Stockport brothers earning money cleaning hog barns

STOCKPORT - A couple of Jefferson County youngsters are getting a head start in the business world, and they're not even in high school yet.

Cameron McLain, 14, and younger brother Calvin, 12, are Fairfield Middle School students who spend part of their free time cleaning hog barns in the area. The two boys are the sons of Darrick and Gretchen McLain of rural Stockport. Their family raises pigs and cows, so the boys have been doing livestock chores for many years.

Last year, Darrick asked the boys if they wanted to earn a bit of money by power washing the hog barn. They nodded in agreement, and before long they were cleaning the neighbor's barn, too. Word got out that the boys were cleaning barns, and two more farmers hired them to clean their barns.

After a farmer has emptied the barn of hogs, they soak the interior with the sprinkler system. The next day, the boys show up with a power washer. They hose down every nook and cranny in the barn.

'There's a lot of power behind that power washer,” Calvin said.

'It's really tiring,” Cameron added. 'It can wear a person out fast.”

Does the smell bother them? Not really.

'You get used to the smell after a while,” Cameron said. 'It doesn't bother us.”

The boys take turns running the power washer, working three hours at a time. After washing all the manure off every surface, they go back through and apply a sanitizing solution so the barn is clean for the next round of hogs. They said it takes them a day and a half to do a 1,240-head barn, and about twice that long to do a 2,480-head barn.

Cameron and Calvin took a break from barn washing in the fall because they both went out for football. That plus their schoolwork took up most of their time. After the football season ended, the boys went back to work in the barns. In fact, while the Fairfield school district was in hybrid mode of holding half the instruction online and the other half in-person, it gave the boys a chance to work on school days, too. While one of them was studying, the other would be hard at work on the power washer.

The boys said they earn good money washing barns, and they're careful in how they spend it. Cameron uses a portion of his money so he can buy heifers and steers to show for 4-H. Both boys put money into a 401(k) retirement account.

'We're probably the only ones in our school who have a 401(k),” Cameron said.

Gretchen, who knows a thing or two about money from working at Libertyville Savings Bank, said she and Darrick wanted to help their boys get an early start on investments.

'Compound interest is going to help them in the long run, and we wanted to start them on the right financial foot,” Gretchen said. 'Both [Darrick] and I are forward-thinking, mindful that we'll have enough saved so we're comfortable at retirement. We wanted to pass that along to our boys.”

Gretchen said she is proud of her sons' work ethic and time management. They both lift weights at 6 a.m. three times a week and spend the rest of their day busy with classes and chores.

'For being 12 and 14, they're pretty dedicated,” she said.

Cameron and Calvin said they get along pretty well with one another, and never argue about whose turn it is to wash.

'If we work hard one day, we want to sleep in an extra 30-40 minutes the next day, but it might be your turn to get up at 5:30 a.m. and work,” Cameron said. 'But you got to do it.”

When not washing barns or studying, Cameron and Calvin like to ride their ATVs around the farm. They help their dad in his mechanics shop, where he rebuilds vehicles. The boys get firsthand experience helping their dad while learning the ins and outs of automobiles. Cameron said he wouldn't mind doing mechanics part-time when he's older, but Calvin said it's not the career for him. Even though they're not yet in high school, they're both confident they want a career dealing with livestock.

'I want to manage hog barns,” Calvin said.

'I'd love to have hog barns and cattle,” Cameron said, 'and do agriculture.”

The boys said they hope to wash more barns this summer, and hire some of their classmates so they can clean multiple barns at once.

'We want to buy one if not two more power washers,” they said.

Gretchen said the boys are mostly looking for barns within 10 miles of their home near Stockport, at least until they're old enough to drive.

'Otherwise, it's Mom and Dad taking them back and forth,” she said.