Farmer learns lessons across generations

This story appeared in the spring 2026 edition of Roots magazine, a collaborative agriculture publication by the Sandusky Register, Norwalk Reflector, Tiffin Advertiser-Tribune, Findlay Courier and Fostoria Review-Times. BLUFFTON — Austin Probst is a sixth-generation farmer. He and his family work the land his great-great-great-grandfather purchased in 1897. And although he also serves as a police officer in nearby Bluffton, Austin loves the farm. "I couldn't stand doing a 9-to-5 job, never seeing dirt. I couldn't do it," he said. He's learned everything firsthand. "This was my school," he said, sitting in the dairy barn near the milking parlor. "We've learned some lessons, some good ones and not good ones. Life experience is the best teacher. It's working out pretty well." Austin's main focus is dairy farming. He has 12 Jersey cows with names like Flower, Belle, Macy, Libby, Nora and Nellie. "They're pretty gentle and very curious," he said. "They like the warmer weather. They like to stand out in the sun." His interest in farming led Austin, 27, to begin watching other farmers' YouTube videos. Those inspired him to record his own. The first video debuted in November on his YouTube Ohio Century Farm channel. The recording looks at a day of chores like a morning milking, cleaning the barn and unloading and stacking round hay bales. To date, he has produced 11 videos and has 472 subscribers. "It took me a couple of takes for the first one," Austin smiled. "Of course, I'm not at a million views, but I enjoy making them. It's fun to share that stuff and maybe educate people." Farming in the family Another video features a history of the Probst Family Farm. "My great-great-great grandpa bought it, about 75 acres, pretty good-sized," he said. Abraham Warren Scothorn settled in Orange Township, Hancock County, in 1870. Seven years later, he bought farmland along Ohio 235 from W.J. Henninger for $2,800. The farm passed on to Abraham's son, Walter Warren Scothorn, who paid $1,600. He ran the farm until his death in 1945. The property then went to his wife, Flora, who was still living, and their two sons, John Park and Walter Warren Scothorn. "Basically it was a homestead," said Austin. "They raised animals and grew large gardens." John Park wrote a book about what it was like to grow up on the farm. "It's kind of fun going through the old pictures of the farm," Austin said. After their mother died in 1962, John Park and Walter Warren owned the farm together, although John Park, who was also a teacher and later principal at Washington School, did all the farming. Austin said there was also a time when the fields were rented out to a local farmer who grew grain crops, corn, wheat and beans. "The animals were gone and no one was living there at the time," he said. The farm was then purchased by Herb and Carol Probst. Carol was John Park's daughter. Herb and Carol's son and daughter-in-law, Greg and Laura Probst — who are Austin's parents — inherited the land about 2007. Greg had grown up visiting his grandparents there and helping out during summer vacations. Something they wanted to try In 1991, the family moved to the property. Austin was about 10 at the time. They started by raising a few beef cows, some pigs and chickens. Word-of-mouth, people heard they were raising their own meat and asked if the family could raise some for them as well. "Sure, we've got land," said Austin. "So we started that way and it just got bigger and went into a full business." The farm has never left the family, he added. Everything on the farm is all organic which means they don't use any pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers of any kind, said Austin. The animals are raised using non GMO feeds and without the use of harmful chemicals. In 2018, Austin and his brother, Levi, started in the milking business. "It was something we'd never thought about because we were buying milk from a local farmer just down the road. He was getting out of it and asked us if we wanted to do it," Austin recalled. The brothers talked about it and decided it was something they wanted to try. "It was definitely intimidating because milking cows is not an easy job," he said. "It's a whether you want to or not job. Milking has to be done whether it's sunny and 70, or 20 below." They started with four cows. Austin has bought a few more over the years and now milks a flink of 12. "They can be ornery and annoying to each other or they can be best friends. There's definitely a pecking order between the young and the old cows," he said. Austin said the Jersey cow's milk has higher butterfat content and a creamy texture as compared to the traditional black-and-white Holstein. "They don't produce as much, but I think it tastes pretty good. It makes good butter, too," Austin said. "We started milking and it grew again. It's like we're into a full-fledged business." Levi left to become a firefighter so two of Austin's sisters now help him. Milking is done every 12 hours, at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Four cows fit in the milking parlor at a time, and it takes about an hour to milk them all and clean up the area. They bottle about 20 gallons a day. "The milk is just filtered and chilled. Nothing else is done to it," Austin said. "This is not conventional dairy farm. There's not a truck that comes and picks up the milk." They do a herd share which is the legal way of selling the raw or whole milk in the State of Ohio, he said. "The customer pays in and buys a part of the herd. And for how much they pay in, they get a share of the milk," explained Austin. "We sell everything we've got. We've got a waiting list." His parents have a little storefront at their home, 3463 Ohio 103, where they sell eggs, honey, maple syrup, beef and chicken. The family also takes produce items to the Bluffton Farmer's Market. "Farming is becoming kind of a dying breed," said Austin. "A lot of it's just conventional, just the corn, wheat, beans and stuff. There's not a lot of livestock farms around anymore. It's kind of going to big corporations, so I'm proud we're still able to do this and keep it going."