable of doing that job. We can deal with those companies, and we know we’ll do it right.” 

Eck added that he has a limited amount of acres to farm. He said it’s about adding value to every acre on his farm, and he believes that is the overall mission for his work on the ISA Board of Directors. 

Eck has been on the board since 2023. By promoting new products, searching for new markets and finding new ways to move soybeans around the world, he said ISA is adding value to Indiana soybean acres. 

Eck has hosted soybean buyers from around the world on his farm, and he has traveled to meet them in various trade missions to China, Colombia, Vietnam and Thailand. He said this work has expanded his understanding of who  his customers really are. 

“Farmers think, ‘I sell my stuff to Cargill, ADM or Bunge, so that’s who my customer is,’” Eck explained. “Those are really logistics companies moving commodities to others. Our customers are the people who Cargill, ADM or Bunge sell to. When we go meet these customers, these buyers, we can tell them that we grow a better product, we can get it to you cheaper, and they get to know us. Those relationships are very important; to actually meet those customers is a big deal.” 

He said farmers should never underestimate the value to talking to end users of products no matter where they live. 

His family and the farm 

Eck graduated from Purdue University in 1998 with a degree in ag economics. And although his future wife, Lisa, was also a Boilermaker on campus at the same time, he already knew her before heading to West Lafayette. In an unusual twist, Eck met Lisa when he was 16 while attending the wedding of his sister and Lisa’s brother. 

Eck’s brother-in-law operates a farm nearby. He said Lisa understands fully what farm life looks like. “Lisa’s dad farmed, he fed cattle, and he was a successful farmer in his own right,” Eck said. “There were no surprises for her when she came to the farm. I think she was fully aware of what she was getting into when she married me. I think she always wanted to marry a farmer but didn’t know if she’d ever have the chance. I think that was the one thing I had going for me.” 

The couple raised three daughters and a son in their farmhouse. The oldest daughter, Abigail, is an attorney in Indianapolis. Their middle daughter, Alli, is a nurse at Riley Children’s Hospital. The youngest daughter, Andi Jo, is a junior at Purdue pursuing a degree in mental health counseling. Their son, Cash, will be a junior at Triton Central High School this fall and enjoys participating in FFA. 

Eck’s mother, Bobbie, also lives near and contributes to the family’s success. 

He is grateful to have skilled employees who can keep the farm operating smoothly while he’s away on ISA business. His team includes Daniel “Junior” Stephen, Aidan Huffman, Corey Geesey and Jamey Hawkins, Dale Stump and Jason Woempner. “They all keep the farm moving,” Eck said. 

“I couldn’t do anything that I’m doing on the ISA board without these guys,” Eck said. “You get out of a board what you put into it. To be an effective board member, I need to see and review the programs and projects we support to make sure they are making farmers more profitable. That takes time. My family and my team help me to serve as a better board member.”