It may seem rather odd that the goal of an Amish farmer is “to stay on the farm more.”
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But that is the goal of Jonas Yutzy of Jamesport.
“It’s most people’s goal,” Jonas says. “When the kids get bigger, the guys who work out want to start staying home.”
Outside work
Most Jamesport Amish work outside the farm. Some have their own businesses. Jonas points out the Amish businesses that surround his farm. There is a metal shop, a green house, a furniture shop, and a machine shop.
Others have to leave agriculture for another trade. Jonas worked in the city building houses for four years.
“I saved and put a lot I earned back on the farm,” he says.
Traditional life
Jonas is the typical Amish farmer and lives the traditional Plains life. He drives a horse-drawn buggy and farms with horses. He won’t be photographed, for religious reasons.
Jonas used to train horses for the public at Hillside Horse Training. But he found dealing with novice horse owners — who often didn’t know how to handle a horse after it was trained — just too frustrating. He would like to stay home and make a living and maybe work outside the home one day out of the week.
“I decided to not put all my eggs in one basket,” Jonas says. “And branch out.”
Self reliant
Like most Amish, Jonas and his family are self-sustaining as much as possible. Jonas raises his own chickens to butcher; raises his own hay to feed livestock; has a big garden; and hunts and fishes to provide for his family.
He has five sons and one daughter. His daughter is the oldest. Jonas says she’s pretty good at keeping the boys in line.
Training horses
Jonas still trains horses, though these days he is very selective about his clients. Currently he is training 19 crossbred colts for one gentleman. He will halter train them and do some ground work. The colts will be ready to ride by the time he is done.
He uses the natural horsemanship method. Natural horsemanship is a philosophy of working with horses based on the horse’s natural instincts and methods of communication. Horses do not learn through fear or pain, but rather from pressure and the release of pressure.
“Natural horsemanship is quite a change from the old way of training horses,” Jonas says. “Even my father doesn’t quite get it. He broke horses the old-fashioned bronc-busting way.”
Stud service
Jonas has a blue roan stallion for stud service. He is a full-blooded draft horse. He is five years old. He has bred 50 mares so far. The mares are cross-bred quarter horses.
“We call him the Gentle Giant,” Jonas says. “He is also broke to drive and ride. He works out in the fields.”
Dog kennel
Jonas has been raising sheepadoodles at Ten Oaks Kennel for the last four years.
While a horse takes 11 months to have a colt, dogs have litters every six months. The kennel also helps provide a wintertime income.
The dogs he breeds are an Old English sheepdog/poodle cross. The dogs weigh about 20-25 pounds. Considered a designer breed, sheepadoodles are shaggy haired. The colors are blue merle and black and white. Some have blue eyes. The kennel is USDA inspected.
Jonas has a lady that sells the dogs, which go to buyers all over the country.
“We give them a life,” Jonas says. “I let them out in a fenced-in yard and the kids like to play with them.”
Through DNA color testing, Jonas says he has a good idea of what he is going to get — chocolate merles or blue merles.
“The dogs are like their babies to some people,” Jonas says. “They are hypo allergenic and non-shedders. They are real popular.”
Real Estate
Jonas also buys and sells land. He makes improvements, puts in food plots for deer, and sells the land as hunting property.
Keeping the old ways
Jonas and the Jamesport Amish want to preserve a rural lifestyle, and, more importantly, to preserve the culture for their children and grandchildren.
“Staying on the farm allows us to work together as a family,” Jonas says. “It’s the best way to pass on our values of hard work, husbandry of the land and animals, and thriftiness to our children.”
Sheepadoodles at the dog kennel.
Tiny Sheepadoodle.
Sheepadoodles are shaggy.
Gentle giant draft horse stud.
Working with colts.
Hillside horse training.
Staying on the farm is the goal of Jonas Yutzy, an Amish farmer. Jonas lives outside of Jamesport on Prairie Avenue. He has branched out into several businesses on his farm, including a dog kennel.
The Yutzy children have their own little pony barn. By training the little ponies, they learn how to work with the big horses.
The old red barn was called Red Barn Antiques some years ago, before Jonas bought the farm. He’s not sure who built the barn. Lots of improvements made to the house, below. 