By TAMMIE SLOUP
FarmWeek
Nine-year-old Charlie Roegge captured the attention of YouTube viewers during COVID with his daily farming updates.
“He’d set up like a hay operation with his toy tractors, and he’d go through and talk about all of the steps involved in hay production or harvesting. And it started garnering some attention,” said his mother, Jill Roegge. “So, he just kept adding more and more to his farm videos. He started going out to real equipment and showing things on real equipment, and also interviewing people, like he interviewed his dad a couple of times. He enjoyed being in front of the camera and talking about farming.”
Today, the high school freshman traded in his farm toys for real machinery and recently completed his first harvest of soybeans and corn.
“It felt really good to climb in the combine. It made me feel very accomplished of what I had done and just excited to keep going,” Charlie said.
The 14-year-old sold his cattle herd to pay for used farm equipment utilized during this year’s harvest of his 80 acres surrounding his Arenzville home in Cass County, as well as a field near his grandmother’s home in Virginia.
Much of his knowledge was gleaned from following his late father, Matt Roegge, around the farm, starting when he could first walk. Matt would take his son with him everywhere, from the grain elevator to riding beside him in the combine. Matt also farmed with his two brothers and father and, like a sponge, Charlie absorbed much of their conversations about farming.
“People always are surprised about his knowledge of all the farm processes, at such a young age,” Jill said. “But I think it was just because of all the time he spent on the farm following his dad around from the time he was about 18 months old until he was 11. He was with his dad most days of the week.”
In 2021, Matt passed away from COVID complications. With Charlie’s older brother and sister not involved in the farm, the operation was taken over by Jill and Charlie.
This was the first year the mother and son became active in the operation, as someone else tended to the fields as the family sorted out some issues.
“We relied a lot on each other and worked through it together. We have a strong family support system, so we were able to get through things with that,” Jill said. “It’s definitely changed Charlie and my relationship, because he was always a lot closer with his dad than he was with me, but this has kind of forced him to rely on me a little bit more. I think we have a pretty good time together and a pretty open relationship that we can talk about most anything.”
When it came time to purchase equipment for the farm, Charlie turned to the classifieds and fellow farmers.
“He sold his cattle so he could buy equipment; he really wanted to harvest, and so he did a lot of looking on classified ads and looking for equipment and talking to local farmers who might be upgrading and who would have some used equipment he could purchase,” Jill remarked. “All of the equipment he has gotten is from selling his cattle. He really loved his cattle, but he knew he could get more cattle later on.
“I think it means a lot to him that it’s his own equipment, and I think that’s giving him a little bit more respect for the equipment. He wants to take good care of it, and he’s protective of it.”
“It took a lot of work getting everything ready, all set up, and all managed and mechanically sounding good, but, yeah, it was really special, and it was awesome to be able to do it on my own,” Charlie confided.
As the former YouTuber and FarmWeek CropWatcher 2.0 wrapped up his first harvest, Charlie reflected on losing his father and role model.
“My dad was very helpful to everybody and anyone who needed it. He was very hard working and kind,” he said, adding if he could talk to his father now, he’d ask him what he needed to do to have a successful farm.
Jill said her husband likely would keep encouraging their son to continue in the direction he’s heading.
“My hope is he enjoys what he does, and he finds meaning and purpose in it, which I feel like he’s already doing,” Jill said. “I want him to be proud of his work, and I think he is. I think that as he grows and matures, he’ll become even more proud of the job he’s doing and carrying on the traditions his dad started with him.”
His dad might have even overlooked that his son purchased a green combine instead of a red one, she joked.
This story was distributed through a cooperative project between Illinois Farm Bureau and the Illinois Press Association. For more food and farming news, visit FarmWeekNow.com.