Jay Minter does not consider himself a typical farmer, even though he grew up on his family’s Dallas County farm. In high school, Jay liked to spend his summer mornings scouting cotton and his summer afternoons reading philosophy. After high school, Jay attended Rhodes College in Memphis, where he studied philosophy and religion.”When I was in college, I figured I’d work somewhere for eight or 10 years and then come back to the farm,” Jay said. “But after two and a half years in Memphis, I knew I wanted to come back. I knew the big city life just wasn’t for me.”Jay returned to his family’s cotton operation in 1995 after graduating, working mainly as an errand runner at first. He planned on being able to learn the ins and outs of running the farm from his father over the course of several years — slowly taking the reigns as his father got older. But this was not meant to be.In the summer of 1996, Jay’s father was diagnosed with a rare form of skin cancer. Suddenly, Jay found his time table was much shorter than he ever could have anticipated. He spent a lot of time with his father trying to learn everything he could that couldn’t be written down.Jay’s father passed away in February 1997, leaving Jay to run the family farm and gin at the age of 24. Fortunately, Jay still had the farm’s longtime manager, David Casey, to help run the farming operation and manage the family’s timberland while Jay ran his father’s cotton gin. It was in the months following his father’s death that Jay met Julia Anne, whom he married a few months later.In January 1999, David was diagnosed with lung cancer. He was able to continue working for Jay through May. He died in August.”There I am at 26 with a new wife and a new baby, and not only do I have my dad’s shoes to fill, but I also had his right-hand man to replace,” said Jay. “It was basically a working partnership, particularly in terms of management.”The first couple of years were a challenge for Jay, who was still learning how to run the farm on his own. But he managed to pull through and learn along the way.”It goes back to that old saying of ‘what does not kill you will only make you stronger,'” said Jay. “I’m not saying that everyone died so Jay would learn something, but Jay learned a lot from it. It has made me a stronger and better person, and I’m able to cope with a lot of stuff.”In 2000, Jay, along with other farmers in the area, faced one of the worst droughts in 50 years. While his dry land only yielded around half a bale of cotton per acre, the land he had installed irrigation on since returning from college yielded two and a half bales per acre. This led Jay to look at irrigating more of his land. He began experimenting with subterranean drip irrigation for fields too small for center pivot irrigation.In 2002, Jay decided to close the family gin, in part because operating the gin meant he had to grow only cotton to “feed the gin.” This meant he could not get the benefit of crop rotation. Jay joined with three other farmers to create one consolidated gin to replace the four they had all run separately. The next season, he replaced some of his cotton with corn and peanuts.Jay still raises a good bit of cotton, but not to the level that his father and grandfather produced. Last year, he planted 1,005 acres of cotton, which yielded 975 pounds per acre, along with 350 acres of corn that yielded 120 bushels an acre and 550 acres of peanuts that yielded more than 3,700 pounds per acre. He also has a small cattle herd of 23 head.Jay is looking to continue his row crop production at current levels for the next few years. He also is looking at the possibilities of expanding his cattle production and raising specialty crops.”I could say I farm just because it was my father’s business,” said Jay. “I could also say I farm because I loved it and couldn’t think of anything else I would rather do. Neither statement is true by itself. Combine both, and you have the truth.”Jay lives in Selma with his wife and their two children, Gilley, 7, and “Cink”(James Anthony Minter V), 2. Cink is the Old English word for five. They also are expecting another addition to the family in January.Both Jay and Julia Anne are active in their community, serving in many different organizations. Jay has served on committees for the Kiwanis Club, YMCA and United Way. Julie Anne is involved with the Selma Charity League and is a tutor and reader in the Selma public schools. Both are soccer coaches for the Selma YMCA.”It’s been interesting being married to a farmer,” said Julia Anne. “Before he got the irrigation, Jay used to come home always worrying about the rain. Jay is brilliant, and working on the farm keeps him down-to-earth. I love raising the kids around the farm. It kills me they aren’t able to spend as much time out here as Jay did growing up. Jay has a love for this land, and I hope over time the kids and I will get that, too. Our children are going to learn what nature is. They are going to learn how to live and how God gives us food.””Living around agriculture is going to help them develop a work ethic,” added Jay.The Minters enjoy the opportunity to raise their children in an agricultural environment. They also value any help they can provide for their community.”Raising your children right is the most important thing you do in your life,” said Jay. “It’s more important than me growing a crop. That’s the real legacy you are going to leave, not having this land or running this farm. It’s the children we raise and what we can do for our community.”