Whether you’re physically out in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains (or just living there vicariously through popular online videos) you’re bound to stumble across first generation farmer, Josh Draper. Better known as the Stoney Ridge Farmer from his popular YouTube channel where he shares expert advice on what it takes to be a modern day farmer, Draper’s day starts and ends on his beautiful 150 acre property, growing crops, raising cattle, tending to chickens, and of course filming the tips and tricks of the job for aspiring homesteaders.
While Draper grew up on a cattle farm in rural Virginia, his journey to becoming a farmer in his own right had him on a less than linear path with plenty of twists and turns along the way. In fact, before becoming one of YouTube’s most watched farmers, he served as electrician in the Air Force, owned and operated a handyman business, then went back to school to become a registered nurse. But as a jack of all trades, and someone “naturally curious and self taught,” Josh has taken the experiences from all his different career paths and applied them to his daily life on the farm he’s always dreamed of owning. “Working on the farm is a really rewarding process from making sure cows are safe and healthy, to mowing hay to moving dirt, building fences, putting gravel in. You can look back at the end of the day and see you’ve done something awesome,” says Draper.
Josh shares his experiences through his YouTube channel, whether it’s a skill new to him or something routine, hoping that others will find the information useful in their own lives. “I started the YouTube channel with a mechanical project,” recalls Draper. “I was working on one of my mowers and it excited me that people wanted to watch and I got so many tips and tricks from other folks watching. It’s an ever-evolving community of education, we all help each other and work together.”
Sharing his life with hundreds of thousands of followers on YouTube is one of the most rewarding experiences for this first generation farmer, as he shares “I’ve always loved being the guy that people ask [for help], and like being that guy who can answer that in detail.”
For the past five years, Draper’s fans have seen him tackle all kinds of maintenance schedules. With over 25 different engines around the property, making sure his machines are ready to use at all times is essential to keeping operations flowing.
Machinery is Draper’s livelihood, and since he always does his research and relies on the experts to fix problems on the farm, it only seemed natural to look to Techron as the experts in premium fuel-additives. “I use Techron in all my engines here on the farm. They have a product for everything, from my big tractors all the way to the smallest chainsaw engine,” he says of Techron’s product portfolio.
“Techron gives me the peace of mind to give me what I need out on the farm,” says Draper, who would much rather tend to his cows everyday than his tractors. “I trust Techron to keep my equipment running strong when I need it the most.” Which for Draper, is every day on the Stoney Ridge Farm.
Want to check out a day in the life on a first generation farm? You’ll just have to hit the subscribe button for that! Check out Stoney Ridge Farmer on YouTube and learn more about Techron® by visiting www.techronclean.com.
This article was published on behalf of Techron.
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