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But with them if I talk to either one of them the other one knows what was discussed before the day's over." When large decisions or purchases need to be made, father and son exchange views and decide together. If they disagree on something major, they just "let things marinate and hash it over," Jeremy says. "Our styles mesh well we're the Yin and the Yang. Dad's more conservative, less likely to upgrade equipment. It's not that he doesn't want to do it, but he researches things valentines Day pendants. I'm lucky, Dad is really open to new ideas he's not stuck in his ways. We both think along the same lines." An example of this is Jeremy's interest in notill and cover crops. Since joining the operation years ago, he's built on the notillreducedtillage practices that Steve began years ago. Jeremy has added related equipment, transitioned all , acres to notill and become well versed on using cover crops. The team constantly bounces ideas off of one another. They recently discussed replacing two smaller planters with a larger GPSguided one, and to upgrade an older semi. "Jeremy knows more about the latest technology, so he takes the lead and then asks my opinion," Steve says. "We bounce ideas back and forth rather than one of us making decisions on his own." Every night they discuss the day by phone and map out the next day together. Steve is the sixth generation in a long tradition of Marion County farming. He Links of London o charm farming acres in . He and Jeremy now farm , crop acres, plus acres of haypasture and a small beef herd. Jeremy joined the operation after graduating from Purdue in . "We started formalizing things in , when my parents' failing health and Jeremy's interest and talent in running the farm was apparent," Steve says. "Someone can tell you what to do, but until you experience it, it's not the same. You need to share information pretty far in advance of retirement and share financial information with grown children. Some say "they will find out the finances sooner or later,' but it's easier to iron out any problems while you're still alive. My dad was always very open. I gained his willingness to share things up front." Steve credits two other factors for his openness with Jeremy. "I suppose part of it is being a Quaker, where you calmly work things out rather than being adversarial," he says. Also, each previous generation had offfLinks of London n charmarm business interests in addition to fulltime farming that exposed them to new ideas and different ways of running a business. Steve serves on several boards, and his father ran a law office. His grandfather was a businessman and started a creamery with his brothers. These traditions span six generations years yearsgeneration. The present generations have the farm in an LLC where Steve and his wife Lynn gift taxfree shares annually.