Farm records and management skills guide young couple to farming success. It's a statement you hear over and over:"Young people cannot get started in farming without inheriting a farm or getting help from family or someone." Darrell Essex and his wife, Becky, prove that statement wrong. With hard work, forward planning, good records and sound management, the Loretto, Ky., couple have gradually built a 300-sow hog operation and own over 600 acres of farmland. "I grew up with nine brothers and sistersabout a mile from here on a 100-acre farm, where we milked cows," says Darrell, who is now 38. "My father worked for General Electric and raised 10 kids and didn't make but 5,000 dollar to 6,000 dollar a year at that time." With an interest in farming and no room for him on the small family farm, Darrell bought his first land before he was out of high school. After graduation, he took an off-farm job and raised tobacco and grain part-time.
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