World's Worst Farmer

Lewis Baumgartner is the:

World's Worst Farmer

2180 County Rd. 230
Fulton, MO 65251
573-642-1183
E-Mail: lewis@worldsworstfarmer.com

Lewis Baumgartner was born and raised on a small farm near Fulton, Missouri. After graduating from high school in 1965, he went to work for a local building contractor, erecting pole barns. In the early seventies he had his own construction company while continuing to farm part time. In the late seventies he sold the building business to pursue his dream, full time farming. A victim of bad timing and caught in the farm crisis of the early eighties, things got mighty tough on the Baumgartner farm.

Long hours on the tractor and combine provided plenty of time to think. To get his mind off his financial situation and to amuse himself between breakdowns, Lewis began developing stories, jokes, and poems about his farm, his family, his hometown and life in general. Before long he was billing himself as the World's Worst Farmer and making several appearances around close to home for senior citizens groups, service clubs and community functions. "My audiences seemed to enjoy it and I was having a ball," he says.

Word spread and what started out as a fun hobby, soon became a business. An article in the February, 1989 issue of Farm Journal got him national attention. He has since been featured in two more national farm magazines, Successful Farming and Farm and Ranch Living. Lewis is now in demand as an entertainer at all types of farm meetings and conventions. "It's getting to the point where I'm doing better telling folks how bad I am than I ever did farming," Lewis says.

In addition to farming and speaking Lewis writes a regular humor column for Missouri Ruralist magazine. He has recently compiled a collection of those columns into his first book, World's Worst Farmer... From Ragweed Ranch in Cocklebur County.

The Baumgartner farming operation consists of corn, soybeans, wheat and cattle . Until 1996 he had a small farrow to finish hog operation but his main employee in that enterprise (Wife, Janice) sold all the hogs while Lewis was off on a week long speaking tour. "We don't have a big operation" Lewis says, "and I would really like to expand a little, but land in my area is too expensive to purchase and it's pretty hard for a fellow with my reputation to rent anything."

Lewis and his wife Janice have been married since 1968. They have a son, Cliff, who is married and lives in northern Indiana. Cliff and his wife Kelly, have three children, Heather Lynn, Forrest Cole and Autumn Rose. Lewis and Janice also have a daughter, Nancy, who is married and teaches high school math. Nancy and her husband, Keith, have two daughters, Sarah Mabel And Shelby LeAnn. Mr. & Mrs World's Worst Farmer have lived on a farm near Millersburg, Missouri since 1979.