Published: August 27, 2008 10:59 am            

Cupid's arrow finding farmers ... online

Originally published in the August 22, 2008, print edition.

The bumper sticker says: “City folks just don’t get it.” The info card reads: “Online Dating for Farmers, Ranchers, Country Folks & More.” Below an artist’s rendering of a Holstein cow and a gray horse are the words: “FarmersOnly.com.”

The location was Farmfest — Minnesota’s agricultural showcase. A “match up” contest was staged Aug. 6 at Farmfest’s forum tent, with five women and five men competing in an agricultural knowledge quiz to see if there were some potential romances.

FarmersOnly.com’s creator is Jerry Miller, a former farm kid who now operates an advertising agency in Beachwood, Ohio.

“You don’t have to be a farmer, but you do have to have the good old-fashioned values of America’s heartland,” Miller said, explaining the screening process for becoming a member of his venture into the world of rural romance.

Started three years ago and now boasting over 100,000 members, the idea came to Miller when visiting with a female farmer who asked him, “How am I going to meet some guy when I’m working on my farm all day?” She tried one of the big online dating sites for about a month but told Miller that the guys who contacted her simply couldn’t relate to farming.

Thanks to his communications business, Miller knew the power of the internet. He did some searching but couldn’t find a single website dealing with online dating for farmers, and so — eureka! — FarmersOnly.com was born.

“Everybody thought I was crazy, but it has really taken off,” he said. “There are many singles, both on farms or with farm backgrounds now in the city, living lonely lives who want and welcome the opportunity of meeting someone with comparable interests.”

Miller admitted his venture took off slowly until area media and the Associated Press picked up on it. Newsweek also did a story on his unique rural America courting business.

All membership requests are screened, and a password protects the identity of all members. Photos, interests, hobbies, age and health conditions are among the tidbits members can share.

Membership covers the country and represents all ages; four people over 90 years old are currently registered. The Midwest is the biggest source of membership, but Florida, California and Texas folks participate also. Miller suggested those are likely retired people who moved south and had lost their partner through death.

Miller said 68 couples have contacted him about their new marriages thanks to the website. Two recently married couples introduced themselves to Miller at Farmfest. “I have no way of knowing how many new marriages this has produced,” he said, “but if 68 couples have let us know, it’s likely that many more have married.”

Paul and Fran Reinvold of Long Prairie were one of those couples who met via FarmersOnly.com and got married. Both had lost spouses from cancer; Fran, born and raised on an Illinois farm but living in Minnesota in recent years, didn’t hesitate to meet Paul, a dairy farmer, when she found him online.

Fran thinks it’s great to be a dairy farmer’s wife. “So do I,” smiled Paul. Added Fran, “Paul is a wonderful man, gentle and a good sense of humor. Our families are happy.”

What’s it like to play cupid for single farm people? “It’s the most gratifying thing I’ve ever done,” Miller said. His first appearance at Farmfest went well, and he has been asked to come back in 2009.

        

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