Left: Brandon Hurst sits on a pumpkin in his patch, which he grows to benefit young couples taking fertility treatments. Right: Brandon with his wife and kids in their sunflower field. In a recent video above, he shows viewers how to cultivate pumpkins. | Courtesy Brandon Hurst DECLO – For Brandon Hurst, farming isn’t just a way of life; it’s in his blood. The 33-year-old is a fourth-generation farmer at Hurst Brand Farms in Declo. The 1,800-acre spread dates back to 1932 and harvests potatoes, sugar beets, wheat, alfalfa, corn, oats, sunflowers and pumpkins. A seasonal pumpkin patch he launched several years ago helps benefit couples taking fertility treatments. Hurst has a growing social media presence, including a Facebook and Instagram page. He gives viewers a glimpse of daily farm life through his YouTube channel. In one of his recent videos above, he shows viewers what it’s like to cultivate pumpkins. A large number of his videos have received thousands of views. Brandon Hurst’s field of sunflowers on his farm in Declo. | Courtesy Brandon Hurst In a conversation with EastIdahoNews.com, Hurst explains how the family farm got started. As best as he can remember, he says his great-grandfather, Winfield Hurst, bought the initial 80 acres in Declo. Winfield was a veteran of World War I who grew up in Ogden, Utah. He’d been living in northern Montana, working as a field manager for what is now Amalgamated Sugar Company. Brandon says Winfield wasn’t happy with the living conditions there. “It was a pretty poor area, the weather was terrible, and he decided it wasn’t a great place to raise a family,” Brandon explains. “He had some family that moved to Declo, and they said, ‘There’s a farm for sale. Come and look at this.’” In 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, Winfield bought the initial 80 acres for $1,800, which he couldn’t afford. He packed up his family and moved to Declo. Winfield initially stuck to what he knew — sugar beets. They were the cash crop at the time, and he reserved 40 acres for harvesting beets and the other 40 for growing alfalfa and other crops for his horses. Through hard work, he eventually paid off the debt he accrued. Tractors were a new technology at the time. Winfield was introduced to the idea and eventually bought one. Tractor in a field at Hurst Brand Farms. | Courtesy Brandon Hurst Nearly 100 years later, Hurst Brand Farms remains a profitable family venture. Brandon grew up working the farm with his dad, Shawn. Today, the property is divided into two separate ventures. Shawn owns a portion of it and Brandon owns the rest. Seeing the fruits of his labor every year is something Brandon enjoys. For him, it’s what makes this lifestyle rewarding. “It’s a real tangible, visual thing,” Brandon says. “You can physically see it, touch it, taste it and see the fruits of your labor and that’s one of the most rewarding things about farming.” ‘Pumpkins for pumpkins’ The pumpkin patch, which he launched in 2020, has become a passion project for Brandon. He and his wife had been married for about five years at the time and were having difficulty starting a family. They started doing in vitro fertilization treatments. The treatments were expensive and he used a couple acres of the farm to start a pumpkin patch and raise money for the treatments. “It costs roughly $25,000 for an IVF treatment,” he says. “After a couple of years, I was able to get partnered up with Eagle Eye Produce in Idaho Falls and get a contract to sell pumpkins for Walmart.” A year later, Brandon says he’d earned enough — “almost to the penny” — to afford an IVF treatment. The first treatment was unsuccessful. Shortly after that, his wife came down with pneumonia and died from sepsis. Brandon has since remarried and has three kids, one of which is hers from a previous marriage. The children they had together happened without IVF treatments, but Brandon still uses the pumpkin patch as a way to help other couples afford it. “Half of the proceeds go toward an IVF grant that I’m working on with the Idaho Center for Reproductive Medicine in Boise to help young couples pay for that,” says Brandon. It’s a cause he calls “Pumpkins for pumpkins.” Brandon Hurst, left, presenting a check to a couple from money he raised at his pumpkin patch. | Courtesy Brandon Hurst “Last summer, we donated about $14,000 to a couple that had been trying to get pregnant for nine years,” Brandon says. “They signed up for the next available appointment and they just had a baby this summer.” Brandon loves seeing the positive impact this venture has on families. He’s grateful for his heritage and is looking forward to raising and working with his kids on the family farm. Courtesy Brandon Hurst The post Fourth-generation farmer in Declo raises pumpkins to help couples start families appeared first on East Idaho News.
Source: eastidahonews.com
Fourth-generation farmer in Declo raises pumpkins to help couples start families
