BUFFALO TWP — When Kevin Jarosinski decided to run a farm, it wasn’t to carry on a family tradition. The 23-year-old is a first- generation farmer.

And his decision to start a farm on 10 acres off Cole Road wasn’t due to having limited options. Jarosinski maintained a 4.2 grade point average at St. Joseph High School in Natrona Heights.

“I just wanted to be a farmer,” he said.

While many of Jarosinski’s peers were preparing for a life sitting in front of a computer screen, he was engrossed with agriculture.

The desire sprang from trips to Buffalo Township as a child to visit his grandparents, Richard and Constance Jarosinski, passing farms on the way.

“I was always looking at the cows across the road,” Kevin Jarosinski said. “Every time, I said ‘Dad, could we please stop?’”

By the time Jarosinski was 14, he was enthralled with the prospect of becoming a farmer.

Using the 10 acres his parents bought in 2002 with the intention of building a home, Jarosinski was 16 when he started with 12 chickens.

Now, he raises 1,500 chickens a year. He also handles 24 hogs and 10 beef cattle annually.

Jarosinski is adamant about keeping his farming natural. He refuses to use sprays in the field or drugs on the animals.

After his parents decided not to relocate from Springdale to Buffalo Township, Jarosinski turned the land into a full-fledged farm. He bought the land from his parents this year.

Jarosinski settled on Buffalo Township due to its emphasis on keeping its rural character.

His farm is designated an agricultural security area, which provides protection from nuisance laws and other regulations that could impede farming activities.

“They’ve welcomed me with open arms,” Jarosinski said.

He said his residential neighbors, who prefer a farm over a housing plan, also have been receptive to his efforts.

Jarosinski tends to the animals and land every day, returning home to Springdale each night.

“My parents are very supportive,” he said.

The property, which was part of a former farm owned by Regis Cole, has two barns and a chicken butcher shop so far.

Jarosinski hopes to have a home constructed there in the future.

Even the barns were built the old-fashioned way. Jarosinski brought in an Amish crew from Dayton to do the work.

Jarosinski taught himself how to farm and continues learning by talking to other farmers, copious reading and first-hand experience.

“It’s not a lavish lifestyle,” he said. “It’s a lot of work.”

When Jarosinski graduated high school, colleges didn’t offer programs centered on organic farming, so he ruled out obtaining a degree at that point.

To maintain all-natural farming, Jarosinski reached back to methods once employed in the first half of the 20th century.

The chickens raised for poultry sales are kept in several mobile coops that enable them to feed on grass.

Jarosinski said adding grass to the livestock’s food, which many farms restrict to grain, affects flavor.

“It creates a sweeter taste in the meat,” he said.

Jarosinski said he is more concerned with quality not quantity.

He has six commercial customers who stock company cafeterias, 24 residential customers and two southeastern Butler County restaurants advertising Kevin Jarosinski Farm poultry on their menus.

The young farmer makes a point of not naming his cattle, which tend to be friendlier than the numerous clucking hens.

“I do get attached to my cows,” he said.

However, Jarosinski abides by the belief livestock were meant to be sustenance for people.

“That’s what God put them on Earth for,” he said.

With winter approaching, field work will stop while tending to the animals will continue.

Jarosinski does not envision himself becoming bored with farming.

“Every day is something new,” he said.

Jarosinski hasn’t just retained what he’s learned about farming.

Recalling English class, he compared his lifestyle to the writing of American author Henry David Thoreau, who focused on simple living in natural surroundings.

“His simplicity is very appealing to me,” Jarosinski said.

He said he is satisfied with the life he has made for himself.

“I haven’t had a vacation in years, and I’m OK with it,” Jarosinski said. “I don’t see this as work.”