Title: Owner
Company: Gerber Land & Cattle
Location: Richmond, Indiana, United States
Douglas E. Gerber, owner of Gerber Land & Cattle, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Business Owners for dedication, achievements, and leadership in agriculture.
As a preschooler, Mr. Gerber was enamored by a photograph in National Geographic of a cowboy from Texas with Hereford cattle. That picture became the divinely planted seed that would eventually sprout and grow. Mr. Gerber was the second of four children, all of whom were born and raised on a small farm in Southwestern Ohio. As a third-generation Bible-based farm family, their father raised corn, wheat and hay with animal production including hogs, dairy cattle, sheep, and chickens. Each of the children were assigned chores after school and during the summer months helping care for the livestock.
Participation in the 4-H Livestock Club was an annual event culminating with competing at the county fair. As each sibling entered the third grade, piano lessons were added as a necessary discipline. At the age of fifteen, Mr. Gerber began classical piano study at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He continues to participate in church services weekly as pianist and organist, giving back to the Lord for this musical gift.
Mr. Gerber’s farm orchard and a large garden provided much of the family’s fruits and vegetables. Onsite processing of each farm animal species provided meat. Moreover, the farm had 150 Sugar Maple trees, as his grandfather had a passion for crafting maple syrup. As the spring thaw gave new life to the trees, the daily task of gathering sap from the buckets on the trees became a family after-school event.
Athletics were important in high school and Mr. Gerber had varsity letters in football, wrestling and track. He also served as parliamentarian on the Student Council, sang in the choir, and was choir accompanist. Mr. Gerber enrolled at Miami University as a pre-med student, where courses in biology, physics, and chemistry would later serve him well. He was also a member of the Men’s Glee Club and Men’s Ensemble.
The Lord’s plan for Mr. Gerber’s life took shape when he met a nursing student from a dairy farm. Together, they laid out a lifetime goal of owning farm real estate and raising Hereford breeding cattle. The current farm consists of 438 acres of land producing corn, soybeans, pasture and hay. There are 150 Registered Hereford and Angus cows in the breeding herd, and an auction sale of breeding bulls is held annually in April.
Mr. Gerber has excelled as a cattle judge at the National Western Stock Show, Keystone International Show, Kentucky State Fair, California State Fair, Iowa State Fair, and Michigan Beef Expo. Cattle from this herd have won championships at the National Western Stock Show, Fort Worth Stock Show, American Royal Stock Show, and North American International Livestock Exhibition. Mr. Gerber has served on the board of directors of the Indiana Beef Cattleman’s Association, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and as board chairman of the American Polled Hereford Association.
Mr. Gerber and his wife, Maxine, were recently inducted into the American Hereford Association Hall of Fame. Three words were posted on the bottom cover of the annual Gerber Land & Cattle sale catalog: “Stewardship, Trust, and Leadership.” Growing a sustainable business takes effort, thought, financing, and above all, God’s favor.
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