By ALEXANDER SIMONE

Staff writer

Graysen Jost’s dream as a 9-year-old is to one day be a professional athlete, but his fallback is to be a farmer like his father, and he’s wasting no time taking an interest in his parents’ farming operation.

“I think it’s been on his own,” his father, Dustin said. “He comes along a lot and he’s very inquisitive. He asks a lot of questions and tries to understand what’s going on.”

Even in a more immediate sense, Graysen has goals he wants to achieve on the farm. One of his ambitions is to drive a grain-cart.

“I’m a little curious about how stuff works and why it works,” he said. “It’s more stuff to know so when I’m older and can drive it, I know how to work it.”

His family raises corn, soybeans, and wheat. Graysen’s personal favorite is soybeans.

“It’s really cool that they have more than one pod of beans inside each one,” he said. “There are like 14.”

The Josts live on K-15 a few miles north of Hillsboro. It’s possible the farm will pass down to the next generation.

Dustin and his wife have been careful not to push a farming lifestyle onto their children, but Dustin does enjoy that Graysen has found his own interest in the family trade.

“It’s always rewarding when you can share something like that with your children,” Dustin said. “My grandfather started our initial farm, and I farmed with my father. I guess it’s that generational bond, and there is some tradition there. It’s kind of neat.”

As the oldest child, Graysen has displayed the most interest so far, but that doesn’t mean he’s the Josts’ only son who likes to be on the farm.

“My 3-year-old, he’ll sit with me six hours in a row,” Dustin said. “He enjoys it, too.”