The Folks Behind Your Food

Here in Kansas, you probably don’t have to shake your family tree too hard before a farmer falls out. Today’s farmers mesh traditional values with college degrees and high-tech tools. Meet the soccer moms and mini-van-driving dads of 21st century Kansas ag, and find out what “locally grown” really means, from the people who know best. Get the scoop on why they farm, why they farm the way they do, and why they’re so proud of it!

  • Legacy Farms Coffee - Ashley Williams Honduras

    Brewing Community at Legacy Farms Coffee

    Legacy Farms Coffee didn’t begin with a love for caffeine; it started with a mission to help. “Long story short, I accidentally bought a coffee farm,” founder Ashley Williams said. “I was looking for land in Honduras to build houses on for my nonprofit. When I found a larger farm, I made...

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  • John Pracht in soybean field

    How Precision Ag Helps John Pracht Enhance His Family Farm

    John Pracht is proud to be farming the same land where he grew up, where generations before him farmed and where he hopes generations more will benefit from the sustainable practices he uses today. Pracht, his brothers, his son Ridge and his nephew all farm together in Westphalia where...

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  • The Rokey Family: Kansas dairy farmers

    A Dairy Dream Come True at Rokeyroad

    Near Sabetha, Dwight and Anita Rokey run a small dairy farm that’s been the realization of a big dream. Rokeyroad Holsteins, a first-generation family dairy, has been in operation since 1999. This year, they’re expanding their milk production to include an on-site processing and retail...

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  • Alissa Kirchhoff - Black Dog Veterinary Services

    Alissa Kirchhoff’s Many Hats

    Like many Kansans, Alissa Kirchhoff is what you might call ag-adjacent. She grew up in the suburbs of Wichita in a family a few generations removed from farming. But some part of her yearned for a more rural way of life. “I think every kid dreams of this kind of lifestyle,” she said of...

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  • Half Day Creamery yogurt with honey

    Half Day Creamery Brings Full-Time Flavor

    Russell Yarnell was working his first engineering job out of college when, in a conversation with his manager, he commented on how different the 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule was from the flexibility of school. With a playful grin, his boss replied, “You want to work half days? You can work...

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  • Alta Vista Meat - Amie with meat packages

    A Cut Above at Alta Vista Meat Co.

    Amie Brunkow, owner of Alta Vista Meat Co., hopes to educate consumers about butchery and how meat gets from the farm to the grocery.

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  • Matt and Karlee Legleiter with cattle

    Fatherhood and Farming at Legleiter Farms

    Matthew Legleiter can trace his passion for farming directly back to his father, Clarence.

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  • Heidi Wells - Kansas dairy farmer family

    Dietitian Meets Dairy

    Heidi Wells grew up on a crop and beef cattle farm in the Flint Hills and had never been on a dairy farm before meeting her husband. She's always been a risk-taker.

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  • Fresh plant at Leafy Green Farms

    Weekly Hydroponic Harvests at Leafy Green Farms

    Meet Brad Fourby, founder of Leafy Green Farms — a veteran-owned, vertical hydroponic farm capable of delivering fresh weekly harvests rain or shine.

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  • Teresa Brandenburg on her Kansas farm tractor

    Teresa Brandenburg Talks Farm Advocacy and Sustainability

    As a child, Teresa Brandenburg realized agriculture was the career for her while working on her grandparents’ farm in Iowa. Today, she’s working to leave a legacy of farming and advocacy for her children. She and her husband, Luke, raise soybeans, wheat and sorghum, plus they have a cow-...

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